Some Easter Thoughts!

I believe in God but I have doubts about Jesus Christ being the Son of God or being God on Earth in the form of a Human. Why I should believe in one and not the other! I find the idea of the Holy Spirit very attractive. I know the Lord's Prayer in English but I couldn't recite it all the way through in Welsh which is shameful.  



I believe that a Spiritual Awakening is required globally but especially in UK PLC and perhaps it will start in Wales, land of ancient myths and legends. If only to stop our collective insanity in its tracks. Something is required to slow down the never ending consumption and short term thinking.   A Secularist would call the Bible a work of fiction. I am not comfortable with a book written by Men professing the word of God. A Belief in a Higher Being is a personal thing so why am I writing a Blog Post about it? I suppose because it is a universally personal thing. On occasion when the 'sap' has been high and I have felt particularly in need of spiritual replenishment I have attended a church service. As a teacher in London I would make a pilgrimage to a Chapel near the Barbican called Jewin, the chapel where my parents met when it's services were held at the London Welsh Centre in Gray's Inn Road. I went for an opportunity to be in the presence of my mother tongue and worship in Welsh. I was a desperate man. My mood swings and intrusive thoughts were getting the better of me. Stress levels were high.  I am less desperate these days but you need to fill the God shaped hole. Some people do it with drink and drugs. Some people do it with...God. I have never felt comfortable in the Fellowship of the Church and was always the first to leave and tried to be the last to arrive at any service. I couldn't do small talk then and even now I find it a waste of time. I think I began following God because I got fed up of Man and what Man was doing in and of the world. I had a Spiritual Emergency in 2005 where I bargained with God. I prayed to a Higher Power. He/She kept their side of the Bargain and is still doing so and I am trying to hold my end up in the negotiation. It would be wonderful to see a Spiritual Revival start again in Wales like it did in 1904 with Evan Roberts at the helm. It kickstarted the Pentecostal Movement in America with the Azuza Street Revival.  If I attend a service now, it is to the Pentecostals I go because in my opinion if you are going to believe then you need to do it with a bit of 'hwyl' with a bit of singing and dancing in the aisles.

I always feel sorry for Jesus especially at this time of year and maybe we are meant to pause for reflection. Well we do get two days holidays in lieu of his crucifixion and resurrection so he's definitely worth a thought as we push our shopping trolleys around the Temples of the Moneylenders  I feel sorry that Man has put such a burden of belief upon him. Was he just a Man, a special Man or was he indeed the Son of God? Perhaps we shall never know.

Streipiau bach person da

 

 

 

Y lleisiau boreol ar Radio Cymru

Yn gwthio trwy fy ngwythiennau mawr

Fel saim a braster

Y llais bach miniog yna ar fore Sul

Yn son am beth ysbrydol mewn ffordd mor faterol

Yn atgoffa fi o'r pulpud, oedolion yn perswadio plant

I fod yn blant da, i gredu mewn Duw ac i gydymffurfio

Well, dwi yn credu mewn Duw, credwch neu beidio

Ond dim fel y Duw yn y Beibl,

Llyfr a gafodd i sgrifennu gan ddynion

Does dim rhaid i mi fynd i gapel neu eglwys i ddangos fy lifrau Cristnogol

Fy 'Streipiau' bach person da.

Oherwydd addoli yn gyhoeddus ydy hwnna, rhag eich cywilydd chi.

A waeth i ni siarad am gywilydd ar ddiwrnod Saint Padrig

Gyda'r Pab newydd da i slippars coch dan fwrdd yn y Fatican

Dwedwch wrthyf y rhai ffyddlon, pa ddaioni ydynt yn ei wneud?

Fel bob sefydliad arall mae ei chysgod yn fwy gwnâi het

Rydym ni bobl gyffredin, y werin, wedi ein gorthrymu gan grefydd

Yn gweiddi 'Thou Shalt Not'.

Roedd yr addoliad yn fawr ddoe yn Stadiwm y Mileniwm.

Digon o 'Hymns and Arias' a ffydd, gobaith cariad i bara tan flwyddyn nesaf

Ond dyn ni yn genedl o ragrithwyr dweud?

'My People'

No I don't think so, I am not one of them.

A hwnna ydy'r unig ffordd i guro'r gormeswyr?

 

 

 

