Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer, those
are the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station.
It's staff management or ownership.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good morning, you'll find out with Pete and the Poet Gold.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
I'm Peter Leonners and I'm the Poet Gold and.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We're on the air this morning with Diane Taitarshian author,
a multi talented person who we're going to get to
a writer. If we go to the Poe Gold for
her weekly poem prayer incantation, go please let it roll.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Okay, I'm going to do another piece from my new book,
be the poem Living Beyond Our Fears, and this piece
is entitled all the Thoughts Inside your Head. It's a
lyrical piece, but I'm going to speak it. The thinking
man contemplates the complexities of life, making sure to demonstrate success,
not the vice. The rise and fall of our kind
(00:47):
calamities are daily news. When we front we build walls
to hide away our truth. You are what you think
you are. You are all the thoughts inside your head.
You are what you think you are. You are all
the thoughts side your head.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Wonderful, All the thoughts inside your head, and all the
actions out on your body. So, Okay, I made a mistake.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
You're thinking Princess Diana, so.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
It's glory to you for some reason. Okay, I made
a missake. Thank you for correcting. Sure, and tell us
what your projects are about. Because the wide range and
I know that, and they all all get towards mental health.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well, they're not necessarily they're not just geared towards mental health.
They're geared towards healing and taking societies kind of brokenness
and dark darkness and cascading it into more of a
light and doing a lot of humanitarian type work. A
(01:56):
big part of my focal point is mental health, which
I never thought it would be because of my childhood,
you know, But what I found out is is that
mental health does not discriminate anybody, and everyone can come
down with a mental illness, and especially it's so rampant
(02:16):
in today's society.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Why why do you say it's so rampant in today's society?
Why do you think that is? This may not be
like a one answer type type thing, but what do
you uh is it? Is it that we live in
a more stressful world or I mean, what are your thoughts? Well,
that's definitely a component, poet uh Gold. Everything seems to
(02:42):
be so fast paced in today's society. You know, it's
meeting to meeting to meeting, to the point where we're
having meetings about the meeting. And of course I think
most people would agree. I think the circulation and exposure
(03:03):
to a degree of the Internet.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
There's many pros and cons to everything. You know, there's
the best and the worst, even in people. There's the
best in people and the worst in people. So you know,
so much of what goes on with the Internet. I
think there's a lot of bullying amongst youngsters. Right now.
(03:28):
The suicide rate amongst young people is the second highest
that it's ever been. You know, I just came back
from the European Mental Health Research Conference. It was blessed
to go to Scotland for it in Aberdeen, Scotland, and
for some reason over there, they're allocated a lot more
(03:52):
funds to do much more with mental health, you know,
to help heal it. And also as far as that,
it just seems to be not as progressive as it
is in America. And I would say, but nevertheless, it's
(04:18):
a global epidemic and there's so many different you know,
you know, the the rate of divorce and broken homes
is also the highest it's ever been, so that could
be a source of it. There's not there's not one
thing that can pinpoint it.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
When you mentioned it, when you first brought it up,
you said, you're giving you a childhood, and there seems
to be an emotional echo to even you're mentioning your childhood.
Are there's some things in your childhood that defined or
that lead you to the work you're doing today.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
No, just the opposite. I never thought I was going
to be doing work like that, So that's why I
think it's so much a part of I'm very spiritual,
so I think it's very much was divine and meant
to be. But I had to go through a lot
of suffering in my adulthood. In my childhood, it did
have its ups and downs like anything else. However, I
(05:24):
had a lot of happiness, a lot of love. I
had financial privileges, I had a very strong family, I
had many friends, I had excellent teachers. I had a
lot of opportunities in my mind because I wasn't exposed
(05:46):
to it at that point, I didn't realize that mental health.
You know, you start to think, not only does mental
health have a stigma, but you start to think it
can only affect people that haven't had as many opportunities.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Right right, Yeah, there is such a stigma with mental
health as far as who was impacted by it. What
are the circumstances that may trigger, you know, a mental
health episode in someone, And it could be from, for
lack of a better term, privilege to those who may
of meager means, you know, it doesn't discribe it.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
That's what I said.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
It.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I learned that and I did have a very traumatic
experience that I do believe, you know, brought it to trigger.
