Free Speech is a Tricky Notion

Roseanne's comment about VT was totally inappropriate and rises to the level of "hate" speech. However, in this country we value the right to free speech, even when/if we make a total ass of ourself while exercising that right. What Roseanne said was vile, but she has the freedom of speech to say tasteless and offensive utterances.

The big question for me is whether an entire industry of workers deserve to lose their jobs because one person made an offensive comment on social media. I think not, and I believe the person who fired Roseanne acted in haste and now has to repent and fix the situation created with her firing. There is a small community that forms when a series is cast and then shot for TV, and that community of people does not deserve to be punished for what Roseanne did. Fire her if that's what you think is the best response to her hate speech, but don't punish the rest of the cast and crew.

I hope that someone will have the sense to walk that decision back and take another look at whether the response is appropriate based on how many others are punished by the decision to fire Roseanne. When cooler heads prevail, they may see that there are other actions that would have dealt with the offender, but not punish the rest of the employees.

Ebb and Flow

I am bi-polar, which used to be called manic-depression syndrome, with which I was diagnosed while in college, and which has caused me some major changes throughout my life. I’ve been back on meds for about 10 years now, which has totally smoothed out my days, so I have few incidents that cause me any concern. I do know that weather changes affect me, especially when a rain storm is coming through the pass and into the valley. My mood sinks like a stone in a pond, and I have to simply let time take the barometric pressure back to what’s normal for the area and my brain.

There are days when I simply do not feel like doing anything, so I don’t, which makes the next day more challenging to do something because it’s so easy not to do anything. Back in the day I was a manic machine, so I did three times the work that anyone else (in their right mind) would even think of doing, so I guess it’s not such a crime to not feel like doing much. Recently, as I’ve been a bit more withdrawn than outgoing, I was walking through WalMart and found a little journal that is also a coloring book. Since I loved to color while a child, I bought one of the journals and some colored pencils. When I arrived back home, I crawled onto the couch and thumbed through the journal and started working on designs at the bottom of pages. The journal I picked has a floral theme, so once I got the hang of coloring again, I tackled the front and back covers, which turned out really well. Then, having finished a lot of the smaller designs on individual pages, I went to the “divider” pages, which are more labor intensive, and colored them.

Since I had worked so long and hard on the cover and the divider pages, I covered them with packing tape to preserve my hard work. And, now that the journal was ready to receive entries, I found a list of “topics” that I could put one to a page to get me started. The first writing prompt was simply “Start Something,” which seemed apropos for what I needed to do. After finishing the first response, I went through the journal and put a topic on each page for half of the pages. Then, when I felt like it, I started picking up my journal and writing one 4”x6” page. It’s enough to say something, but small enough not to have to say too much.

I went back to WalMart and bought 2 more journals, along with some colored pencils at Pic'n Save, and took them to my therapist this week. I asked her to give them to someone who, like me, is going through the ebb and flow we get so used to doing, and who would like to both color and write. She immediately told me she knows just the two patients who will not only enjoy doing the “project,” but will benefit from it.

My work here is finished.