Remembering the workshop

A slightly out of focus Polaroid photo shows me on the right "way back when."  I was supposedly a counselor.

A Workshop for mentally challenged people was the way folks were offered a way to supposedly have a meaningful life.  These people needed to spend their time at either doing an activity which would bring them income and higher self esteem, or to spend their time in creating something they could sell, thus bringing income and higher self esteem.  My job as a Workshop Coordinator was to come up with ideas that could meet these goals.

I also did vocational testing to help people who were able to work in various community settings.  Mental retardation, or mental illness didn't prevent them from holding some jobs.  Training was offered in janitorial type services, and various businesses were supportive.

This was certainly a challenging activity for me.  I had spent much of my grad school time in classrooms, as well as a graduate assistantship which had me typing with computers 15 hours a week.  This was my first job after graduating, suddenly not meeting deadlines for papers, not using various counseling theories, not living in a bubble of a university.  These were real people, living in group homes, coming to a workshop location daily to hopefully have a better life.

Unfortunately many of these people wouldn't get better.  Their lives would continue to be monitored by taking medications that allowed them to co-exist with others.  Mental retardation and many forms of mental illness don't go away, which means expectations of counselors have to be geared toward the realities of these limits.

I learned a lot working with this population.  My heart is still wishing that improving quality of life was possible for everyone.

Today's quote:

...there are no wrong turns, only unexpected paths.

Mark Nepo

 

Rose the Rockette

Radio City Rockettes

Rose, in red in center

Brenda (activity director) is helping fill the bird feeder

Where do old Radio City Rockettes go?  Here is one of the original Rockettes, Rose (...)  She was found by chance in Florida when I worked as a counselor at a nursing home.  I loved reading her clippings about the Rockettes.

My counseling included reading the news in a group which discussed current events, as well as a verbal crossword puzzle group.  We also had a group where I played piano and we sang the "good old songs." We would have outings and picnics, birthday parties, theme parties monthly with refreshments, and individual counseling sessions.  I had about 20 to 30 clients at a time, all of whom lived in a nursing home.  These were frail people at the ends of their lives, dealing with all that being frail physically entails, while needing a support system that was stretched very thin. Very few of my clients had any families visiting them.

Did you know...

The Rockettes performed as part of opening night at Radio City Music Hall on December 27, 1932.  One of the original routines was "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" with costumes designed by Vincent Minelli. Today, the Rockettes perform choreography that is virtually unchanged since its creation over 80 years ago. The routine features the Rockettes dressed as wooden soldiers performing a kaleidoscope of formations in military precision culminating with a cannon shot which knocks the dancers over like a line of dominoes for a breathtaking finale.

Auditions to become a Rockette are always in April in New York City. Women who audition must show proficiency in several genres of dancing, mainly ballet, tap, modern, and jazz. Normally, 400 to 500 women audition yearly.

 Every Rockette must be between 5 ft 6 in and 5 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in tall. The illusion that all the Rockettes are the same height is created by placing the tallest women at the center of the line and then in descending height order to the ends. Performing a personality kick (when one's toes are eye level) ensures that all the kicks will appear to be at exactly the same level with no one dancer kicking higher than any other. Dancers under and over the height requirement are ineligible to audition.

 During the Christmas season, the Rockettes present five shows a day, seven days a week. SOURCE: Wikipedia

Though I know that my counseling was private with these dear people, I am not sharing anything that was not public knowledge. Rose has probably died since this was over 20 years ago, but I know our visits gave us both some small joy. 

Today's Quote:

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. Marcel Proust