It was a trigger My father, who is very close
to I looked at him as a very strong role
model in my life. Taught me many invaluable lessons and
was very loving and very much a role model. In
(06:50):
nineteen eighty two, if you remember back then, when there
was the age epidemic going on, my father had quadruple
bypass art surgery and was exposed to bad blood and
from that transfusion. Six years later, because there's an incubation period,
(07:14):
he was diagnosed with age and died on my seventeenth birthday.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Oh wow, Okay, so.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
It's been. I don't want to give away my age
because I still think I'm seventeen.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
A lot of people know eighty two minus seventeen.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yeah, but anyways, So but what I'm getting at is
it's been about thirty six years later and I'm still
my heart still beats because that's how much I loved
him and miss him. But I've made my life about
honoring him.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Okay, yeah, you know, I think going back to when
you're talking about Scotland and how scott and I believe
you said allocate a certain amount of funding towards right
mental health, and in comparison to a country like America,
I think, you know, we can be our own worst enemy.
You know, no one just like people right, well like
people as a country, and we can be our own
worst enemy, you know, because one of the cultural experiences
(08:16):
America is the bravado is we don't show you know,
we look at something like mental illness as a weakness,
tears as weakness, and not realizing that that having that
position is a weakness, you know, not being able to
own some of the things that we can grow through
and say well there's something there's something wrong with you,
(08:36):
but there's nothing wrong with.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Us, right, You're quite brilliant, And that statement is quite
brilliant because you know, it's in our strongest adversities that
we find out who we are, right right, right, you know,
And I don't think a lot of people, I don't
know if it's in today's age, I don't know what
it is, but want to be accountable for a lot
(08:58):
of things or take hold of what they're facing.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Right right, And that's and that's a definitely key opponent,
you know, wanting to be accountable.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
You're right. I'm leaning with you on that.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
People don't want to be accountable, and so so we
look to.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Others to fix us, right, you know, thank you?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Right where the fixing happens within the self, with support
from community, you know, people like yourself. The programs that
you that you offer. So you have a book out
you said you do workshops. What type of workshops do
you do?
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I have started a workshop. I actually started a nonprofit
under the umbrella of a very large nonprofit in Duchess
called Mental Health of America Duchess County, Okay. The name
of my nonprofit is Universe of Self and Spiritual Awareness,
(09:54):
and it speaks for itself so, and.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
We're going to give you a chance to speak about it.
But if you want to go to Poelic Gold to tell.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Us once again, if you're just tuning in, you're listening
to finding out with Pete and the Poet Gold, and
I'm the Poet Gold and we're here having a conversation
with Lori eve Tatarski, a mental health professional?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Would I describe you that way?
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Or I like to say I'm not just a survivor,
but a thriver of mental health, food, addiction, and trauma.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, okay, And I'd like to apologize again forgetting your
name one and Dian And I think the reason I
did that there's a famous basketball player.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Okay, I'm only five feet that's that's that's okay because
I was. I was a shooting guard and a and
a point guard in school, and so yeah, you can.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
You can be five feet and still do it.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Trust me, I'll take my one inch and a half
with it.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
You know it's like the little kid says, how do
you you know I'm thirteen and a half.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
To give us a sense of what it means to
be a mental health thriver, well, for.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Me, it's to mean to not just exist. It means
to truly be living, to be living in the moment,
to be going after your aspirations, to be for me,
Like I said, I'm very spiritual. It's to follow what
you believe is God's purpose for yourself. It's to connect
(11:36):
with other people that are not only like minded people,
but light minded people. It's to have a sense of family, love, community.
My workshops are on the fruits of the Spirit for
those that are familiar from the Bible, and they're not
(11:57):
just I don't refer to them as just biblical. I
think it's a universal thing.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
What are some of them?
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Some of them are love, joy, patience, self control, gentleness, chastity,
what else. Let's see, there's a people think those who
are familiar with it, A lot of them think there's nine.
(12:25):
There's actually twelve and let me. I actually hold on,
but I can get card with me that has them all.
Let me read them one second.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Well, your list of things are your cover, but you
want to give an actual accounting of the.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, why not?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
So?
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty,
(13:07):
self control, and chastity. So my whole vision is, if
only the world could be attuned to such things, what
a world would you be living in?
Speaker 4 (13:23):
And that's what I call being the poem. You know,
it's the title of my book, but that's exactly what
it is.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
You know, be the poem.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
You're evolving into that exactly what you said, into that
higher self, into that balance, right.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
I think that's so important. And you know, I suffer
with bipolar since the age of twenty one. My father
died when I was seventeen. And at twenty one, I
was in college in Boca Vitoon in Florida, and I
was at a party at my friends in Maryland and
(13:57):
I made a poor choice. I was young, and I dabbled.
