new painting

Trip wants me to paint! He handmade a bunch of beautiful, tight stretched canvases for me. Here is something I painted on one of them. I will probably tweak it a tad.

remnants

It has been over a month since Hurricane Flo hit Wilmington, and we can still see the effects. I've heard that some people are still displaced, living somewhere other than their homes, and that some lost everything. There is still a lot of work going on all over, and downed trees are still being picked up. With the exception of Hurricane Michael, we haven't had much rain since Florence, thank goodness. My neighborhood is in good shape now.
One day last week I went to CB, the north end. I needed a walk on the beach, and enjoyed it despite the wind. There were a few piles of destruction there. Here is a pic of the jetty and the pier, that, though standing, is missing boards and stilts. Must be closed.

For Mental Health Day

As anyone who works in psychiatry can tell you, the mismanagement of sex is a terrible thing.

It was the rare female admission to the psych facility who had never experienced sexual abuse. It was rarely a male stranger rape but a slimeball of a relative who got to them first. And there were aggressive lesbians who preyed upon lost, vulnerable otherwise heterosexual women. Males are also victims, and it is harder for them to speak out. Most common was the male on male abuse. However during my time, I heard horrible tales of mother and son, preachers, neighbors and family members with boys. Generally, out of a sense of not belonging and feeling confused, both males and females can be lured into some terrible sexual relationships and become deeply wounded - if they survive. Molestation causes irreparable damage to children that determines much of the way they function throughout their lives.

Anyone can sexually abuse anyone or anything.

It also undergirds many political issues today.

Sex is one of those behaviors that is most likely to be used for power, control, revenge, and rage.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has turned on a television or been to a movie within the past quarter century that the cesspool of Hollywood has more than its its share of amoral deviants.
It was good that is was brought to light and spawned the MeToo movement. It has helped some people to heal. However the movement itself is subject to corruption and misuse.

If sex were in its proper place, mental illness would greatly lessen. Generally an upbringing in which a child feels secure, loved, and is taught healthy values like self respect will provide resistance to abuse as an adult. It is important to remember the source of the problem.

Those are my thoughts for World Mental Health Day.