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Myth of Normal


"The myth of normal in an insane culture" inspired by 
Dr. Gabor Mate

A couple years ago I was listening to one of Dr Gabor Mate's interview on Youtube and he was sharing about the book he was working on, finishing up. If I remember correctly, he said the book would be titled "The myth of normal in an insane culture" or something like that.  When he  explained the reasons for the title, I thought, "Man he really gets it and society (US) really is sick-insane in so many ways". Today that interview came back to mind as I thought about what to write about for this blog post given the shootings and deaths that have occurred in the USA in the past two weeks alone. Not to mention, the many shootings and resulting deaths and injuries that don't get any news coverage at all.
I googled to see if Dr. Mate's book was out and it is. Maybe I misheard his title or maybe his publishers said you don't want to piss or offend people with that title, alluding to our society being insane? His book is titled The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture  Whatever the reason for title change or maybe I misheard him, he still gets it. We really are a toxic culture in many ways...these last couple of weeks have definitely highlighted one of those ways.
As always I practice what I preach and I am using my tools to accept/validate my overwhelm and low mood, especially because I know the loss of a loved one to a tragic and unexpected death. I do my best to not get stuck in my numbness, in the sadness of all these tragedies especially the ones caused by others. I remind myself many times that there are many good, beautiful and healthy parts of our culture. Sometimes that is how this process of personal growth, healing, transformation, etc... works, we learn and practice all of our tools and they can get us through the months, weeks, days and moments but even with that, sometimes life can really stink and the circumstances of life can be unfair and tragic. 
I have placed Dr Mate's new book now on my list to purchase in near future. I look forward to reading it as I think he is a brilliant person and has a lot to share about well-being (both physical and mental). By the way, he does not call or refer to mental health as mental illness which is one of the reasons I love hearing him talk/lecture. I am looking forward to reading his book and learning his suggestions for dealing with the toxic parts of this culture we co-exist in.
If you have never heard one of his interviews, here's one I have enjoyed:
https://youtu.be/TIjvXtZRerY 


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