What’s new in the world of babe?  Well, I was in Burnaby with our President, Rachel Lariviere conducting presentations for working professionals in the educational field and I also presented to a small alternative school.  A young woman arranged the entire thing and she was so enthusiastic about our presence.  Every time I speak I realize why I am doing it and feel happy that I am taking the opportunity to share my personal story in hopes that it will help others better understand what life can be like for someone who has a mental illness.  I was a little unnerved by a young student that left the room because he had been in the psych ward and I suppose a lot of what I was saying was ‘hitting home’.  If my perception is correct, I recall feeling the same way a long time ago…defensive.  No matter what anybody said to me during my hospitalization, ‘they’ were all against me.  I was somewhat hurt when the young gentleman left as what I was actually trying to do was to make him feel comfortable with the reality of what simply is.  I asked the group to bring up images in their mind when I said ‘mental illness’ and one kid said ‘retards’ and another said ‘annoying’.  To say the least I had a tough crowd, probably the toughest yet!  Overall, it seemed to go over well in the end and the kid that said he pictured ‘retards’ was delighted to hand in an evaluation card that said ‘Great Job!’  Phew, I got through that one.  If you are keen to have a babe presentation please let us know and I will be happy to accommodate.  We have now brought our program off the island onto the mainland and are thrilled to be spreading the word.  Let’s keep ‘Stigma Stompin’ together!   

A special shout out to the Accent Inn in Burnaby!  They kindly gave us a night on them – complimentary!  The stay was so smooth and comfortable, we can't help but be super grateful.  Thank you for your continual support and generosity to local charities like us.  🙂