I took a tab of acid and I had a
terrible trip, and that brought on my first depression and
altered state. And I was diagnosed with bipolar type one,
which basically means you have the components of bipolar, but
(14:19):
you also could have an altered state. People also, you know,
refer to it as psychosis. I don't like that word.
I don't particularly enjoy it. I think it means angry
or violent or I don't believe I've ever been any
of those things, just very scared by the actual altered
(14:43):
state I've experienced.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I don't think, oh, I could be wrong.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
I'm I'm not a clinical psychiatrist or anything, but I
don't think that psychosis always always means that you're in
I think it's more like an altered state doesn't always
mean that it's a violent episode, right exactly, can be
something completely opposite. It can be retreated, you know, right,
it could be fearful, it could be you know, you know,
and you're you're you're dealing in an environment that's that's
(15:10):
not quite quite real exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I think you're a very wise woman. I haven't met
you before. I'm very I feel very blessed that I
met you today because it seems like we're very much
aligned in our thinking, and you seem to have a
lot of knowledge. The only reason I referred to it
as because in my talks with people, see so much
(15:34):
about healing and everything is about awareness, education and action,
positive action, and so many people aren't aware of what
some people go through, not just with mental illness, but
with different challenges in their life.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
So without knowing what your problem is, you have virtually
no chance of solving it. So when you talk about
a knowledge or education, you can see the value to that, right,
I mean, you can't solve a problem you don't name.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Right, right, right right? Self awareness?
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Yeah, yeah, becoming becoming becoming self aware so that one
can begin the journey of achieving the balance, because I
think that's that's where it lies, you know, in the
ability of self awareness. Going back to your point, Peter,
if you're not if you're not self aware of the
quote unquote problem, I don't use the word problem a
lot in my vocabulary, and I always say opportunity to grow.
(16:32):
I love you, you know, if you're not, if you're not
self aware for the opportunity to grow, then then you're right.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
There is no resolution. It's just a cycle.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, you know, and it's a vicious And then they
say that's the definition of insanity, repeating the same negative
behavior over and over again and expecting different results. You know,
it's kind of funny, as you say, balance, But I'll
show you this and nobody is really going to see it.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
But we're going to keep you right on that.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Well, sorry, I can kind of explain it. When I
was in college about thirty three years ago, I, you know,
had this vision and I had it designed. And it's
the Un and the Yang, the balance and the sun,
the stars in the moon, to always aim for the
(17:20):
highest and the dove. And I was a Jewish girl,
I grew up Jewish, but I made them draw a dove,
which is generally you know, signed for Christianity or peace
following love. And this is what my whole life is about.
And nothing had happened to me yet, okay, So I
(17:40):
really believe in all that that our destiny is already
kind of prealigned and predestined.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
There's a hot to that. I mean, a young Jewish
woman coming up with the dove, you know, often represents
the Holy Spirit in christian and thought that's being far
reaching culturally at least, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And today I practice, as they call it, a Messianic Jew.
And I make a joke a mess of a Jew,
you know, but you know, basically it's a Jew. You know.
I follow Jewish culture and traditions and things and beliefs,
but I believe in Jesus as the Messiah. However, for
(18:30):
those that study and whatnot, Jesus was a rabbi, the
highest scholar and teacher a rabbi. In Judaism, much of
the beginnings of the Bible, the sixty six Books were
written by Jewish prophets.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well, that's a I know other people have that belief,
but there's almost a traditional conflict.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Between yes being.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
You and very much Jesus.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Is very much Yeah, right about that, Peter.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
So what is it about?
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Which is all the.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Teaching of men? So so so so there's a there's
there's a a flaw in that, there's.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
A there's a.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Sign, there's there's a you know, which which in my
world you know, leaves because it's the teaching. It's the
teaching you know, created by man. And there's a there's
a sort of flaw in that. And so so you
can have sort that bilateral belief, you know, you can
be Jewish and and and believe in Jesus if your
(19:42):
heart is filled with with pure intention, and your heart
is filled with love and and there's not there's not
hate or or or or to separate people or divide people.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I think that's where people get caught up exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And you could believe, like, although I believe Jesus, I
follow Jesus, I'm still open to Buddhism. I'm still open
to other beliefs as long as it stems in love
and peace and faith and growth and the things like
the fruits of the spirit.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Right, if you're just tuning in, you're listening to finding
Out with Pete and the poet Gold and on the
poet Gold, and we're here with Lori eve Tatarski speaking
about her journey, her spiritual journey today.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Thank you and yeah, well, I.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Just want to go back to a cultural point you
both made earlier about when you went to Scotland for
the conference. He said, you know, they're more open to
having public policy or public money go into mental health
was even spiritual initiatives. And in America we emphasize individualism.
