“Our job is to find what keeps us whole” – the late Don Maclennan writes this in his poem ‘Mandate’. This is a question for all – as individuals, as communities, sharing a world.
“Our job is to find what keeps us whole” – the late Don Maclennan writes this in his poem ‘Mandate’. This is a question for all – as individuals, as communities, sharing a world.
World Mental Health Day on 10 October asks us to think of mental health and acknowledge the journeys of others and ourselves through and within darkness. To bear witness to people’s pain, but also to consider how we connect to ourselves, to the people around us, to the world.
South Africans have been writing about journeys through darkness, sharing experiences of pain, of a shattered world, of suffering and of hope and reaching towards each other in various contexts. There are also stories of joy and encouragement.
The National English Literary Museum (Nelm) has been collecting people’s stories in grappling with living here, with the conflicts within individuals and communities, for more than 30 years.
Some prominent South African authors, for example Wopko Jensma, Bessie Head and Ingrid Jonker suffered from mental illness or institutionalisation.
Literature reflects ways of being in the world, with ourselves and each other, tracing inner and outer journeys. We also read to learn about others, to extend our sense of other realities and experiences.
In italA memoir of love and madness/ital (2009) Rahla Xenopoulos writes about what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder. Nina Mensing tells us what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone suffering from depression in italA manic marriage/ital (2010). There are many autobiographies in which people share their journeys in the hope of consoling others.
It is not the role of literature to provide therapy, but the best stories offer their own kind of consolation, even the sad ones.
Some of us feel that we read to keep sane! Sometimes we read books to learn about specific concerns, sometimes we read randomly and grow with our reading.
Go to http://www.facebook.com/NationalEnglishLiteraryMuseum to see the books Nelm staff read to help them hold on to some sense of harmony.
