Click picture to view slideshow

What if we crafted our world so that no trauma was caused, so that PTSD was not created day after day? What if one of our primary guidelines was to cause no harm? Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character by Jonathan Shay states this idea much more eloquently than I can, and I don't have a copy handy at the moment, though I do highly recommend it. The author proposes this idea of purposefully changing our world to reduce the chance of trauma and resulting PTSD.

I grew up with combat vets, I grew up in a PTSD environment, I myself am challenged by PTSD for reasons not directly war combat related. One of my first boyfriends was a Vietnam vet and we understood each other really well, hypervigilance so normal to us that we did not know to call it PTSD. Once I was diagnosed and began researching, books like Achilles in Vietnam taught me a lot. Therapy, research,  and talking with others all help me learn how to live.

I'm writing right now because of Rob Richards' great comment about homeless PTSD affected vets and also because of the sign I saw about a workshop today held by the International Trauma Treatment Program which is based here in Olympia.  My own experience and understanding is why I often encourage folks to debrief after dramatic events. The more we talk things through, share and listen, the more we pay attention, the more likely eventually we will all agree to stop causing trauma.

No matter our perspective, recent events at the Port are important. I encourage us all to keep talking, keep communicating across any apparent divides, and keep figuring out ways to improve our world.

An idea: walking tours of Oly led by OlyBloggers. Maybe one blogger focuses on one particular site, maybe an entire route is planned and traveled. Diversity and variety encouraged.

Extra points if you find the OlyBlog sign.

Let's all meet up for the town photo this afternoon. I'll have a big sign so you'll know where to congregate. See you all there.

Rick (your humble blog admin and caiman master)

Like a shy grade schooler on a playground, I finally met a couple of Olybloggers today; finally putting blog handles to faces.

My wife and I a couple evenings ago, sitting outside on a Friday night over a couple of drinks, had a good conversation about our feelings of Olympia and its residents. First you have to understand my wife and I are like James Carville and Mary Matalin. She a greener, and I a southerner from Atlanta. Makes for interesting conversations no less :) But she asked me about my attitude towards the recent protests of the last year since I've returned from the sandbox.

The folks on the corner in Sylvester Park once a week bothered me at first after returning home. But as time went on, even though I completely disagreed with them, I came to have a new found respect for their commitment and convictions. The same group of folks week after week after week for the past year, stood on that corner rain or shine. They have my respect. The Port is another story and yes, I do feel strongly about what happened. But that's another matter I don't want to get into at the moment.

Fast forward to today. The civil disturbance training is a state requirement and not a reaction to last week's protests. It's been planned for the last several months. Each battalion rotates every other year and is responsible for this duty. After starting off behind Avanti H.S. the soldiers moved back to the armory for a practical exercise and final written test. That's when a couple of anti-war folks showed up. We had a nice conversation with a gentleman about what we were doing and he asked several questions. I always find it nice when folks ask about us, what we do, and how the military works and he was genuinely interested. The people who came down were friendly and I said hi and talked to "Olygal" and another gentleman.

Drew was there filming what we were doing and for a moment I felt pretty awkwards. I didn't say anything to him for awhile. But after some time I asked him "Hey Drew, gonna put that up on the site?" It wasn't sarcasm, I just wanted to know if it was going to be posted so that I could save the video to my computer. I asked him "Are you Drew?" and he answered yes, and I extended my hand to introduce myself. I may completely disagree with Drew and what he has to say, but it seemed the nice thing for me to do. He and I talked for a bit and again, I disagree with what Drew has to say but the conversation was cordial. And this got me to thinking....

It should be no secret to anyone that I love Olympia.  I also want it to become a better place.  I will harp on the issue of Olympia becoming more inclusive and more empowering until my dying breath.  I am a simple person, generally driven by this concept.  I make no allusions that I know everything, nor am I stubborn about looking at issues from other sides.  But I am dead set on Olympia becoming more inclusive and empowering.

What I like so much about Olympia is that it is not like any other place I have experienced.  I have lived in a great many of the great cities this country has and visited even a greater number of them.  This is no better choice for me than Olympia. There are other places I could be happy, to be sure, but no place I have a greater respect for, or affection for.

We see places around our country or world and wonder should not Olympia have this or that.   Indeed, there are many things that would be interesting to have in Olympia.  The thing is that Olympia has her own way.  I do not see her doing things because it is cool in Santa Cruz or Providence or Timbuktu.  I see her doing things because they are inclusive and because they are empowering.  I will bring ideas to the table that may have their origins in cool places, you can count on me for that, but in the end nothing matters unless the ideas are inclusive and empowering.

Olympia has her own way.  Can not always pin her down.  In the end she will be like nothing else and she will always stuggle to be only who she is.

The Rambling Toaist makes an important point:

One of Olympia's City Council members attended many of the demonstrations as an observer. He was later castigated by many in the community. One of the many critiques came from a military veteran. Upon learning that said Council member had never served in the armed forces, this person wrote in an email, "When it comes to war, leave it alone. I read your biography and notice you never served. This doesn't surprise me since about 95 percent of protesters haven't."

This comment harkened me back to Salem, Oregon, 2 or 3 years ago. I was standing on a downtown street corner holding a sign protesting the war in Iraq. A gentleman came up to me and asked if I had ever served my country in the armed forces. No, not me, I replied. He then launched into the same kind of diatribe.

I just smiled at him. I found his comments amusing. He was stomping around telling me that no veteran would be wasting their time as I was. Unbeknownst to this gentleman, the two men standing on either side of me were indeed veterans, one having served several tours in Vietnam and the other served in Desert Storm. Both were vocal critics against the war in Iraq.

This incident underscored for me the fact that people jump to too many conclusions on how THEY believe a particular person might feel about any given subject. Just because an individual is a military veteran does not mean they will be in favor or against our current military endeavors.

While many current anti-war protestors have never served a second in military service, this same fact is also true of the vast majority of the individuals who support the war!! It's very apparent then that military service does not, in and of itself, determine a person's point of view.

There's lots of other good stuff on this blog.

From the Olympian:

More than 100 people will come together Tuesday for a communitywide forum to discuss strategies on reducing homelessness and helping people like the Learys.

Social service workers and elected officials have come together before to brainstorm and pool resources. But organizers say the "Dream the Dream" forum will be the first time people who haven't always been at the discussion table will take part in devising solutions.

Invitations have gone out to bankers, builders, judges, veterans, downtown merchants and others.

"To me, this is much more than just an issue about homelessness," said Cathy Wolfe, county commissioner. "This is also an economic development issue. This has a lot to do with keeping people out of our jails, saving people tax dollars and cleaning up downtown so that downtown businesses are much more viable. I think all those are very important aspects of what we want to accomplish here in addition to making life better for homeless people."