(20:52):
And I think that Gold echoed the notion that if
you have mental health issues in America and virtually everyone does,
you blamed. And that comes out in terms of public
funding because you know, I have a son who's forty
four years old who has developmental disabilities, and people with
(21:13):
developmental disabilities the programs for them are more richly funded.
I mean they're still not adequately.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Yeah, but there's still there's still a lot of stigma,
and there's still a lot of misunderstanding because I work
with two older boys that on the side, I also
do that that have developmental and intellectual disability. And I'll
give you a perfect example. What I didn't feel in
(21:43):
my heart was right. I work with one boy and
I've worked with him for three years, and I find
him to be extremely brilliant, knowledgeable, It understands thing. He
has certain things that like we all do. And he
just graduated in college with a degree in cultural studies
(22:06):
and creative writing and with honors. He can't find a job.
They wanted him to through this program. They gave him
an assessment. They wanted him to wash dishes.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Yes, that's what they send you.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And he couldn't wash the dishes exactly the way they
had told him because he has refocusing has to be
red so they said he wouldn't be good for the job.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
There is a stigma attached to having intellectual developments and disabilities.
What there is not is not blame attached to it.
In other words, people if you have developmental disabilities, seeing
it's not your fault. You were born that way. Where
his mental health issues.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Right, it comes from family comes from this.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
It has the layer of blame attached to it.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
It wasn't always that way with developmental disability, you know,
there was there was a time when it was you know,
you be placed in a room. Yeah, I mean that's
that's I think that's something that's more more recent.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, there's also but there's a distinction. The developmental disability
world is funded better than the mental health world. And
I think the reason is that the people who have
mental health issues are seen as somehow it's their fourth
(23:39):
and there's a blame attached to the statement.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
But yeah, I agree, I agree too, although it is
also for those that understand it, it is perceived as
a chemical balance.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah. Yeah, that's a pretty enlightened thing, which is not
reflected in the federal fundings. Right. The thing, right, we.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Haven't come around to it yet, right, yea, sometimes.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
The three of us are a hundred years I think.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I think, I think we will get there when we
when we get to a more level headed uh way
of leadership and collaborative and collaborative and programs, you.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Know, research, you know that that supports and more.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
It's more enlightened, right, But we were a little bit
in the dark ages.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
But yeah, we were treated to the dark age, right.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Isn't it funny how we digress and then we progress
right now, but at least now we know we digress.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yes, we know, we know we're in the dark. We're
in the dark ages right now.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah, we're striving. Give me a sense about the workshops.
I know you had to twelve fruits.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Of the spirit, but I'll give you an example. The
name of my buck is I Dare you to Walk
in My shoes. Strong title, Thank you, thank you, the
whole premise behind it, And it really just came to
me because my very dear friend Michael initially told me,
why don't you just call it moving forward? You know,
because I had moved so far in my progression and
(25:16):
had you know, done so much growth, and things were
getting really better and I was able to start doing
things again because I had some seriously dark times. I
had self injurious behaviors. I've had reckless car accidents where
I almost lost my life. I have a disability with
my walking, with my walking that came from an attempt
(25:40):
to take my life. So I would say I've definitely
had nine lives at least. But basically, you know, as
far as my book title, it just came to me
another thing that I think was kind of like you know,
a higher being and telling me this is what you
(26:02):
need to resonate to the world, Like I dare you
to walk in my shoes. I don't judge me, you know,
read my story, hear my soul, and then certainly don't
judge me because you all need to, you know, dare
yourselves to walk in your own shoes and be authentic
(26:23):
and be real because that's so far fetched in our society.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah, and even idea you too is a challenge. It
sort of has a bit of a push in the
chest to the reader. So you really want to wake
people up idea you okay? Wow?
Speaker 4 (26:46):
And something that that you ended, you know on it's
that note of accountabilities that you know, ideave you to
even walk in your own shoes, you know, to walk
in your own and to face your own demons or
just take responsibility and be accountable and then grow through that.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yes, that's you know, that's what my whole mission is about.
