The State Of Empathy

September 18, 2016

Empathy – Soldiers Of Miss-Fortune

Filed under: — geo @ 2:42 am

Empathy – Soldiers Of Miss-Fortune with the Irreverent Warriors March

The State Of Empathy

Soldiers Of Miss-Fortune

in the end it’s not about soldiers but about us!

Conversations on The State Of Empathy with Veteran Soldiers
who have come together to prevent veterans suicide and in doing so
have found their Fortune in their shared Miss-Fortune

Soldiers Of Miss-Fortune, a work in progress documentary – in the end its not about the soldiers but about us! and what fortunes they might have found that we as individuals and as a society can learn and teach going forward

the film starts off as Conversations on The State Of Empathy with Veteran Soldiers who are marching in wall street and past occupy wall street park and coincidentally on the 5 anniversary of Occupy Wall Street movement when i stumble on them and to my surprise they have come together to prevent 22 veterans suicide a day by using humor and camaraderie – and in doing so have found their Fortune in their shared Miss-Fortune

Soldiers of Miss-Fortune, the film, exposes a little known secret that, soldiers, veterans of all wars through out history know, but the general public have not slightest idea – Its not the war, the adrenaline rush, the power for most of them it’s they miss a piece of themselves, their community, their family, their camaraderie, the intimacy, the bond of trust between them where they would take a bullet for each other, its about a kind of deep love that maybe only they know and we can learn about – it’s not a love of war…

in the end Soldiers of Miss-Fortune message is an indictment of society of “we the people” and our lack of empathy and often abandonment of the young and those very soldiers, warriors who died and were wounded and those who returned from one battle-field to a broken un-empathetic battlefield called society and come home to freedom to find and not see through rose colored glasses that they and the world is not what they had in mind – and the camaraderie they experienced and we all need to be embraced is what Soldiers of Miss-Fortune is what we all need to hear/learn & our society needs to act on to create a more humane and empathetic culture

from the Irreverent Warriors March NYC 9/17/2016

Care is about Caring
We have traded Empathy for Apathy & Fear

Irreverent Warriors

by
geo geller
geo@TheStateOfEmpathy.com

Oliver T

Captain 0liver T in British Army, Veteran of Afghanistan coalition
speaking about War, Empathy, Veterans and PTSD among other things

Sebastian Junger

Tribe

On Homecoming and Belonging 2016
Life After Combat with Phil Zabriskie 2015

at The HalfKing

FYI: i filmed Sebastian’s reading/talk because it resonates with my work in progress documentaries
Soldiers of Miss-Fortune password “soldiers” without quotes & and The State Of Empathy



James Wright

Enduring Vietnam
An American Generation and Its War

@ The Half King NYC 6/5/2017
please go to James Wright page with more details

“After all of the conversations about origins and strategies and political consequences, wars are about combat, what in recent times is sometimes glibly called ‘boots on the ground.’ Most of the decision makers and debaters can only imagine that experience. And typically they describe it with numbers or reduce it to anecdotes, selective numbers and anecdotes that best support their intellectual or political position.” James Wright

ROUGH DRAFT – Back-Story – work in progress notes
Soldiers of Miss-Fortune by geo geller – a stand alone documentary under the umbrella/wings of The State Of Empathy & Other Side Of War documentaries Soldiers of Miss-Fortune is maybe a miss-leading title to some and far from what you might think it – but those who watch this, just might be jealous as i am for what fortune they found in and among themselves – and this is not about glorifying war… war challenges our humanity and is a waste of everything imaginable

“Soldiers of Miss-Fortune” excerpted from “The State Of Empathy”. I stumbled on a Parade of Irreverent Warriors (veterans) marching by Zucotti Park, aka Occupy Wall St Park on the 5th anniversary – and what followed (see link below) is conversations with veterans as it unfolded and turns out they had come together to prevent themselves and a minimum of 22 veterans from committing suicide a day! – what i discovered to my astonishment is not only was i speechless that as i watched and listened to them that i was jealous of them! and that, to me in my mind maybe they found what we/i had been looking for all my life and what all of my documentaries are about, and that their fortune (they found themselves in their family, their trust community) in their shared miss-fortune as Soldiers of Miss-Fortune

