Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group
Find support with others who have gone through a traumatic experience. Whether you have chronic or acute PTSD, we are here for you.
I s'pose the upcoming train ride might be something approaching, "Exposure Therapy." I s'pose. I sure don't wanna think of it that way. I want it to be a grand adventure and exploration of future possibilities. Off into the cutting edge fields of bio-remediation and vertical farming. http://www.plantchicago.com/
It is pure coincidence that the train will ride through the same neighborhoods between my parent's estrangement (?) from the soy bean capital of the world in South Central Illinois through most of my first 14 years. I was only a year old when my parents estranged themselves from their home town. I do not remember many of the town names in the string of small towns they moved us between Decatur and Homewood. Even the names I remember are poorly connected to the wrecked farm houses we lived in. In 1968, when they took the show onto the Interstate, Homewood was still a country town. By that time, I was pretty much a rail rat, forever following the intricate web of train rails that criss cross the entire state of Illinois, diverting to and from the watersheds as I went. Mostly afoot, but I was not above hopping a train or panhandling money for a passenger fare.
I have been through and to the neighborhood uncounted times since 1967, on plane, train, bus and privately owned vehicle. "Exposure Therapy" has never been the goal of the passage, but. . . Processing happens. . .
After decades of processing, my visual thoughts still often picture the traumatic events on the Grand Marquee in blinding lights with mobs of pitch fork wielding locals fighting to get their ticket for the show. Shame and death await the star of the show.
Would home movies alone in my closet be a truer proportion? Selfies? Yucky, mucky home movies, but under whelming at best. Is Cecil DeMill's biblical movie career safe from my kiddie porn productions?
Snide aside: "Exposure Therapy" = "ET" = ET phone home?
The arthritis in my knuckles kinda give them an Stephen Spielberg ET look. . .
It is pure coincidence that the train will ride through the same neighborhoods between my parent's estrangement (?) from the soy bean capital of the world in South Central Illinois through most of my first 14 years. I was only a year old when my parents estranged themselves from their home town. I do not remember many of the town names in the string of small towns they moved us between Decatur and Homewood. Even the names I remember are poorly connected to the wrecked farm houses we lived in. In 1968, when they took the show onto the Interstate, Homewood was still a country town. By that time, I was pretty much a rail rat, forever following the intricate web of train rails that criss cross the entire state of Illinois, diverting to and from the watersheds as I went. Mostly afoot, but I was not above hopping a train or panhandling money for a passenger fare.
I have been through and to the neighborhood uncounted times since 1967, on plane, train, bus and privately owned vehicle. "Exposure Therapy" has never been the goal of the passage, but. . . Processing happens. . .
After decades of processing, my visual thoughts still often picture the traumatic events on the Grand Marquee in blinding lights with mobs of pitch fork wielding locals fighting to get their ticket for the show. Shame and death await the star of the show.
Would home movies alone in my closet be a truer proportion? Selfies? Yucky, mucky home movies, but under whelming at best. Is Cecil DeMill's biblical movie career safe from my kiddie porn productions?
Snide aside: "Exposure Therapy" = "ET" = ET phone home?
The arthritis in my knuckles kinda give them an Stephen Spielberg ET look. . .
atec
Sounds very similar to life with the circus. One of the oddest things was the mail. The was no computers so no email. I would have to send people the tour route so they knew to mail things days in advance to the upcoming towns. The other alternative was to send mail to the headquarters in Deland, Fl and the main office would eventually bring the mail to the show by car. That was usually a two week lag. One of the things the attorney bar application required was a list of prior residences for the 10 years prior to the application. My bar interview was answering many questions with "a tent in town" x...
mujicaptsd
My trips back home to Uruguay are always a mix of fun and exposure therapy for me, so I hope that for your train trip to Chicago, arfie. I hope it's rich and deep while full of whimsy, too.
Join the Conversation