For the past three years, or however long this cursed pandemic has been going on, I’ve gotten out of bed and went straight to the park for a walk. Exercise isn’t a cure for depression and anxiety, but it’s as good a bandaid for it as I’ve found. It’s funny, the relationship I have with bugs. When I see them in my house, I declare biological warfare on them, but when I hear them chirp their sweet songs in the woods, I’m grateful for the soundtrack they’ve provided me as I try to sweat the sad away. Same goes with freshly cut grass and/or hay. I absolutely love the smell of it because it immediately takes me back to being a kid playing baseball and football with my friends. A time when mental illness didn’t plague me, or at least a time when I was too young to know it had. On the other hand, though, it sends my allergies into fits and I spend the rest of the day hockin’ loogies into a trash can with a splitting headache. The older I get, the more I realize that almost everything good comes with a price. It’s like the gods are taxing our happiness.
THANK YOU. People who buy into the Civil War monument debate - "grrrrr, stop erasing history!" - annoy the living fuck out of me. Lifelong Memphian here, I've worked in museums and archives for years. Preserving history is literally the job. We got this! The local library has ALL THE THINGS! Your legacy is safe! Y'all just get big mad when we take down Jim Crow-era statues that still stand in public spaces. Can't imagine why.
(Also maybe don't come at an archivist, as a rule. We drink and we know things.)
...I'm in the middle too, when it comes to places like the Chickamauga Battlefield. Site-specific plaques and monuments are the only way to go, as unpleasant as the story may be.
You are so fortunate to have such a great park to work out frustrations, anxieties & hay fever. Again you share some of your coping skills. All of us needs a coping tool box that we use to help us. Walking is one of my coping skills that helps me, especially on the beach. Of course, meditation helps. Having a plan in place, like your early morning walk, is crucial to maintain a healthy emotional state of mind. Thanks for sharing, again, ways to be more balanced.👍
Well said and thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree and believe we truly need to learn from our past or are doomed to repeat it. It feels we as a country are getting scary close to repeating it now. I hope more people will take thoughtful walks wherever they are. Enjoy the beauty and reflect on the ugliness of the past.
Corey, what you describe about Chicamauga sounds a lot like Gettysburg (not a native Pennsylvanian but I've lived here for some time). The battlefields themselves tell a very different story than those the town square monuments do. The battlefields, for the most part, are about the poor fools who followed the generals into battle. And it is like walking through a podcast, as the topography of a battle site, and the manner in which it dictated the action, contextualizes all those monuments and all of the violence and death they represent.
Dude, amazing post, but damn, now you've got me all maudlin. I'm not sure I could walk the battlefield every day like you do - if it's anything like Gettysburg, the energy is almost oppressive.
And thanks, too, for keeping your pragmatic approach to mental illness front and center. Those of us who share your encumbrance appreciate your frankness.
The happiness tax is trash, I want to see a Bundy ranch-style standoff where folks protest the happiness tax. I...don't know what that would look like.
I don't think it's an accident that Chickamauga was the first national battlefield created by Congress. Post-Reconstruction, they saw an opportunity to commemorate Bragg's biggest dub (biggest confedereate win outside Virginia IMO) and went for it. Thankfully the northern states raised the funds to put up some totally sweet marble monuments up so we do get some sense of who was there even if we can't begin to fathom exactly what happened there on those days.
Like right there across from the Kelly House, August Willich's brigade set out a defensive line (actually four different lines) and saved the Union Army. They took nearly 600 casualties, there were only maybe 1500 of them on the field. Just a maelstrom of death...prolly 20000 guys bearing down on them. And if that wasn't enough those same units ran up Missionary Ridge and whupped up on Cleburne's dudes in Chattanooga not long after. Willich was an absolute legend...trained under Clausewitz, tried to duel Karl Marx, managed to haul his massive gonads around commanding troops for four years.
It's weird --I lived in Oklahoma for 20 years, pre-millenium, and never saw a Confederate flag. Then I moved to Florida and saw them all over. Now I'm in Texas and haven't seen a one. To hell with Florida.
Bugs, civil war hysteria are all part of a complicated south. Southerns have had to learn to deal with this craziness in odd ways. I tried keeping my mouth shut but that’s not working too well. Thank god you voice your opinions without apology. Kudos.
