VOCAL is a group of psychiatric patients, survivors, and peers who are coming together to create something new in the world: Firewalkers: Radically Rethinking Mental Illness.
Through storytelling, photography, media engagement, book publishing, community art groups, and grassroots outreach events, Firewalkers is working to change the story of mental health. The Firewalkers Project is designed to be different than what is already out there. There are already many depressing books, articles, and stories about mental illness, but we rarely hear about the growth and transformation that can come through this journey. A field guide to radically rethinking mental health, Firewalkers redefines mental illness as: altered states, emotional turbulence, ecstatic visions, crazy blessings, and mad gifts.
As people who have personally experienced serious mental illness, the Firewalkers team works to be a song of hope. “We want to change the way the world looks at mental illness. We want people to know that a mental illness is not a death sentence. It’s not the end of the line or the last thing that will ever happen in your life. It’s a strange and unexpected journey that most of us never asked for or ever wanted. But after walking through the fire, it has brought us somewhere. And for some of us, we would not go back, even if we could.”
Many people think that coming together with others who have psychiatric conditions will only be depressing and difficult. Not always so. In Charlottesville, and surrounding areas, the Firewalkers team has begun creating events that welcome everyone and include celebration, speakers and storytellers, free food donated by area businesses, photo slideshows, art-making, dialogues, and a place to find connection and learn about ways to get involved in the mental health recovery movement.
Where next? The Firewalkers team wants to create more workshops, present in college classrooms, create a class for CEU credits for providers, start a Firewalkers program for churches, reach out to more media, create an online mad arts interactive writing project, and develop a curriculum that can be replicated and spread. They want to create wildfire.
For more information on VOCAL and Firewalkers please contact Cassandra Nudel at Cassandra@vocalvirginia.org
www.thefirebook.org