Stop the Stigma

We need to talk about mental illness. 




















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Smooth

Image
Smooth by Siv Parker Update Tuesday 23 February 2015, 12.30pm:  This blog post was prompted by a recent incident in Australia.   Rob Thomas best known as singer/songwriter of Matchbox20 is currently touring.  H e said some things at a concert. It triggered a social media firestorm.  He apologized quickly, twice on Facebook (links included below). That was good enough for me.   I decided to make some comments of my own. Rob Thomas’s response is also linked below.   If I had known the page hits to my blog post would be over 30,000 in 24 hours I may have taken longer than an hour to write it, but it is what it is.   Thanks for reading.   The last time I heard Smooth , it was a Sunday afternoon in January. A cover band was playing at the country pub down on the corner from my house. It sounded pretty good.   It wasn’t Santana featuring Rob Thomas, but it was kind of awesome to listen while ...
Read more

#TweetYarn~Close the Gap Day, 20 March 2014

Image
Are you interested in Closing the Gap on Indigenous life expectancy? Do you want to be involved in an online Close the Gap storytelling event? Perhaps you thinking of joining Twitter but just haven’t got around to it yet? How about joining in a collaborative #TweetYan on Close the Gap Day 2014? I created #Tweetyarns in 2013 - explanation  here , and an example here : Maisie May Statistically I can expect to die nearly 20 years earlier than most of the people I am favouriting and retweeting. Indigenous Australians are 2.7% of the population, however this small minority grooup cannot expect the life span of the majority of the population. And if some people have their way , I should not expect to live any or all of a life free of hostility and abuse. Some prefer an Australia where some of us live on guard for abuse and must be prepared to fight back.  But it wont be everyone who will be expected to be in robust debates on street corners, online ...
Read more

#mwf14 Blog-to-book Update 1.

Image
After blogging on every thing that caught my fancy over the past two years - from arts and culture, to social media, politics, and back in time to a shared history and the stories that keep my family alive - a secret wish has come true. Looking back now at my occasional brain snaps that were never posted, I know now how the final three Survivors feel when they walk down memory lane to read the spikes named for fallen cast members. I'm glad they never made it. (And if you are not a fan of the best mind game show on tv, please note, the players face elimination, not extermination.) . #MWF14 Blurb blog-to-book challenge Day 1 – Receive the news. Ask Garry to repeat it, just in case I had misheard that I am a Joint Winner of the  Melbourne Writers Festival ~ Blurb Blog-to-book challenge . Day 2 – Tell everyone and bask in their congratulations as we all get our head around what it actually means. Make up a list of people I can count on for honest feedba...
Read more

The Pennants

Image
       Archived 2016         The General Store [side view, the centenary mural]  This tweetyarn is an installment in my online series ...   'An Outsider: Yarns from the fringe'  ... 28 June - 5 July 2014,  updated daily. 'The Pennants' All rights reserved. In 81, my hometown won Australia's Most Boring Town. Most fun to be had was reading the bowser to see if the numbers had changed over night. — Siv Parker (@SivParker) July 1, 2014 Several locals disputed this and said it was more fun to lay flat on your back outside the General Store and count the nails in the ceiling. — Siv Parker (@SivParker) July 1, 2014 A question was asked in Canberra, 'does the Minister intend to use his influence to improve road access, so that tourism may be encouraged?' — Siv Parker (@SivParker) July 1, 2014 On hearing this, a local remarked, they'd have to first relocate the three sheep that spent most days...
Read more

PANDORA

Image
PANDORA'S BOX By Siv Parker 3 November 2015 BLOG ANNOUNCEMENT: OnDusk was selected for preservation by the National Library of Australia . This title is scheduled to be re-archived regularly.   PANDORA is a digital archive – set up by the National Library of Australia and now in collaboration with nine other libraries and collection agencies - dedicated to the preservation of and long term access to Australian online electronic publications of national significance. In the early days, to my mind, my blog - my tiny online space on the internet - was a small café off the main street.    My cafe was an old building, faded paint and weathered wood, but the window panes were intact and clean, and the large wooden door swung easily on its hinges.  From the very first, I swept the worn stone steps everyday and tweaked dead leaves from the potted shrubs that sat either side of the wide doorway.  Inside, nests of...
Read more