It's about helping others get to the light.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
And so when you use the word earlier in the
Show of Healing, do you want to describe some of
the things in your own healing or recovery that you
went through, like things you were having a hard time,
and what did you do that was useful in terms
of having you well?
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Now I do along the way, you know, I've learned
a lot of as they say, coping skills, but I
do a lot of things in today's in my I
would say, in the last five years, my life is
really transformed. I did have a long career in advertising,
public relations and writing in Westchester for those of you
(27:59):
that are familiar with Westchester County and you know New York. However,
I wasn't able to obtain consistency. I would work at
one big organization for maybe three to four years. Then
I would get a terrible mania because it was a grueling,
tough pressure job, and there were quotas and there was,
(28:21):
you know, a lot of demands, and I would go
into manias, which are you know, forms where there's there's
no balance. And you have insomnia which you have trouble sleeping,
your thoughts of racing, you your your words are very
fast paced. You have spending sprees. I mean I filed
(28:45):
bankruptcy in my twenties for one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
You know, so.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
You know basically and back then you know now would
be discrimination, but back then, you know they would let
you go. You know, so I got fired from a
lot of jobs, and then I would also then go
into depression because I couldn't hold the job. So that's
(29:16):
been a big part of the mental illness, feeling less
than because you know, I couldn't work or I couldn't
hold the job. You know, when I had such high
from a very young age, I always had grand and
high visions.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
And then you then but there's I you know from
your communication is resilience in your story. Because now you
have a nonprofit. How can people learn more about the nonprofit?
Do you guys have a website or you share that please?
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yes, it's uh Universe of Self Spiritual Awareness dot org.
I also have a personal website which is Lori l
O which is Diane.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
Everybody, I'm just kidding, I'm kidding everyone, which is Lori
l O r I tatarski t A t A R
s k y dot com.
Speaker 4 (30:10):
Okay, well, Lorii, I believe we're out of time right correct?
Speaker 2 (30:13):
We are?
Speaker 4 (30:13):
We are at a time a great conversation with you.
Thank you so much for going on. We appreciate you.
Once again, it's loritatarski dot com and it'll lead you
to our other website as as well. And thank you
to our listeners for coming on finding out with Pete
and the Poet Gold.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
We appreciate We appreciate you. Okay,
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer, those
are the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station.
It's staff management or ownership.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good morning, you'll find out with Pete and the Poet Gold.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
I'm Peter Leonners and I'm the Poet Gold and.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We're on the air this morning with Diane Taitarshian author,
a multi talented person who we're going to get to
a writer. If we go to the Poe Gold for
her weekly poem prayer incantation, go please let it roll.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Okay, I'm going to do another piece from my new book,
be the poem Living Beyond Our Fears, and this piece
is entitled all the Thoughts Inside your Head. It's a
lyrical piece, but I'm going to speak it. The thinking
man contemplates the complexities of life, making sure to demonstrate success,
not the vice. The rise and fall of our kind
(00:47):
calamities are daily news. When we front we build walls
to hide away our truth. You are what you think
you are. You are all the thoughts inside your head.
You are what you think you are. You are all
the thoughts side your head.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Wonderful, All the thoughts inside your head, and all the
actions out on your body. So, Okay, I made a mistake.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
You're thinking Princess Diana, so.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
It's glory to you for some reason. Okay, I made
a missake. Thank you for correcting. Sure, and tell us
what your projects are about. Because the wide range and
I know that, and they all all get towards mental health.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well, they're not necessarily they're not just geared towards mental health.
They're geared towards healing and taking societies kind of brokenness
and dark darkness and cascading it into more of a
light and doing a lot of humanitarian type work. A
(01:56):
big part of my focal point is mental health, which
I never thought it would be because of my childhood,
you know, But what I found out is is that
mental health does not discriminate anybody, and everyone can come
down with a mental illness, and especially it's so rampant
(02:16):
in today's society.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Why why do you say it's so rampant in today's society?
Why do you think that is? This may not be
like a one answer type type thing, but what do
you uh is it? Is it that we live in
a more stressful world or I mean, what are your thoughts? Well,
that's definitely a component, poet uh Gold. Everything seems to
(02:42):
be so fast paced in today's society. You know, it's
meeting to meeting to meeting, to the point where we're
having meetings about the meeting. And of course I think
most people would agree. I think the circulation and exposure
(03:03):
to a degree of the Internet.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
There's many pros and cons to everything. You know, there's
the best and the worst, even in people. There's the
best in people and the worst in people. So you know,
so much of what goes on with the Internet. I
think there's a lot of bullying amongst youngsters. Right now.
