Mr JONES and ME

[RonPrice]

Mr JONES and ME

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I saw the 1993 movie Mr Jones at some time during the years when I was retiring from FT, PT and volunteer-work, 1999 to 2005, and from extensive involvement in Baha’i community life.¹ I had had a working life of 40 years and been involved in the earliest years of community-building for Baha’is in Canada and Australia. I don’t remember now exactly when I first saw Mr Jones, but I watched the last half of the same movie last night.² In the movie Jones was, like myself, first diagnosed with manic-depressive illness in his late adolescence. He had several hospitalizations over more than 20 years; in my case it was over more than a dozen years: 1968 to 1980. Jones talked about his serious suicide attempt at college; I have had suicidal ideation or the death-wish, as it is also and sometimes called, for more than half a century from 1963 to 2012.

Watching this movie made me reflect on my own experience and the result is this prose-poem.-Ron Price with thanks to ¹ The Universal House of Justice, April 1996; and ²Mr Jones, 7TWO TV, 10:40-1:00 a.m., 23 & 24 March 2012.

Richard Gere is a lovely fellow; Lena Olin is even more lovely.¹ But bipolar disorder is not-so- lovely & needs to be watched all of one’s life. After Gere & Olin form the bond that ends the two hour movie I wonder what happened to him in his middle age, late adulthood & old age…Did he come to full compliance of his meds; did he have more talk therapy or did his battle continue with a win-win as one likes to think.

¹these were the leading actors

Ron Price 24 March 2012