9 Posts Before Christmas...Tips for interviewing children in trauma #Cairns

Image
The public's interest in the unfolding tragic events around the deaths of eight children earlier this week in Cairns is reflected in the trending topics and expressions of disbelief and shock on social media.  Yesterday was another shocking installment when news spread that the mother of seven and aunt of one was expected to be charged with having caused the death of all eight children. I've seen the annual notices of the need for self care and reminders that for many people, the Christmas period is a difficult time of the year. For many of us however, we still can't understand and want to know how and why this dreadful event occured.   I had decided not to watch TV over the past 24 hours because there is a limit to what I want to see while I process this overwhelmingly sad and horrifying incident. But I was not prepared - and was quickly deeply concerned -  to see photos appear in the media, of the neighbourhood children, some of whom it's not unreasonable to ...
Read more

#MWF14 Blog to book Update 4

Image
Hello blog – I have missed you! I have so much to tell you, and always so little time! Here are some thoughts big and small, and an update on what I have been up to lately: _____________________________ Indigenous Australia is, to use a cliche (sorry!), on the cusp of change. Policing a silence won't arrest change, and talking about it won't jinx Aboriginal people either. Debate falls apart when we succumb to the temptation to explain emerging trends with a sweeping reference to outside pressure. This response will serve, until it becomes impossible to describe what is 'inside' and what is 'outside'.  Storytelling I was a part of a Masterclass recently in Indigenous filmmaking. Barely any of the participants used Twitter. None appeared particularly averse to the micro blogging platform, they just didn't see the need for it. I happily tweeted for a day, then quietly put my phone away. Quite frankly, I would have missed out on too much if...
Read more

Ola Ola

Image
So far, so good…the Opening Ceremony is on time. Oh nice flowers. And what is that…ohhh, glittery ball thing changes colours. Nice sand through the hour glass, lava lamp kind of effect. Oh, now it’s an egg, now a glitter ball..ohhhh, it’s opening..what’s inside?? Nice effect, like a giant tulip has opened it’s petals. Hi, nice lady, I have no idea who you are but I like your blue sparkly leotard.   Hmm sound is a bit dodgy, can hear whistles, and drums, and hollering, and her lips are moving but no idea what the song is. Nevermind, great atmosphere in the Sao Paulo stadium, hmm, hmm, hmmmm. Oh..who’s that bloke..is that…? Oh wait, that’s J-Lo..so that’s Pitbull! Timber! Careful you three, that’s a big hole you could fall in. If you tip over the side, make sure you land on a petal, petal. – haha - And that’s two women without pants on. For a men’s football tournament. Maybe that’s a Brazil thing. Could have been more revealing I guess… Um…Mr ...
Read more

Review: Midnight Sun

Image
Review Midnight Sun 8-part series, currently screening on SBS On Demand Directed by Marlind & Stein, the team behind Scandi-noir success The Bridge, Midnight Sun follows the investigation of the brutal murder of a French citizen in Kiruna, a small Swedish town in the Arctic Circle where the sun never sets. What ensues is the discovery of a ten-year-old secret conspiracy that no one could ever imagine. As social media increasingly doesn't provide the entertainment it once did, I've returned to an old companion for amusement. I have started watching television again. I recently settled in to binge watch a new Scandinavian drama. It had all the elements I expect from a Swedish-Danish-Norwegian-Icelandic police procedural investigating a murder. Slightly mismatched pair of detectives – check. Lots of exterior shots – check. The Artic Circle is very picturesque in their warmer months. And then it became very interesting – riveting in fact. I sent long t...
Read more