Friday, February 8, 2008

The price of sanity.

"Optimism is true moral courage." -- Ernest Shackleton


Well, most of y'all know the news by now. I am appealing my Peace Corps rejection -- based, apparently, on a long-ago incident in my battle with depression. (I try not to blame myself for telling the truth on my initial application.)

I'm light-years from where I was eight years ago, and I'm convinced I'll never go to such a dark place again. I know, now, how to veer off the path long before hitting that dead-end.

But hard to convince strangers of that, when I'm just a faceless name on a piece of paper, 1,500 miles away.

Tomorrow I have an appointment for a comprehensive psychological evaluation. If that doesn't prove my sanity, nothing will. And the price of proving it? The low, low one-time payment of $648.

I get one chance at an appeal. It may not be possible to get past the bureaucracy, but I intend to see this all the way through, know I've done everything I could. Turns out I really am committed to this. (Insert joke here).



Inspiration of the day:


“Don’t fuck with me, fellas — this ain’t my first time at the rodeo.”
— Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest"

“You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your own wings on the way down.”
— Ray Bradbury (via Miz K)



Anthems of the day:

I Won’t Back Down / Tom Petty (actually, while I'm loving the sentiment, I hate the song)

I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got / Sinead O'Connor (beautiful message, beautiful song)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"A mas honor, mas dolor."

vmh said...

!!??

Oh I am sorry!! I hope the appeal goes well. Wow.

Vicky, sending hugs

Anonymous said...

That sucks beyond belief. And is absurd. I'm here sending out prayers and well-wishes that everything works out for you (as I'm certain it will one way or the other). Hugs!!

nealy

Anonymous said...

They're totally using your desire to do something new with your life against you! Unfair!

Bryon Houlgrave said...

This is really sad to read, after reading previous posts about how excited you were about joining the PC and making a difference in Africa. I'm truly sorry to hear about this roadblock. I hope your appeal bears good results.

Krista said...

doesn't Bettye Lavette do a great rendition of that "I do not want what I haven't got" song?

big hug!

BlankPhotog said...

Damn, that's lousy. What's your plan C?