Monthly Archives: November 2016

I am getting into a routine of visiting my photos every day and slowly editing through them. You will notice a change in the photo galleries as I edit through the photos. I am finally trying to add and organize photos and information from each institution that I have visited.

I must say, it has been quite a while since I have visited most of these institutions. It has also been quite a while since I have looked through many of these images. I am flooded with the memories and stories that I have heard and the feeling of walking through these haunting places fills the pit of my stomach. Smells are still poignant. As are the sounds of echoes and stillness and the feeling of soft grass and dusty floors. I feel the relevance of these places revisiting me, reminding me why I am working on this project. Now, as we face a new president-elect who promises total reform of our health care, I feel more than ever for the rights and access of those that need mental health services. I am working to find this story, tell this story, and protect this history.

Things that are left behind.

The seasons are changing and we prepare for Winter. The coldness is in the air and so is change. This Winter, as the leaves fall and the snow moves in, I prepare myself to be locked into my office. While I have been absent from this online form, absent publicly from updates on this project, things have been still shifting and working and moving. This Winter, I set up for the final edit of the project. I am not sure the outcome fully but it is time for finality, completion, and a finished product. I have set aside the next few months of cold, to sit at my computer and sew the pieces together, find the story that is waiting to be told, and to create. I am scared of the work. I am scared that it won’t be good enough. But I am more scared of not finishing this thing I started over 8 years ago. There is such an important story here. I hope I can do it justice. For the people who time has forgot. For the people who have struggled and who are struggling. You are not forgotten. You are loved. And your story is important.