(03:28):
The suicide rate amongst young people is the second highest
that it's ever been. You know, I just came back
from the European Mental Health Research Conference. It was blessed
to go to Scotland for it in Aberdeen, Scotland, and
for some reason over there, they're allocated a lot more
(03:52):
funds to do much more with mental health, you know,
to help heal it. And also as far as that,
it just seems to be not as progressive as it
is in America. And I would say, but nevertheless, it's
(04:18):
a global epidemic and there's so many different you know,
you know, the the rate of divorce and broken homes
is also the highest it's ever been, so that could
be a source of it. There's not there's not one
thing that can pinpoint it.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
When you mentioned it, when you first brought it up,
you said, you're giving you a childhood, and there seems
to be an emotional echo to even you're mentioning your childhood.
Are there's some things in your childhood that defined or
that lead you to the work you're doing today.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
No, just the opposite. I never thought I was going
to be doing work like that, So that's why I
think it's so much a part of I'm very spiritual,
so I think it's very much was divine and meant
to be. But I had to go through a lot
of suffering in my adulthood. In my childhood, it did
have its ups and downs like anything else. However, I
(05:24):
had a lot of happiness, a lot of love. I
had financial privileges, I had a very strong family, I
had many friends, I had excellent teachers. I had a
lot of opportunities in my mind because I wasn't exposed
(05:46):
to it at that point, I didn't realize that mental health.
You know, you start to think, not only does mental
health have a stigma, but you start to think it
can only affect people that haven't had as many opportunities.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Right right, Yeah, there is such a stigma with mental
health as far as who was impacted by it. What
are the circumstances that may trigger, you know, a mental
health episode in someone, And it could be from, for
lack of a better term, privilege to those who may
of meager means, you know, it doesn't discribe it.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
That's what I said.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
It.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I learned that and I did have a very traumatic
experience that I do believe, you know, brought it to trigger.
It was a trigger My father, who is very close
to I looked at him as a very strong role
model in my life. Taught me many invaluable lessons and
was very loving and very much a role model. In
(06:50):
nineteen eighty two, if you remember back then, when there
was the age epidemic going on, my father had quadruple
bypass art surgery and was exposed to bad blood and
from that transfusion. Six years later, because there's an incubation period,
(07:14):
he was diagnosed with age and died on my seventeenth birthday.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Oh wow, Okay, so.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
It's been. I don't want to give away my age
because I still think I'm seventeen.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
A lot of people know eighty two minus seventeen.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yeah, but anyways, So but what I'm getting at is
it's been about thirty six years later and I'm still
my heart still beats because that's how much I loved
him and miss him. But I've made my life about
honoring him.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Okay, yeah, you know, I think going back to when
you're talking about Scotland and how scott and I believe
you said allocate a certain amount of funding towards right
mental health, and in comparison to a country like America,
I think, you know, we can be our own worst enemy.
You know, no one just like people right, well like
people as a country, and we can be our own
worst enemy, you know, because one of the cultural experiences
(08:16):
America is the bravado is we don't show you know,
we look at something like mental illness as a weakness,
tears as weakness, and not realizing that that having that
position is a weakness, you know, not being able to
own some of the things that we can grow through
and say well there's something there's something wrong with you,
(08:36):
but there's nothing wrong with.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Us, right, You're quite brilliant, And that statement is quite
brilliant because you know, it's in our strongest adversities that
we find out who we are, right right, right, you know,
And I don't think a lot of people, I don't
know if it's in today's age, I don't know what
it is, but want to be accountable for a lot
(08:58):
of things or take hold of what they're facing.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Right right, And that's and that's a definitely key opponent,
you know, wanting to be accountable.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
You're right. I'm leaning with you on that.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
People don't want to be accountable, and so so we
look to.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Others to fix us, right, you know, thank you?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Right where the fixing happens within the self, with support
from community, you know, people like yourself. The programs that
you that you offer. So you have a book out
you said you do workshops. What type of workshops do
you do?
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I have started a workshop. I actually started a nonprofit
under the umbrella of a very large nonprofit in Duchess
called Mental Health of America Duchess County, Okay. The name
of my nonprofit is Universe of Self and Spiritual Awareness,
(09:54):
and it speaks for itself so, and.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
We're going to give you a chance to speak about it.