I wasn’t aware of the depression. I’ve suffered with it myself but have been able to have a couple different therapists over the years who have helped. I’m so sorry for your pain, Corey. 💓
I like how you think, you make sense. I can't understand though how many folks in WI fly confederate flags. I have close relatives that fly them, and it upsets me.
THANK YOU. People who buy into the Civil War monument debate - "grrrrr, stop erasing history!" - annoy the living fuck out of me. Lifelong Memphian here, I've worked in museums and archives for years. Preserving history is literally the job. We got this! The local library has ALL THE THINGS! Your legacy is safe! Y'all just get big mad when we take down Jim Crow-era statues that still stand in public spaces. Can't imagine why.
(Also maybe don't come at an archivist, as a rule. We drink and we know things.)
...I'm in the middle too, when it comes to places like the Chickamauga Battlefield. Site-specific plaques and monuments are the only way to go, as unpleasant as the story may be.
Just listened to POA #25. Congrats Corey & Amber!
You are so fortunate to have such a great park to work out frustrations, anxieties & hay fever. Again you share some of your coping skills. All of us needs a coping tool box that we use to help us. Walking is one of my coping skills that helps me, especially on the beach. Of course, meditation helps. Having a plan in place, like your early morning walk, is crucial to maintain a healthy emotional state of mind. Thanks for sharing, again, ways to be more balanced.👍
Well said and thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree and believe we truly need to learn from our past or are doomed to repeat it. It feels we as a country are getting scary close to repeating it now. I hope more people will take thoughtful walks wherever they are. Enjoy the beauty and reflect on the ugliness of the past.
Corey, what you describe about Chicamauga sounds a lot like Gettysburg (not a native Pennsylvanian but I've lived here for some time). The battlefields themselves tell a very different story than those the town square monuments do. The battlefields, for the most part, are about the poor fools who followed the generals into battle. And it is like walking through a podcast, as the topography of a battle site, and the manner in which it dictated the action, contextualizes all those monuments and all of the violence and death they represent.
Dude, amazing post, but damn, now you've got me all maudlin. I'm not sure I could walk the battlefield every day like you do - if it's anything like Gettysburg, the energy is almost oppressive.
And thanks, too, for keeping your pragmatic approach to mental illness front and center. Those of us who share your encumbrance appreciate your frankness.
Cheers, brother!
The happiness tax is trash, I want to see a Bundy ranch-style standoff where folks protest the happiness tax. I...don't know what that would look like.
I don't think it's an accident that Chickamauga was the first national battlefield created by Congress. Post-Reconstruction, they saw an opportunity to commemorate Bragg's biggest dub (biggest confedereate win outside Virginia IMO) and went for it. Thankfully the northern states raised the funds to put up some totally sweet marble monuments up so we do get some sense of who was there even if we can't begin to fathom exactly what happened there on those days.
Like right there across from the Kelly House, August Willich's brigade set out a defensive line (actually four different lines) and saved the Union Army. They took nearly 600 casualties, there were only maybe 1500 of them on the field. Just a maelstrom of death...prolly 20000 guys bearing down on them. And if that wasn't enough those same units ran up Missionary Ridge and whupped up on Cleburne's dudes in Chattanooga not long after. Willich was an absolute legend...trained under Clausewitz, tried to duel Karl Marx, managed to haul his massive gonads around commanding troops for four years.
It's weird --I lived in Oklahoma for 20 years, pre-millenium, and never saw a Confederate flag. Then I moved to Florida and saw them all over. Now I'm in Texas and haven't seen a one. To hell with Florida.
Bugs, civil war hysteria are all part of a complicated south. Southerns have had to learn to deal with this craziness in odd ways. I tried keeping my mouth shut but that’s not working too well. Thank god you voice your opinions without apology. Kudos.
I wasn’t aware of the depression. I’ve suffered with it myself but have been able to have a couple different therapists over the years who have helped. I’m so sorry for your pain, Corey. 💓
I like how you think, you make sense. I can't understand though how many folks in WI fly confederate flags. I have close relatives that fly them, and it upsets me.
bugs are cool. i try to put them outside when i see them. even roaches on occasion.