in the closet... THE FAKE IMAGE

are we in the 21st century?

i feel as though we are living in the 1600's or that i should be living in an other galaxy or future period... perhaps, the 25th century. my friend yelled at me for inviting him to my blog! yeah, i'm serious! can you believe it? i had a feeling this would happen... so i'm going to tell you why...

he needs a job and he doesn't want anyone to find out that he has been diagnosed with a certain 'disorder'! (by the way, that's what he calls it...) yes, he's IN THE CLOSET about it, as are thousands of people, maybe even millions of people world-wide, who are afraid to loose their jobs, their relationships, their 'positions' in society, their 'roles' in the community... so he, like all the rest, creates an IMAGE that he wants the outside world to perceive him as. how sad is that?

is it not a HUMAN RIGHT to be depressed because you broke up with a person you loved so dearly or because your mother was murdered last night? please comment below!!! can anyone tell you how you are feeling at those moments? is it not your HUMAN RIGHT to say, "I'm not well. I feel very sad and I cannot come to work because I'm depressed."? this applies to all psychological conditions, yet since the health insurance companies refuse to cover any expenses of this sort and refuse to cover the consumers, people avoid saying these truths because they are afraid of the consequences. this is the result when health insurance companies are run by lobbies who care more about their pockets than whether their neighbor dies. thus, DISCRIMINATION continues in the 'richest' country of the western world. and guess what? depression, as well as other 'mad' gifts are not 'DIS-ORDERS'!! they are NORMAL! and so are the other 1000s of DSM 'dis-orders' the 'know-it-all docs of the psyche' decided to label in their manual (DSM) to give themselves a higher paycheck. did you know that the label 'homosexual' was once in the DSM as a 'disorder'? yes, it was! imagine... how time changes books and thoughts... of medicine! it is normal to be 'mad', as normal as it is to be a 'homosexual' or a 'african-american' or a 'woman' or having 'blond' hair or a 'big' nose! it is just an other difference among us. why must we be all the same? aren't the differences the beauties that make this world wonderful?

what would the world be like without Newton, Lord Byron, Hemingway, Van Gogh, or Tchaikovsky? can you imagine movies without Robin Williams, Nicole Kidman, or Robert Downey Jr., T.V. without Roseanne Arnold, songs without Sting or Axl Rose? so many of these incredible people are discriminated against society. isn't time for a change? as women's rights needed to be changed by the feminist movement, african-american rights needed to be changed by the black movement, and homosexual rights needed to changed by the gay movement, so do HEALTH CARE RIGHTS need to be adjusted to accommodate all people without discriminating on what/who/when/where. it's a shame that people are AFRAID to talk and interact in peer groups, in social events, among their colleagues, etc. because they are fearful of loosing their job, or their fake IMAGE!!

think about it... is that what you live for? your FAKE IMAGE?

my makeup, your makeup ... LABELS

Received an email from a friend telling me that the previous email ad I sent her yesterday was probably not related to her 'illness'. She claims to have CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome). I say 'claims', not because I don't believe her, but because there is no 'formal' diagnosis given to her yet, as far as I know. She is her own doctor and the symptoms she has are those of CFS. However since current research has no evidence of where this 'illness' or 'virus' or 'syndrome' or what-ever-you-want-to-call-it comes from, nor what the exact symptoms are, I cannot say with certainty that she has CFS. I do believe, though, that she has her own makeup, as do I, as do you, as does each one of us!

I say this because I AM SICK OF THE LABELS. The 'whoevers' or what-ever-you-want-to-call-them keep making up labels. As far as I know, all my friends, relatives, co-workers, and people I don't know, have about 3-5 labels!! "Hi, I'm Celine. I'm a 'vegan' 'ocd' 'bisexual' 'women' who just went through her third 'depression'." "Thank you for sharing Celine." "Hello, I'm Steve. I'm addicted to gambling and speeding. I can't control my appetite sometimes, so I guess I'm an 'over-eater'. Oh, and I collect a lot of stuff so my ex-girlfriend says I'm a 'hoarder'...I didn't know that was 'bad'." "Hello, Steve. Welcome."

So, you see what I'm saying... and this doesn't just happen in group therapy or AA meetings!! This is the regular conversation over lunch or when meeting someone at a party. And guess what guys...if you don't hear the lingo, listen carefully, you'll hear the 'under-lingo' and you'll diagnose the person next to you right away! It's instant eye-contact or non-eye-contact for 'secure' or 'insecure', for example. We all know that one. But do we? Do we rush to label? Are we right?

I used to think that I could read people inside out after reading so many psychology, sociology, cultural-anthropology books, and living around the world; then I began reading myself. It wasn't until then that I realized that what I did may not be exactly what I was feeling inside. I'm a pretty good actress. I can be polite if necessary, diplomat if required, rude if needed, and extremely cocky if desired...so if someone labeled me as 'polite' or 'rude' or 'cocky', s/he may be totally correct or totally incorrect.

In this same way, our current medical system labels us. You are feeling this, this and this...you are 'paranoid'!!! Take 'this' and come see me for ten minutes in two weeks! So, we get our label and believe it...because doctors are 'gods'... and we conform to taking the pharmaceuticals they prescribe to us after a ten minute conversation, and then, or course, become addicted to them. THIS IS ABSURD! Yet, so many of us have gone years and years of believing diagnosis that we've brain-washed ourselves and cannot get out of it, even if we are well! We are addicted to our diagnosis! We are addicted to our label! Without it, we would be lost. We wouldn't be able to identify ourselves.

Guess what folks? You are YOU! You are the unique YOU, who was born on ... at... time in... city/town/hill-top, under... with the genetic makeup of... father and ... mother and the previous 14-16 generations. So, basically, you are just your OWN MAKEUP. That's it. I'm my makeup. You're your makeup. We can sit around and talk about our commonalities all day... that's what friends are for!!! And that's what this Blog's about... OUR MAKEUP :)