Thank you Mark. You bring up some essential points. The world I'm calling for is a total re-imagination of our systems and how we perceive the world, which is necessary to transcend our grasp on crumbling realities. Yet to make it real we need to ground it with the present realities that you precisely spoke of.

Mental illness is just one aspect of my message. I touch on how creativity, chaos, myth and story, and our own individual awakening through our "hero's journey" can be a catalyst for our times. People who live on the edges and those who have struggled in their own depths often often carry elements of these archetypal truths that, under the right conditions of support and space, can be channeled in transformative ways. And yet anyone can tap into these realities whether mental "illness" is present in their lives or not. it might be necessary for the evolution of humanity. What Perry did was truly remarkable, yet I agree that our society does not have the infrastructure and overall consciousness to actually replicate or expand on what he was doing on any level, let alone institutional. Similar to germ vs. terrain theory, system/environment influences behavior. I validate the efficacy and need for medication for those struggling within the current soul-sucking systems and cultures we live in. I didn't mean to polarize.

With all of the hardships you have faced, I sense that we can meet on levels of depth and capacity that many people who haven't gone in their own suffering might have challenge doing. I deeply respect you and your process in all its highs and lows. I'm beginning to respect mine more too. I believe we can learn from the wisdom of all of our traumas and darkness, even the ones we find destructive. And you are so right about seeing insights as an advisory role, and may not be most appropro as the decision-making role.

Those photos are quite splendid :)