Michael MacLafferty, LMFT | Archetypal Wellness
Oakland Psychotherapy & Astrological Consulting
In our modern, materialist, capitalist culture, Doing is valued and promoted, while Being is undervalued. This is an aspect of Patriarchy, since Doing and Being are archetypally masculine and feminine, or yang and yin, respectively. Leo and the Sun are traditionally interpreted as masculine, but as you may have realized, I am suggesting an alternate interpretation.
The Artist is supposed to be the titular meal ticket... But as I noticed the way he was chewed up and spit out by the narrative...I came to a grim realization: The Artist is less the meal ticket, and more the meal.
As a psychotherapist, I want to see disability destigmatized, to be recognized as a unique and valuable perspective in society, and for awareness to grow around the language that is used to describe it. As an astrologer, I want to see disability humanized and conceptualized as a multivalent archetype, not merely existing on a list of potential sour transits.
A few months ago, I went to a signing and Q&A at my local comic book store. As soon as I entered the store I saw him, but I pretended that I didn’t. He sat in a power wheelchair, and was talking with friends who stood around him. Maybe he had cerebral palsy? I felt uncomfortable knowing the store would have to think about making accommodations in their seating arrangement. Who knows what other special needs he may have?
This post was inspired by a radio interview I gave on June 16, 2016 with Matt Savinar; you can listen to it here (audio no longer available). When I first saw the book “Me Before You” at the bookstore, with Emilia Clarke (Lou) and Sam Claflin (Will) on the cover, my first thought was, Oh, a… Continue reading Me Before Who?: A Breakdown of the Latest Popular Disability Yarn, “Me Before You”
I think queer folks are disabled by mainstream society. I think disabled folks are socially queer... We are the freak show of the mainstream (don’t even get me started on American Horror Story). We receive the projection of their shadow, the fear of the disruption of their “normal” lives; the fear of difference, isolation, dependency, subversion, loss of control. We actually hold a lot of power when you think about it.