Starting out with my idea on the Funny Farm, I had two problems. We still live in a country, filled with people of hate; discrimination, racism and bigotry! That's the sad part of it all...but true nonetheless! Age discrimination goes on all the time in this country...and discrimination against people with mental illness goes on all the time, too. The name-calling; job discrimination; the put-down in it all, which is all a shame for this country!
Frankly...because of all this, I was reluctant to open the Funny Farm, because of my fear of getting flamed...hate mail, or even being discriminated against or losing my job, etc. Isn't that a shame that a person has to feel this way, when dealing with such an important subject, which affects all of us! So, I had to proceed carefully, etc.
Going back to the Stone Age of 2003, and I contemplated all of this, I did so for about six weeks, and I went back and forth with the idea, as to whether I should go forward with the idea at all. So, I placed all of it on the back-burner for a few weeks, as I tried to make a decision on the matter. The second problem I had, was how I could blend humor with mental illness, and do it in a respectful and dignified way. Experts tell us, that being able to laugh at ourselves, at all the "crazy" and "insane" things we all do is good for us...it's therapeutic! I don't know if I had the courage to attempt this or not.
I decided to go forward and open the Funny Farm, but I would do it in a serious manner, and leave out the humor, because I frankly, didn't know what to do or how to handle it. Weeks went by, and things went well...I was not flamed nor did I get emails of hate! The opposite happened, as a few awards came down, which nourished my soul, and I was relieved that I could go forward with such an important issue.
One day, I was surfing around in the Homestead (host) clip-art library, working on an article I was writing, and I stumbled onto the cutest little straight-jackets I've ever seen! I knew right away, I was going to bring in these little straight-jackets in and put them to work. This is the point where humor would come into the Funny Farm, and I would now open the Funny Farm Gift Shop, where these little cute straight-jackets would be on display, etc. I made them "designer" straight-jackets in your favorite colors.
When I was down with hardship and heart-failure (2005), I was in a lock-down psychiatric ward myself for over three months, and it gave me great joy, when I put a smile on one of the other patient's face, which brought joy into their life, even if it were just for a few seconds! So, now I would try to blend mental illness with all the joys of humor, always remembering that I had to find a way to do it in a respectful and dignified way!
I decided not to throw a bunch of jokes in the Funny Farm, for that would be tacky, cheesy and dis-respectful! I decided to talk about the positive and healing power of humor and what clean humor means to all of us! This was my starting point in blending humor with mental illness...the benefits of humor in the HEALING PROCESS! And, by doing it this way...I was very excited about the project!
I read a newspaper article recently, whereby stress and depression in the work place are at an all-time high. No wonder...as we live in a greedy society, whereby many people can barely make it from paycheck to paycheck and can't save for the future! This is putting a lot of stress on families of all sizes! I encourage everyone to get the health-care they need...physical and mental healthcare! THERE'S NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED ABOUT!