Overcoming Mental Illness

…and yeah, okay, it doesn’t take a genius to work out what film it’s from - but hey - it’s a great song, and she’s a bloody wonderful singer; so for your enjoyment we have Regina Spektor’s “The Call”…

The first thing I ever wrote regarding my history of mental illness was an article entitled My War against Mental Illness way back in October 2007 (I know it wasn’t all that long ago, but it feels like it sometimes).

It was a rather cathartic moment for me, having kept a lot of what I had been through to myself for so long to write it down felt wonderful - even if no one actually read it at the time.

Whilst compiling the short videos I took of my trip to Scotland I decided to make a few videos inspired from my favourite posts of the past, just for a bit of fun mainly, and the most natural choice to begin with was my first piece of writing on the subject.

The following is the result:

- READ THE POST THIS VIDEO WAS INSPIRED FROM -

(If for some reason you would like to post this video on your own blog/website to help raise awareness of mental illness just drop me a line and I’ll shoot some code over to you, the more publicity mental illness awareness received the more chance we have of instigating some change in attitudes and viewpoints.)

Inverness, the site of so many memories and moments of my life was both a happy inducing tour-de-force and also a nostalgic kick in the groin. There are two videos of my time in Inverness, both rather reflective pieces, which draw this particular journey in Scotland to a close.

Part 1: Return

Part 2: Reflect

And this concludes this journey. It’s not been handled very well, but that’s kinda the thing with bipolar isn’t it! You get all these wonderful ideas of world domination and then - BAM - a vicious depressive episode hits for no reason and nothing ever gets done.

Ah well.

There’s always next time!

Anyhow, hope you’ve enjoyed them at least a little - I had fun making them, so at least that’s something!

A rambunctious video double featuring the mighty collossos metropolis of Portlethen (!) and then an incredibly bizarre coda featuring Aberdeen beach in the middle of a mighty gale and rainstorm! Enjoy.

A video which is a little different than those published so far during this trip.

Bored one evening I began playing around with editing so rather than just post the “video blog” there are a few additions and a bit more historical information to this video. I could say “does anyone smell cheddar?” as it does get a wee bit cheesy, but hey, this was an atrocious chapter in British history so I think I’m allowed a little edammy-leeway here and there :)

Umm, my attempts at Rhum were hysterically bad. Here are two of the attempts, the first the most successful version I shot that day (attempt #6) and then the “obscurity” of (attempt #9) which follows it - and I have still to figure out exactly what happened to the camera here!

And pray I don’t ever post any of the out-takes!

…and yes, I duely deserve a spanking from all your film school students out there for breaking the fundamental rule of “don’t shoot into the sun!” (because, well, the results are fairly obvious aren’t they) So this can serve as a lesson to all!

Day #7 - Glen Nevis and Cow Hill

This was meant to be a “quiet day”, I like having them every now and then; just a day full of short strolls ’round town, nude sunbathing in the torrential rain, that sort of thing - so obviously I decided to go on a 25km hike up Glen Nevis!

Without doubt Glen Nevis is one of the most breath-taking examples of a Scottish Glen, and has over the years earned itself the award of “Addy’s most visited Scottish Glen” as I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been there.

My most memorable visit to the glen however was in mid 2001 when Lucy and I took a camping trip to Banavie and then into the glen on the way home. Now, the glen is notorious for it’s population of Highland Cows (i.e. hairy coos) and on this occasion we happened upon a field jam packed with these grass munching animals of exquisite cuteness. Venturing in for some photographs I started snapping away and then looked over to where Lucy was standing - the expression on her face being pure shock, extreme excitement or cack-yourself-with-fear terror. For standing less than a few centimeters from her was an only slightly hungry coo sniffing her. It must have been trying to decide if it should take a break from grass and chow down on something tastier instead. Fortunately for me it decided not to bite, which was unfortunate for him as he missed out on a rare morsel of tender tastiness. There is however a delightful photograph of this curious coo and a slightly befuddled looking Lucy.

This trip however, all the coos were elsewhere (possibly on a day trip to Rhum, who knows?) so I merely walked the glen to the falls and then began the trip back.

As I did I decided to return via an alternate route, which was up and over Cow Hill, which stands between the town and the Glen. It was a marvelous stroll and despite the grey damp weather offered fantastic views and made a change from the well worn paths I am used to trotting up and down the Glen.

Following this rather lengthy and utterly delightful hike I found myself watching what I can only assume is how the Fort Willians relax on a day-to-day basis…

…and I think more towns should adopt this strategy to entertain (and indeed exercise) it’s citizens!

Completely random one shot video blogs (no retakes or scripting) of my trip to Scotland!  

Whether you like it or not, part 2 is coming soon!