Soldiers of Miss-Fortune story is not about what war or battle field but the field of battle that we share and experience – like a father is a father to all things not only his own off-spring –

Soldiers of Miss-Fortune has nothing and everything to do with who we are and who we aren’t, that war and after war brings out in us – is not about finding fortunes of physical riches or the spoils or booty or missed and misfortunes of war but about find the real fortune that we are all looking for that society has trapped us in the Stockholm syndrom in its conventionalism its rights and wrongs, its socializations – unless you have experience war in its many different apparitions and have the fortune or miss-fortune of being the outcast the missed-fortunate who maybe have found through their experienced a depth of life that they are holding on life while holding up each other and maybe it gives new meaning to “we the people” –

Soldiers of Miss-Fortune teaches us about life, camaraderie, love, friendship and most important empathy! and yet do to the lack of empathy as many as 22 veterans are taking their lives every day and why i ask myself in you: “why have we abandoned those who fought for whatever it is that we cherish and gave up their youth and future for you who give very little support” the question i imagine from each of those 22 sons and daughters who take their lives every days asks – YOU-manity Where Are YOU” what are we missing and what fortunes have they found that you and i and many of our fellow travelers are searching for – a real sense of family of empathy of caring – these survivors, warriors, guardians of the american way, angels who protect us from evil have in turn have no-place to rest – not accepted by society when actually they are our life teachers who have much to share and to live for a sad commentary and reality check for all who enter have experienced and hopefully Soldiers of Miss-Fortune can some day make a difference –
– imagine one of our ancestors who got lucky and survived so that we could be here in this moment in time together – what a gift life is that we take for granted – food for thought

MISSION and VISION
Irreverent Warriors

The MISSION of Irreverent Warriors is to bring veterans together using humor and camaraderie to heal the mental wounds of war, through therapeutic events and entertainment, in order to reduce PTSD and prevent veteran suicide. Our VISION is to provide all U.S. Veterans with the strongest veteran based support network, reduce the impact of PTSD, and eliminate veteran suicide.

How do we prevent suicide?

We provide a sense of community for veterans, much like the VFW did many years ago.
Our programs are events that bring veterans together using humor and camaraderie.

Our events bring veterans together in large quantities, more so than any other organization- using veteran friendly methods of coping: humor and camaraderie. When veterans come together at our events we give them an opportunity to connect, bond, love, and support each other. The connections and bonds made at our events allow veterans to create their own support network. The support that we give each other makes us less likely to commit suicide.

We also partner with veteran organizations who provide other services to veterans, services such as jobs, training, money, housing, service dogs, and more. The mental and spiritual support that we give each other, combined with the introduction of other services, give veterans the help and hope they need to stop considering suicide.

House again backs bill to lower suicide rate among vets

Jan. 12, 2015 7:13 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time in five weeks, the House has approved a bill aimed at reducing a suicide epidemic that claims the lives of 22 military veterans every day.

A bill named for Clay Hunt, a 26-year-old veteran who killed himself in 2011, was approved unanimously Monday.

The bill would require the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department to submit to independent reviews of their suicide prevention programs and would establish a website to provide information on mental health services available to veterans. It also would offer financial incentives to psychiatrists who agree to work for the VA and assist veterans transitioning from active duty.

The House approved a virtually identical bill last month, but the measure was blocked in the Senate by then-Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., called the bill urgently needed. The suicide rate among veterans is about triple the average rate for the general population.

“While no piece of legislation will completely end this heartbreaking epidemic, we cannot stand idly by while more of our heroes struggle with the invisible wounds of war,” Walz said. “We must take action. We can and must work urgently to send this bill to the president’s desk without delay.”

Clay Hunt’s mother, Susan Selke, praised House members for “putting party labels and partisan bickering aside and getting behind this important bill. We don’t want another veteran to experience the difficulties Clay faced when he sought care.”

The bill now goes to the Senate.

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