Collective Sigh (Ochenaid) Cymraeg

Here he goes again! Collective Sigh: Ochenaid the noo och aye. Was having a convo in a Cafe in Cardiff this afternoon and was discussing the Welsh Language in English. Half an hour previously I had been in an other establishment talking in Welsh and was met with disdainful looks by passers by to the table. Yes in the Capital City of Wales and I am not being paranoid. The second conversation went along the lines that if all Welsh Speakers were to wear the above badge then spontaneous conversations could be had by people who would otherwise not know you spoke it. Especially in the Capital City more conversations could be had between strangers. Life can be breathed into it by this one simple, small action. At the moment it is being taught in Secondary Schools but it stops generally at the school gates as people don't wish to be forced to do anything especially young people. There is a distinct lack of self confidence regarding the language. Surely as a nation it would be in our best interests to become a stronger bilingual nation but we must get over this obsession with Britain and the British and their yoke of oppression. The truth is that it's happened all over the world. We just happen to have the Castles to prove it. In Cardiff on Saturday Welsh Nationhood will be tested to its absolute limits. For the urbane English it will be water off a duck's back whether they win or lose but unfortunately for us it is a matter of national pride and this is VERY unfortunate beacuse we appear to have nothing else to hang our collective three cornered hat upon. If we can strengthen Welsh Language and Identity then to use a footballing analogy success breeds success. The Assembly will become stronger and we will have a stronger more confident sense of self. You must have noticed that Alex Salmond and the S.N.P have become rather quiet of late because Scotland's membership of the EU will not be automatic should its people vote for Independence. Heart over Head we would all wish for Wales to be an Independent Nation but the rules of the Market apply unfortunately and with a population of 3 and 1/2 million people we do not pay enough tax into the collective Westminster coffers to be allowed that luxury at the moment. It is a duty upon every Welsh Speaker to now become an Ambassador for the language. To nurture and encourage Welsh Learners wherever they may be found. To wear the badge to encourage conversation in the street. I saw somebody wear the badge in Canton and we got into conversation. He was from Anglesey and had come to work in the Assembly. I conversed with two Nurses in Welsh at the Heath Hospital purely because they were wearing the badge. I would not have known otherwise and an opportunity would have been missed. I don't know about you but I feel better after I have spoken Welsh not to make money or to show off, just for its natural intrinsic value. For me it is like going back to the source of  the river and I do not wish to do it in bars and clubs where drink manufacturers will reap the benefits of me crying into my beer. If somebody has a problem with the native language as some do, that is their problem, not ours. They will have a problem with anything and anybody different to themselves.

 I won't translate this blog post into Welsh because in the words of the Cardiff Bigot

 "They all speaks English Anyway"        

Narcissistic Rage and the Sense of Entitlement | After Psychotherapy

Narcissistic Rage and the Sense of Entitlement | After Psychotherapy

Penblwydd Hapus i Fi/Happy Birthday to Me!!!

This was me, this time last year:

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/birthday-blog.html

This year, I am one year older and a little wiser I think. In normal currency I still deem myself a failure and having reached the grand old age of 47 it is unlikely that I will now make a million or its equivalent, have a pension. The Holy Grail: A Company Pension keeps many of us chained to the desks and computers of this land, afraid to venture out, to try something else, to downsize, to let go! The rate I am going it is ESA to JSA to OLD AGE PENSION. Yes in 3 years time I will be old. I view anybody over 50 as old, as any young self respecting 'whipper snapper' would view 47 as old. I am edging nearer. I am moving closer to the Mortality Mile. I am going to be a strange old man because I will still hold the views I hold now, to a lesser extent they are the views I held as a young man but those views don't mean diddly squat unless I can action them. I have mentioned my plans before and it will do no harm to mention them again here.

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/therapeutic-community.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/therapeutic-community_16.html

There have been slight modifications since I wrote the above but the dream remains true. I wish to start, open and run a Care farm, a Therapeutic Community run on a Permaculture basis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

I want us to reclaim our Mental Wellbeing by digging for victory. If any of you noble souls reading this know of any altruistic individuals who might just wish to leave their farm or small holding anywhere in the UK to a Community Care Farm run on Socialist Principles please let me know.

As an individual I think I am moving in the right direction,

not to make money but to make a difference.

Guest Post: The U.S Revolving Door of Shame by Gerald Bouthner

The U.S. Revolving Door of Shame

As a mental health advocate and fellow mental illness sufferer, I get really perturbed by the inequality that has persisted in our health care system. One particular thing that sickens me is all the prison cells, park benches, cold concrete sidewalks, and alleys, that have become homes/bedrooms for so many mental illness sufferers. In the U.S. it seems like the mentally ill who have lost all family support are very easily ignored and forgotten. Maybe even viewed as a bothersome bunch, and are sent off to live on the streets. In turn, many of them end up regularly in our prison systems.

Homelessness is a big problem here in the U.S. as is the number of chronically mentally ill that inhabit our prisons. In 2007 The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimated that nearly 750,000 Americans experience homelessness on any given night in the U.S. Of the 750,000 homeless it is reported that 1/3 about 250,000 of them have a chronic mental illness.

Because of the horrible, ineffective, and dehumanizing treatment record of State Mental Health Hospitals, there was a continual move in the 1980's to shut down the majority of them. Most of our chronically mentally ill citizens were discharged supposedly into a better community health care center program. Upon release from the Mental Health State Hospitals they were suppose to receive rehabilitation and drug therapy from these new federally funded community mental health centers. However this transition did not come anywhere close to fulfilling its expectations. Many within 6 months of discharge were homeless and unmedicated.

Not much has changed since this travesty of improved treatment and rehabilitation of the mentally ill occurred. Today, three times the amount of people with severe cases of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder live in the streets than are being treated in our State Mental Health Hospitals.

Equally deplorable is the amount of mentally ill U.S. citizens whose homes become a small cell inside our jail systems. Sad to say, but I would imagine that for some it may be viewed the better of the two given options. Prison food is certainly nothing most would consider as a fine meal. However, in comparison to living on the streets and digging through trash cans as some have to do, it may be considered a step up by some.

