Mad Norman is envisioned as a radical mental health collective working toward a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of 'mental illness' rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework. The Icarus Project has been a major source of inspiration for the creation of this collective. The following quote from The Icarus Project website say it so well we see no need to rewrite them:

We are a network of people living with experiences that are commonly labeled as bipolar and other psychiatric conditions. We believe we have mad gifts to be cultivated and taken care of, rather than diseases or disorders to be suppressed or eliminated. By joining together as individuals and as a community, the intertwined threads of madness and creativity can inspire hope and transformation in an oppressive and damaged world. Our participation in The Icarus Project helps us overcome alienation and tap into the true potential that lies between brilliance and madness. [...] We believe that when we learn to take care of ourselves, the intertwined threads of madness and creativity can be tools of inspiration and hope in a repressed and damaged world. Our goal is to help people like ourselves feel less alienated, and to allow us—both as individuals and as a community—to tap into the true potential that lies between brilliance and madness.

Those of us who've talked about starting such a mental health collective in Norman have focused on a few major goals:

• offering support to each other in dealing with our own mental health
• offering a different perspective from the disease-based language and attitude toward mental health
• diffusing the fear and stigma we often encounter within the community

As with any collective effort, the goals and activities of the group will ultimately shift and change according to the members' needs and desires.

Guiding Principles (also borrowed from The Icarus Project):

Beyond the medical model. While we respect whatever treatment decisions people make, we do not define ourselves as essentially diseased, disordered, broken, faulty, and existing within the bounds of DSM-IV diagnosis. We are exploring unknown territory and don't steer by the default maps outlined by docs and pharma companies. We're making new maps.

Non-judgmental and respecting diversity. We welcome people who take psych drugs and people who do not, as well as people who use diagnostic labels like "bipolar" to describe themselves and people who do not identify with these terms. We do not exclude people on the basis of politics, lifestyle choice, recreational drug use, "criminal" behavior, or other outsider identities. We all have a lot to learn from each other, so we respect each others' choices. While the current social system and medical model have the tendency to divide us, we want our experiences of madness - as we understand them - to unite us.

Educating ourselves about alternatives. A lot of what the media, medical establishment, and institutions tell us about "mental illness," psych drugs, and how we have to live our lives is just not true. We educate ourselves and each other. We question what we hear on TV and read in doctor's office brochures. We explore holistic and spiritual approaches to handling our extreme states of consciousness. We learn as much as we can about any medical treatments we are using, and encourage each other to make informed choices. Icarus is a sanctuary for people thinking outside the mainstream and creating their own definitions of health.

Non hierarchy / anti-oppression. Local groups need to be anti-authoritarian, inclusive, and working against racism/classism/sexism/homophobia and other oppressions. We're a radical mental health support network; affiliated groups create safe and challenging spaces where oppressive behavior is not tolerated.

Balancing wellness and action. Mad Norman is a place to support each other in practicing real self-care: making sure we don't neglect our personal basics like food, rest, exercise, and community; encouraging each other to commit to the amount of work we can actually do, and not pushing ourselves past our limits; challenging ourselves to find daily routines and projects that help us live out our dreams and have enough structure to get by.

Access. We don't need more alternatives that only rich people can afford. All Mad Norman gatherings follow the policy that 'no one is turned away for lack of funds.' We work to create options and choices that are available to all.

Nonviolence. We believe that we will bring about lasting change in the world through dialogue, compassionate listening, mutual aid, and grassroots networks of support, which may in time form a viable alternative to the current system of government, bureaucracy, domination, and corporate culture.

Transparency. We believe in public access to information about how we are making decisions, spending money, distributing responsibility, and otherwise delegating the work of organizing together.

If you're in the Norman area and would like to be part of this collective, welcome!

~Mad love.....maka