Feeling Giddy

Years ago, I had the privilege of being in a comedy group that performed in some of the top clubs in Hollywood. We would take the negative expressions in society and create new positive twists on them. This morning I laughed thinking about March Madness, where the team I grew up with had an amazing win and of course “All Heaven broke loose!”

Yes, I have been stung by the madness. It has shown up during a family Zoom meeting where I had the television behind my laptop and pretended to look at everyone while I watched the game. Hey, it has been almost 15 years since my team has made it this far and I’m not missing a second of it since there was no madness last year. Plus, the madness has also shown up in my changing session times. It’s important for me to schedule my own time to freak out in front of the T.V., stand there holding my breath, and pray as the last-second shot goes up.

I love this aspect of my personality, which is basically my inner child. However, I have allowed my inner child to go a bit crazy lately with all the hot dogs, soda, and chips “He” can consume. But it is March Madness baby!

It is fun allowing my younger self to be silly, clap and shout while the game is going on. My neighbors must think I have gone mad, but I take that in stride. If they are judging me, they are only projecting their negativity onto me anyway. This is how we therapists rationalize everything. I tell people “I am not judging you, I am assessing you.” Who cares anyway because we just won an impossible game last night and “All heaven did break loose”!  

I believe that March Madness reminds me of my youth. Why shouldn’t it? As a child, my team won ten championships in a row! It is as if my world is back together and whole with every tournament win. Things in life have changed drastically since I was a child and especially in this past year I have lost a lot of family and friends. This tournament is helping me let go of the loss and hurt and revert back to a simpler and happier time. Plus, I am off my strict diet and enjoying potato chips for a change. I can’t remember the last time I had them with soda and it is awesome baby – though my stomach isn’t too happy with me, there’s only a week left so that’s okay.

I am writing this before my David team (UCLA) plays Goliath (Gonzaga) for a berth into the finals. At this point, it seems far-fetched that they will win, but it’s been far-fetched that they have made it this far, so who knows? All I know is that I am excited, and it is nice to have something to be excited about given what we have all gone through in this past year.

I often reflect on the “Good ol days”, though it has been my intention to make these the good ol days too. It was always easy as a child for me to go through abuse, living in the Projects, but after my mother remarried soon we moved into an upscale neighborhood and were living across the street from Ray Bradbury, the famous science fiction writer. I thought I was dreaming! These were the great times of playing basketball, pretending I was Lou Alcindor, now known as Kareem Jabbar. And actually, this was the time my friends and I began doing comedy together. We would mimic our favorite players, do so in slow motion, and even in reverse, as we commentated like Howard Cosell. “Hello, sports fans this is Howard Cosell”. Do you know the feeling of laughing so hard you got hiccups? This was a regular, especially while we recorded our antics on a cassette machine. Who would think this would all come to a crashing halt when I tried to enhance this feeling with drugs?

Maybe this is what March Madness means to me – a time to return to the innocence of youth. Obviously, I have recovered and been sober for almost 40 years. Tough times but I got through it. Regaining the innocence of my youth has always been a priority to me. In fact, that is how I healed myself. My old friends reunited and my treatment was actually doing comedy with them again!

About 10 years ago I began going to Arizona for spring training which really got me back into my childhood. It was always baseball or basketball in my youth and at spring training I got that same lift I did as a kid, but with Covid the last two years I have done without. Watching it on T.V. is just not the same. Where can you go to one game at noon, then after it is over, drives to another stadium and watch a night game – on the same day! That was us when I played little league, we were on the baseball field at 9:00 am for our game and then afterward played in other pick-up games until the sun went down. Did I mention that I used to play Semi-Pro Baseball?

As the Clinical Director of a residential treatment facility part of my program was having residents play like kids. We would do drumming, sing Karaoke, guitar, and do all the fun things kids do in their youth. I was inspired by the work of Donald Winnecott who did the same. He used to bring Schizophrenics home with him to his family and treat them like a family member. These people profoundly healed. He called it giving them a “corrective emotional experience”. I heard about another study in which they took a group of elderly and created an environment where they were basically transported back to their childhood. Meaning, they had newspapers and magazines of the time they were seven years old. There was a T.V. that only played shows in that period. They were provided with baseball and basketball equipment and encouraged to play. They compared their vital signs a month later and they all improved amazingly!

Having fun in life is so important. Though as a therapist it is the most important thing you can do to take care of yourself. If you are out of balance, it is impossible to care for others. I have treated far too many therapists in my practice. I’ve even treated Psychiatrists – think on that.

Now I hand you the ball. How’s about a game of HORSE – in slow motion, while commentating? I’ll take the first shot as I spin the ball on my index finger, bounce it off my head, and watch it bank in.

Compassionate Care is Always Available

There are many more tools and strategies you can use in your pursuit of happiness. Here is where we come in. Contact us at Basic Steps Mental Health and let us support and educate you on this journey back to your loving heart center. Imagine living a heart-centered life, regardless of what is happening externally. We’d love to be of help.

For 25 years, Dr. Scott Alpert, the clinical director of Basic Steps Mental Health, has treated over 7,000 people with mental health and addiction problems, using a Psychological approach that mixes and matches ten of the top approaches used in the industry.  We are here virtually and in-person to help you get through this COVID-19 pandemic and many other difficulties you may be experiencing.

May you have good mental health.