But if you want to go to Poelic Gold to tell.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Us once again, if you're just tuning in, you're listening
to finding out with Pete and the Poet Gold, and
I'm the Poet Gold and we're here having a conversation
with Lori eve Tatarski, a mental health professional?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Would I describe you that way?
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Or I like to say I'm not just a survivor,
but a thriver of mental health, food, addiction, and trauma.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, okay, And I'd like to apologize again forgetting your
name one and Dian And I think the reason I
did that there's a famous basketball player.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Okay, I'm only five feet that's that's that's okay because
I was. I was a shooting guard and a and
a point guard in school, and so yeah, you can.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
You can be five feet and still do it.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Trust me, I'll take my one inch and a half
with it.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
You know it's like the little kid says, how do
you you know I'm thirteen and a half.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
To give us a sense of what it means to
be a mental health thriver, well, for.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Me, it's to mean to not just exist. It means
to truly be living, to be living in the moment,
to be going after your aspirations, to be for me,
Like I said, I'm very spiritual. It's to follow what
you believe is God's purpose for yourself. It's to connect
(11:36):
with other people that are not only like minded people,
but light minded people. It's to have a sense of family, love, community.
My workshops are on the fruits of the Spirit for
those that are familiar from the Bible, and they're not
(11:57):
just I don't refer to them as just biblical. I
think it's a universal thing.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
What are some of them?
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Some of them are love, joy, patience, self control, gentleness, chastity,
what else. Let's see, there's a people think those who
are familiar with it, A lot of them think there's nine.
(12:25):
There's actually twelve and let me. I actually hold on,
but I can get card with me that has them all.
Let me read them one second.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Well, your list of things are your cover, but you
want to give an actual accounting of the.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, why not?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
So?
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty,
(13:07):
self control, and chastity. So my whole vision is, if
only the world could be attuned to such things, what
a world would you be living in?
Speaker 4 (13:23):
And that's what I call being the poem. You know,
it's the title of my book, but that's exactly what
it is.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
You know, be the poem.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
You're evolving into that exactly what you said, into that
higher self, into that balance, right.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
I think that's so important. And you know, I suffer
with bipolar since the age of twenty one. My father
died when I was seventeen. And at twenty one, I
was in college in Boca Vitoon in Florida, and I
was at a party at my friends in Maryland and
(13:57):
I made a poor choice. I was young, and I dabbled.
I took a tab of acid and I had a
terrible trip, and that brought on my first depression and
altered state. And I was diagnosed with bipolar type one,
which basically means you have the components of bipolar, but
(14:19):
you also could have an altered state. People also, you know,
refer to it as psychosis. I don't like that word.
I don't particularly enjoy it. I think it means angry
or violent or I don't believe I've ever been any
of those things, just very scared by the actual altered
(14:43):
state I've experienced.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I don't think, oh, I could be wrong.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
I'm I'm not a clinical psychiatrist or anything, but I
don't think that psychosis always always means that you're in
I think it's more like an altered state doesn't always
mean that it's a violent episode, right exactly, can be
something completely opposite. It can be retreated, you know, right,
it could be fearful, it could be you know, you know,
and you're you're you're dealing in an environment that's that's
(15:10):
not quite quite real exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I think you're a very wise woman. I haven't met
you before. I'm very I feel very blessed that I
met you today because it seems like we're very much
aligned in our thinking, and you seem to have a
lot of knowledge. The only reason I referred to it
as because in my talks with people, see so much
(15:34):
about healing and everything is about awareness, education and action,
positive action, and so many people aren't aware of what
some people go through, not just with mental illness, but
with different challenges in their life.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
So without knowing what your problem is, you have virtually
no chance of solving it. So when you talk about
a knowledge or education, you can see the value to that, right,
I mean, you can't solve a problem you don't name.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Right, right, right right? Self awareness?
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Yeah, yeah, becoming becoming becoming self aware so that one
can begin the journey of achieving the balance, because I
think that's that's where it lies, you know, in the
ability of self awareness. Going back to your point, Peter,
if you're not if you're not self aware of the
quote unquote problem, I don't use the word problem a
lot in my vocabulary, and I always say opportunity to grow.
