May 26, 2005
From the Bardo
A couple of weeks ago, I received a posthumous surprize in the mail. My mother's last creation here on earth. Her project was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Florida Arts and the University of South Florida, Impressive. It was her first (and last) grant.
According to the frontispiece of the publication, "'Timeslips', an innovative project developed in 1998 by Dr. Anne Basting , uses an effective storytelling method with people with dementia to reaffirm their humanity and connection with staff, family and friends...without the frustration or embarassment that can come with memory loss. Responses are woven together to create a story...Understanding some of the work is like looking at an expressionistic (sic) painting; ... give it your own meaning; the participants did."
Unfamiliar images, like a man riding an ostrich, are used to prompt creative verbal responses.
Here are the responses my mother's creative cohort made to an image of the man riding an ostrich. It is entitled:
"Turkeys Have Pretty Legs"
"Turkeys have pretty legs. It's not doing any good", says Jack, "a man."
Lois: "Henry is riding a turkey. He can't ride. He is messing around and enjoys it"
Jack, wearing his brimmed straw hat, laughs uncontrollably. "That is right." he says.
"It is Thanksgiving." adds June. "On a Thursday out in the woods -- don't you know where they are going? Turkey is concerned because it is almost time for turkey -- somebody's turkey dinner."
As Lois says "turkey" , Sumner gives the turkey a name -- Susan. "Making him feel badly and he doesn't know why."
Lois points at Henry and says " He is wearing a gray shirt. Men don't usually ride on turkeys."
Cutting in, Marian adds, "too disturbing, looks uncomfortable."
In the background, but loud enough to be heard, Lois quietly says, " I did not know turkeys had such pretty legs."
Marian, in a louder voice, "Women are terribly concerned about that."
In my opinion, this is, perhaps, their finest piece.
One more. This is a group response to the image of a man sitting at a grand piano entitled:
"Lazy Man Sits at the Piano"
"Playing the piano - the works of musicians. There isn't anything funny about lack of harmony. Nice, it stands you there -- very peculiar. Yeah. Playing quack, quack. You've got a very confused person there. It can be serious. Quack, quack. They might just turn it over. Who is the man? That, I wouldn't know... he hasn't been around our place before. A pianist. It's showing. Sun today. He's going to play the piano. It can be good or bad. Good. Sweet. He's turning in his books. That's a good guess -- music books. It's a matter of time."
There are many more pieces which I would be pleased to share with anyone who is interested. You can see where my gift for poetry originates.
Elmer Green, the father of biofeedback, wrote a fascinating book about his experience with his wife, Alyce's, seven years with Alzheimer's. I think he is a theosophist, although he never mentions it directly. His belief is that Alzheimer's is the phenomenon that takes place as the Alzperson is making the transition between the physical world and the "the Bardo". He listened very carefully to Alyce's expressions during this time, though they were often unfathomable or jibberish. Sometimes he was certain that he was hearing about her experiences in the Bardo, which she was trying to communicate to him.
A while ago I received an email from a woman whose mother had been a court illustrator (and her father, a psychiatrist) in response to my entries about Elmer Green and his book on the subject The Ozawkie Book of the Dead . Her mother, an Alzheimer's patient in a Los Angeles nursing home, with an excellent program for artistic expression, drew the same woman's face over and over. No one in the family was able to recognize the face.
Photo note: Two of the authors of "Timeslips", communing
Posted by Dakota at May 26, 2005 01:55 PM