Wanting New

Dear Beloved Blog Readers,

I am really glad that you enjoyed Stuart’s metaphor for my sculpture. He is a great guy and I am so glad I can call him my friend.

​I dearly hope a big change in my life will happen soon. I am moving from one service provider agency to another. I am not mad at the place I am leaving. They have been such a great home for me for so long.

I am really just ready to try something new in a new place. Is this familiar to you too? I know in the fairy tales people set off from home to seek their fortunes. That is what I am doing.

The goal is to get Utter Communication Strategies up and running with me doing movie screenings and talk backs and workshops on the topic of “difference”.

Oh, it will be great to be in business.

I am easily sending you good thoughts for good changes in your life.

What a great experience it can be.

Fondly,

Mark

The Seeker of New

Good Home for Friend Moments

Dear Beloved Blog Readers,

Hope your summer is being radiant.

I have made a new friend and he has a communication disability too. One good thing about difference is that when you discover someone who shares one with you it’s very wonderful. I and he had a great talk last week and the day was full of wonder.

Now first I must explain to you that Stuart is Deaf and yet has awesome skills for talking with and understanding “hearing” people. I think he is also a hugely smart person.

I drove up to the Northeast Kingdom with Emily and Brian to find him on the piece of land he farms on. It was downright delightful to spend time on the land he loves, eat really fun good food he prepared and talk and sit on the little bridge above the babbling brook he loves so much.

In a previous blog posting I had asked people for additions to my metaphor list.

Stuart had specifically invited me to his land to see his garden and the weeds gloriously growing all around it. “Ah” he said while we sat by the water “I think we so much are like weeds and normal folks are like cultivated plants.” He showed us a book called The Wild Wisdom of Weeds. In it the author talks about the amazing benefits of 13 very common weeds.

Oh, I think it’s healthy for us all to validate our inner weed.

Please really love yourself from the inside out.

I applaud your efforts so far.

Be great.

Fondly,

Mark

The Wise Weed in a Wise Meadow

The Honest Work for Justice

I am totally excited to tell you, Dear Blog Readers, that I was at my Supported Typing group this past month and I had a great topic to propose to the group. I wanted to know what they would suggest as a good movie to see that shows someone overcoming obstacles.

We who use this form of communication are still attacked often by hearing that there are many who find that there is not enough evidence to prove it is effective. I so hurt to see Tracy Thresher at the last State Standing Committee on Developmental Services when the issue of research based findings was discussed again.

He has been promoting this form of communication for over four years touring with the documentary he stars in; Wretches and Jabberers. I am so tired that this discussion keeps getting brought back up as I feel so many of us are living examples of what this form of communication does to release our minds.

I have just returned from a week at summer camp. You know this is not a holiday for me because I am eager to interact with people’s minds and I have to rely on smiling, blinking and hand gestures as my form of communication. Luckily some of the counselors at camp have seen my movie or read my blog so they know a lot more about my intelligence.

So at the Supported Typing group long-time typer and Tracy’s co-star Larry Bissonnette suggested I watch the movie Selma and I did last night.

Oh what a rough experience that was. It is a reminder that people can make huge ugly assumptions about others and let those dictate their actions.

Let us keep typing our voices and overcome these obstacles.

I hope you soaked up the good sun of the weekend.

Be well and be kind.

Mark

The Nice Mountain Climber