Lights....camera....action: One-man Film Crew for New Directions

This unassuming young man is a professional videographer.... Larry Kirschner!

For years I've wanted a video of how New Directions operates, why we are so helpful to folks coping with the challenges of mood disorders.

We'll put it on our website and on YouTube. Hey, I wonder what YouTube, the master spy, is recommending for me tonight: a 1951 war movie, which I may watch, and '8 Hours of Relaxing Music.'

So, tonight was the taping in the Parlor of Abington Prez from 7 pm until 8:45.

When I walked down the stairs I could hear the organ booming from the Sanctuary! Read about their organ here.  

A campaign raised funds to have their organ - made by  M. P. Möller Organ Company of Hagerstown, Maryland - refurbished. At the dedication ceremony last month in March, they had a famous organist Alan Morrison give a recital.

Don't worry, I never heard of him either.

 Before I left home, Scott and I had a delicious supper of Lamburgers. 

When we shopped at Whole Foods I bought a pound of ground lamb - from New Zealand - which I fashioned into onion-studded burgers, then served on toasted whole grain bread with ketchup and mushrooms.

 At the filming, we wore name tags, as we do in the group. Look, it's still light outside. I did a monologue standing up, rathan sitting down as did the others.

For me, I have much more energy on my feet.

I jotted down some notes and decided to give an example of my first manic-psychotic episode on Valentine's Day, 1984. I talked about standing on the corner of Byberry and Masons' Mill Road in Upper Moreland, PA, and thinking I was in the middle of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. 

It's a long story, a long delusion. But I think it was a good example of what it's like to be manic.

Linda and her mom Jane were there. I asked people not to use their last names, unless they felt 'safe' doing so.

Linda read her poem "Lobsters."

Jane joined in with Carole Hodges talking about the importance of family involvement. Jane said she's very proud of Linda and also that Linda's brothers don't understand the illness or her poetry. She also said that at her age, 83 or 84, she needs Linda to help her in the home.

Ron, an attorney, talked about his late-onset depression at 40 and that when he got hypomanic he left his wife, something he deeply regretted, and so did his now-grown daughters.

Ron is also an award-winning photographer and brought in a framed picture you can barely make out. He took it at the subway stop at 30th Street Station and is a shot of a teenage girl's very fancy shoes and socks. It took first prize in a show at a camera shop.

Judy Kroll gave a rousing performance about her bipolar, laced with fascinating details. She mentioned she has an excellent psychiatrist - Don Levin - and took up skiing to ease her seasonal affective d/o.

She's a very talented writer and that's why I ask her to write a story for the Compass every year, which she mentioned.

Now, tonite, I talked for an hour and fifteen minutes to my therapist friend Judy Diaz who moved to Niwot, CO, to be with her son and daughter/law.

I was on my bike while speaking with Judy Diaz and I mentioned our filming tonite and told her who was there.

"Judy Kroll!" she said. "I know that name. She lives in Holland, around where I used to live."

So, you see, Judy Kroll, you're famous..... all the way to the Marijuana State. Where, btw, Judy's son Michael is a cannabis grower.



Other people who gave great testimony about ND - not shown - are Ada Moss Fleisher, Keith, and Carole Hodges, who, with her husband Gregory, run the Family Member group.

We continued filming until we covered the most important topics - the feeling of hope that we give to our members thru dark depressions, our wholistic approach of healthy eating and exercising, our Top Doc/Top Therapist list, as the lifeline to healing, and as Carole said, sharing your most intimate feelings with people who truly understand. 

When we were finished, I felt so great as I walked down the long hallway, up the short flight of stairs and out into the beautiful but chilly dark night.