In 2006 a study was conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics showing that 64 percent of local jail inmates, 56 percent of state prisoners and 45 percent of federal prisoners have symptoms of serious mental illnesses. As result of this horribly executed deinstitusionalization many of of our mentally ill have been left with prison systems as their means for treatment.

The mental health services in our prison systems being left to treat the mentally ill has proven equivalently as helpful as putting a band-aid on a broken bone. They were not prepared or set up for this, are understaffed, limited in programs, and have been unable to provide any meaningful treatment. Most of the homeless mentally ill upon release from prison are no better than they were when they arrived and return to the streets having no where else to go. They are trapped in a revolving door between homelessness and incarceration.

Where is the justice? Are the mentally ill just dispensable? This stands as a sad testament to our mental health care system. These chronically mentally ill people deserve better treatment. Appearances declare that they are not deemed equal or deserving of proper care. Many States have even been cutting their mental health care budgets amidst this crisis.

If such improper care was placed upon cancer patients a loud outcry would occur. It would be considered inhumane, and I agree. Although mental illness is not a terminal illness, the suffering it inflicts is severe. Such lack of necessary mental health treatment, and allowance of a revolving door between homelessness and jail is also inhumane. But where is the outcry? If more cried out for change more change could occur. Some people feel their one voice is not strong enough. The truth is that one outcry can snowball into many. But someone has to cry first.

In most cases the imprisonment of the homeless mentally ill is a result of them trying to survive a life on the streets. Petty survival crimes such as theft and loitering, and disturbance of the peace, are the most common crimes they are sent to jail for. Jail officials have been speaking out about this noticeable problem. Recently in the news their has been talk by Chicago Jail officials about setting up a program that screens non-violent suspects as they come into jail, determining who is mentally ill and then potentially providing low income housing and treatment before they ever spend a night in the slammer. Video and story

This is certainly a great move in the right direction. This is a program that if enacted nationwide will provide proper deserving care for people that have suffered far to long. By doing nothing we are continuing the forceful push of our homeless mentally ill through that same revolving door. The U.S. is in the process of making what I would deem meaningful needed changes in our mental health care system. Project Aware Pages 11-13 highlights those.

However this issue of homelessness and incarceration of the mentally ill has not been addressed in this plan. This particular lack of equal treatment also needs to be addressed as a nation as it has been ignored for far to long.

About Author: Gerald Bouthner is a Mental Health Advocate, Blogger, and Guest Writer on Various Mental Health Blogs. Find out more about Gerald at The Challenges of Mental Illness or contact him via social media: Twitter Google+ Facebook

Gerald Bouthner Bipolar Disorder Blogger and Activist http://mentalhealthlivingwithbipolar.blogspot.com

My blog: "Working at Home"

Aliens Cymraeg

 

 

 

 

 

Meddyliais i’m hun wrth deithio o Rhayader i Lanelwedd yn ddiweddar, yr unig ffordd i gael cynnydd sylweddol yny nifer o siaradwyr Cymraeg os tase rhyw UFO yn glanio gyda bataliwn o aliens bach, gyda Chymraeg perffaith glan gloyw. Dwi ddim yn meddwl fydd nhw yn cael llawer o groeso, dim ei fod nhw yn aliens ond oherwydd bod nhw yn siarad Cymraeg ac mae 81% o boblogaeth Cymru ddim yn medru’r iaith. Efallai fod ni fel ‘Cymry Cymraeg’ honedig, the Welshest of Welsh ddim yn sylweddoli pa mor anodd ydi o i ddysgu. Mae’r bobol fwyaf brwdfrydig dros yr iaith yw'r rheina sydd wedi dysgu fel ail iaith. Maen nhw yn gallu yn rhoi pobl iaith gyntaf to ‘shame’ fel petai. Mae Cynnydd ddim yn mynd i ddigwydd dros nos ond weithiau dwi yn meddwl dan ni yn mynd yn obsessed gyda’r mewnlifiad a rhoi bai ar Loegr a’i thrigolion. Dydym ni ddim yn berthnasol i bobol Lloegr ond mi rydan ni yn berthnasol i bobol un iaith Saesneg sydd yn byw o fewn muriau Clawdd Offa? Dydi gorfodi bobol i wneud rhywbeth byth yn mynd i weithio ond mae rhaid meddwl am friwsion mwy tantalising na’r Eisteddfod a S4C i ddenu dysgwyr. Fasa ail poblogeiddio rhywle fel Sir Maesyfed gyda Chymry Cymraeg ei iaith yn un syniad. Creu rhywfaith o gymuned gynaliadwy a symud mas o fanna ond nid i’r dinasoedd mawr ond ail greu cymunedau yn y wlad. Ydi pobol y pres yn mynd i wneud gwahaniaeth i’r Gymraeg neu ydi ewyllys da'r ‘werin datws’ y ‘folk potatoes’ at ei iaith a’i etifeddiaeth fydd y gwahaniaeth rhwng cynyddu neu gynilo?