november 12th , 2008

IMAGES

i am going to write one more post, belatedly, for 31 for 21.
it is in response to the "treatment" that is being pushed by a certain foundation to "improve" the cognition of those with down syndrome
by using a cocktail of potentially harmful drugs to children (one of these drugs being prozac...eesh.)

what it quality of life?
i'm sure we all of different answers to this question.
but rarely do we ever take a good long exacting look at what "quality of life" means for us.

for some, quality of life may mean the very most basic things: food, shelter, clothing.
for some, it may mean owning things: widescreen tv, nice car, fancy clothes
maybe for some to means that your time is your own: time to read, time to travel, time to let your mind wander, time to be creative, time to garden
maybe for others it means a 401K, security
or maybe it means marriage or children (and what that means to you)
or for some it means family, friends, a sense of belonging.

i think that for all of these things we can distill it all into one word.
what we want is to be happy.
books have been written on what is the key to happiness.
religions have been based on it.
it seems to be the all eleusive and sometimes attainable goal of all humankind.

when i reflect on what makes me happy i find it easiest to recall childhood.
i do this because this is when i can see most clearly that things are not what makes me happy. and even accomplishments are not what makes me happy. i was not happy as a child because i had this and that. i was not happy because i could DO this or that.
my happiness did not increase as my knowledge grew.
i know this because if it were true, with each passing year of my life i would have gotten more and more happy.
i was not happier in 5th grade because my handwriting improved. i was not happier in 6th grade because my math skills improved. i was not happier in 7th grade because i was better able to grasp life's mysteries.

no, my happiest moments were because i knew i was loved.
or because it was a beautiful day outside and i loved the way the sun felt on my skin or the grass felt on my feet.

think of the times when you were happiest and why you were.

i think you will also find these things to be similiar and true in your own life.

for this reason it makes me question and scratch my head when people try to improve the "quality of life" of people with down syndrome by thinking that if only they could do this or this better their life would improve.

it is certainly nice to do things and to know things.
but doing things and knowing things do not increase anyone's happiness. it is not the doing and the knowing which increases happiness. if happiness increases in this way, then logically, we must all be getting happier and happier each passing year and we all know this is not the case.

we are human BEINGs not human DOINGs or human THINKINGs.

why we think then that we are improving lives by giving people drugs to help with more doing then is a mystery and tragedy to me.

even if you have no firsthand experience with taking medication i think almost all of us can relate to how bleary and out of it we feel when we take a medication for a cold or allergy.

after you take something like nyquil or tylenol pm do you feel like learning or concentrating? imagine being on this for all of your life 24 hours a day. and then imagine being told you have to be on it because there is something wrong with you. and then imagine what that would do to your self esteem. and then imagine if it was told to you that what you DO is your worth and what is happiness. not who you ARE and how you LOVE. how would this make you feel?
would it make you feel like your heart was so full and happy it could bust forth with new ideas?
i don't think so!
are these the values we want to instill in our children?
is this what we want to be saying is important to people with down syndrome and to the rest of the world who are looking?

truly, what is happiness?
what will create it?
look closely and with great detail to this.
look at the BIG picture.

do not look merely at shallow things like how much better at math one can be. how can that bring true happiness?
how is that quality of life to know more math?

i think what we should be working and strivng for is how can we LOVE better, more clearly, more deeply.
how can we increase our COMPASSION?
how can we become less selfish people?
how can we laugh longer and with more gusto?
how can we create a better environment to shine our hearts and our souls.
how can we better appreciate not just our sameness but our DIFFERENCES.
let the differences shine through, let them fractal off making new worlds.
this is what we long to do.
this is our true nature.
let us be human BEINGS.

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