Posts Tagged With ‘ Robert Cochrane ’

Robert McKee is known as a guru in Hollywood for his ability to break down and rebuild stories. Hollywood bases its entire existence on being able to tell great stories that connect with the audiences. For as much as people complain about the stories that come out of Hollywood being recycled, they seem to miss a few key points: 1) it's show BUSINESS, meaning they're in it for the money, 2) there's a reason we’ve been telling the same stories for thousands of years, regardless of culture, geography or time period, 3) We are creatures of habit, generally averse to risk and new experiences.... Continue Reading

I’ve spent the last several years listening to stories from the Parkinson’s disease (PD) community. More than just listening, I developed two programs that help people discover, play with and ultimately share their stories. One theme that has been constant is the frustration many people feel when they share they have PD with someone who doesn’t know. It is personal information that some hide for years because they fear the reaction or stigma associated. One common response is, “I’m sorry”. This is a natural and understandable reaction on a human level. Saying you’re sorry has to do... Continue Reading

The following piece was written by BJ “Cecil the Diesel” Bement as part of the Day One: Parkinson’s Prison and the Hero’s Journey to Escape class. How did this happen? How did I get here? David versus Goliath on Court TV? It started with me having to face Senator Grubbman alone. From the outset, it didn’t go as planned. I had a team of advocates I was visiting our representatives with. We were on Capitol Hill pushing the National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act. It had passed the House and the vote counters stated that Senator Grubbman was the swing vote. It came down to... Continue Reading

After about 20 years of being out of college, I decided to go back to school to get my master’s in social work.  This is so I can do more work helping in the Parkinson’s community.  As part of my master’s program, I am currently interning at a low-income senior living facility. We provide social services, case management, and counseling services. One of my learning objectives as part of my internship is to run a group.  Since I have been Jamming for Joy with Yes, And…eXercise! for about a year now, I am convinced that improv can be beneficial for any senior group.  So I connected... Continue Reading

John Hurley is a dear friend I’ve had the pleasure of meeting through the Jam for Joy and Day One programs. He has written some of the most influential work in the class, inspiring his classmates to look deeper, feel more freely and live with greater strength of purpose. I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with him at the 2023 Within Our Reach Symposium at the University of Maryland where he shared his story.   He is having surgery on Friday, Feb. 29 and has asked for healing energy to be sent his way. He writes:   To all of the friends I have met through Jam for Joy, Day One or any... Continue Reading

In the movie “Dumb & Dumber”, Comedian Fred Stoller stands outside a phone booth. Stay with me – this was the 90’s. He’s pacing because he has a phone call to make, but the goon (Mike Starr as “Joe Mentalino”) is handling serious business on the inside. Tired of waiting, Fred pounds on the glass and asks if Joe has ever heard of the concept of other people. In case you want to see it, please click and laugh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1OTHPiJPxw Not being heard or seen hurts – maybe even worse than,, the punch Fred takes later in the scene. It is dehumanizing... Continue Reading

We have a direct ask: please go to ,,this site and leave a message of love and happy 80th birthday for our mom, Paulette Cochrane. Her birthday is February 15th. It is free and easy and your message can be as simple as “Happy Birthday. I love you.” Why it’s extraordinarily time sensitive: our mom is committing slow suicide. These are extraordinarily painful words to put on the page. We do not come to them lightly. Paulette has been battling bipolar depression for at least thirty years. It is a strange and confounding disease, in her case, transforming her from the social butterfly on steroids... Continue Reading

I want to try to take some of the pressure off those given the difficult task of delivering the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Doctors are under an inordinate amount of stress to do the work they do. They are often falsely led toward God complexes by those they try to heal. This imbalance must be rectified to empower the person who has been diagnosed and relieve the doctor delivering the diagnosis. The day of diagnosis is traumatic for many people. A research article from ,,Baylor University found that 91% of surveyed clinicians thought delivering bad news was very important, but... Continue Reading

Editor’s note: this is a letter written by Ryan Holland, a participant in the Day One: Parkinson’s Prison and the Hero’s Journey to Escape class that began on Jan 16, 2024. Dear Friends and Family,  I have leaned on many of you in the past few years as I have learned to accept my Parkinson’s diagnosis, cope with symptoms, and even look forward to living a life with meaning and purpose. Two activities have helped me make sense of my fate and to find a community of brothers and sisters who share the same condition. You may know that, given the litany of motor and non-motor symptoms,... Continue Reading

Improv has a funny role in society. It is both revered and feared. It is loved and, at times, loathed. It’s almost inconceivably brilliant when it’s played well and it’s nails on a chalkboard when it’s done poorly. In its highest form, on shows like Saturday Night Live, which is scripted but often uses improvisation to develop sketches and punch up classic moments live on air, or Whose Line is it Anyway? improvisation often looks like a magical trick. The feeling is awe. How did they come up with that on the spot? The answer is “Yes, And”.    The foundation of improvisation are those... Continue Reading