We're Totally (Not) OK

Times are tough, especially now. But that's not uncharacteristic of our world, so we're keeping our message general in this extra tidbit of a mini episode for you.

Here's that speech Caleigh promised to deliver in audio version - an exit lecture form one of her favourite university professors, Sharon Sliwinski, nearing the end of her academic studies. It's an adaptation of a commencement address given by Mark Danner at Berkeley in 2005.

Caleigh reads it when times are tough, or when life's confusing, or when she's feeling invigoratingly brainy.

They're just words. But they're damn good ones. The kind you wanna, "take out back and make out with," as a friend once put it. Everyone should hear them.

One day we'll speak about our mental health with the same ease as our physical health. In fact, we'll realize its importance just might outweigh that of the latter. We hope. We dream. We make film festivals about it. Well... Geoff does.

In this special #BellLetsTalk episode, Tanya & Cales speak with Geoff Pevere, one of the masterminds behind the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival - a fest that focuses purely on movies that touch on aspects of mental health.

Share your feelings with your friends. Listen to them when they do the same. It's healthy. It's healing. It's human. Now go call your mom.

@GeoffPevere

http://www.rendezvouswithmadness.ca

Saje Pocket Farmacy

http://www.saje.com/ca/pocket-farmacy-222512.html

From a dog on Red Bull to a comedy school filled with screaming students to a stream of studio-hopping, Tanya & Cales battle the sound waves in an episode about cutting through the noise to find your voice and your sanity.

Cales sits down to chat with Toronto comedian Kirsten Rasmussen about life behind the curtain of comedy, how it can be both an outlet and succubus, and how to balance your boundaries and shield yourself from the pitfalls of "ugly places".

Tanya shares tells you about her "positivity chair" and the difference between "Hallmark" and "HBO" acting, and the girls call for a show of hands from our lady listeners to determine whether or not their next event should be a gal pal friend swap.

Follow Kirsten Rasmussen on

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kikirazzle?lang=en

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/kikirazzle/

Tanya's "Positivity Chair":

Dr. Henry Moller

https://praxisholistic.ca

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https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/were-totally-not-ok/id1177271351?mt=2

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https://www.facebook.com/WereTotallyNotOK/

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https://twitter.com/wtnotok

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In our second episode, we sit down with Healthy Minds Canada Executive Director, Katie Robinette, to chat about addiction, workplace depression, and how the art of film fits into the organization's advocacy for mental health awareness.

We talk about the similarities between self-help books and acting resources and, if you listen closely enough, you can hear Tanya colouring in our adult colouring book that helps with stress reduction, as well as our dance moves near the end of our episode when we share the secrets behind "Hammer time" - little bits of magic that, left to the hands of professional editors, would have been cut out. You're welcome.

Resources:

Katie Robinette, Executive Director, Healthy Minds Canada

healthymindscanada.ca

Documentary: "The Stairs" by Hugh Gibson

Book: "The Surrender Experiment: my journey into life's perfection" by Michael A. Singer

Host's Instagrams:

@calesleg

@t_bitty

In WT(N)OK'S very first episode, Caleigh and Tanya introduce themselves and share some of the reasons why they're joining the important conversation about mental health.

WT(N)OK welcomes special guest and resident psychotherapist, Rosana Zammit, who draws on her backgrounds in law and entertainment to share her specialized insight into the intersection of mass media culture and mental health.

Rosana Zammit

Psychotherapist

www.kind-mind.org

647 677 MIND