(16:32):
I love you, you know, if you're not, if you're not
self aware for the opportunity to grow, then then you're right.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
There is no resolution. It's just a cycle.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, you know, and it's a vicious And then they
say that's the definition of insanity, repeating the same negative
behavior over and over again and expecting different results. You know,
it's kind of funny, as you say, balance, But I'll
show you this and nobody is really going to see it.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
But we're going to keep you right on that.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Well, sorry, I can kind of explain it. When I
was in college about thirty three years ago, I, you know,
had this vision and I had it designed. And it's
the Un and the Yang, the balance and the sun,
the stars in the moon, to always aim for the
(17:20):
highest and the dove. And I was a Jewish girl,
I grew up Jewish, but I made them draw a dove,
which is generally you know, signed for Christianity or peace
following love. And this is what my whole life is about.
And nothing had happened to me yet, okay, So I
(17:40):
really believe in all that that our destiny is already
kind of prealigned and predestined.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
There's a hot to that. I mean, a young Jewish
woman coming up with the dove, you know, often represents
the Holy Spirit in christian and thought that's being far
reaching culturally at least, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And today I practice, as they call it, a Messianic Jew.
And I make a joke a mess of a Jew,
you know, but you know, basically it's a Jew. You know.
I follow Jewish culture and traditions and things and beliefs,
but I believe in Jesus as the Messiah. However, for
(18:30):
those that study and whatnot, Jesus was a rabbi, the
highest scholar and teacher a rabbi. In Judaism, much of
the beginnings of the Bible, the sixty six Books were
written by Jewish prophets.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well, that's a I know other people have that belief,
but there's almost a traditional conflict.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Between yes being.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
You and very much Jesus.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Is very much Yeah, right about that, Peter.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
So what is it about?
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Which is all the.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Teaching of men? So so so so there's a there's
there's a a flaw in that, there's.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
A there's a.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Sign, there's there's a you know, which which in my
world you know, leaves because it's the teaching. It's the
teaching you know, created by man. And there's a there's
a sort of flaw in that. And so so you
can have sort that bilateral belief, you know, you can
be Jewish and and and believe in Jesus if your
(19:42):
heart is filled with with pure intention, and your heart
is filled with love and and there's not there's not
hate or or or or to separate people or divide people.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I think that's where people get caught up exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And you could believe, like, although I believe Jesus, I
follow Jesus, I'm still open to Buddhism. I'm still open
to other beliefs as long as it stems in love
and peace and faith and growth and the things like
the fruits of the spirit.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Right, if you're just tuning in, you're listening to finding
Out with Pete and the poet Gold and on the
poet Gold, and we're here with Lori eve Tatarski speaking
about her journey, her spiritual journey today.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Thank you and yeah, well, I.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Just want to go back to a cultural point you
both made earlier about when you went to Scotland for
the conference. He said, you know, they're more open to
having public policy or public money go into mental health
was even spiritual initiatives. And in America we emphasize individualism.
(20:52):
And I think that Gold echoed the notion that if
you have mental health issues in America and virtually everyone does,
you blamed. And that comes out in terms of public
funding because you know, I have a son who's forty
four years old who has developmental disabilities, and people with
(21:13):
developmental disabilities the programs for them are more richly funded.
I mean they're still not adequately.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Yeah, but there's still there's still a lot of stigma,
and there's still a lot of misunderstanding because I work
with two older boys that on the side, I also
do that that have developmental and intellectual disability. And I'll
give you a perfect example. What I didn't feel in
(21:43):
my heart was right. I work with one boy and
I've worked with him for three years, and I find
him to be extremely brilliant, knowledgeable, It understands thing. He
has certain things that like we all do. And he
just graduated in college with a degree in cultural studies
(22:06):
and creative writing and with honors. He can't find a job.
They wanted him to through this program. They gave him
an assessment. They wanted him to wash dishes.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Yes, that's what they send you.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And he couldn't wash the dishes exactly the way they
had told him because he has refocusing has to be
red so they said he wouldn't be good for the job.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
There is a stigma attached to having intellectual developments and disabilities.
What there is not is not blame attached to it.
In other words, people if you have developmental disabilities, seeing
it's not your fault. You were born that way. Where
his mental health issues.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Right, it comes from family comes from this.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
It has the layer of blame attached to it.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
It wasn't always that way with developmental disability, you know,
there was there was a time when it was you know,
you be placed in a room. Yeah, I mean that's
that's I think that's something that's more more recent.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, there's also but there's a distinction. The developmental disability
world is funded better than the mental health world. And
I think the reason is that the people who have
mental health issues are seen as somehow it's their fourth
(23:39):
and there's a blame attached to the statement.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
But yeah, I agree, I agree too, although it is
also for those that understand it, it is perceived as
a chemical balance.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah. Yeah, that's a pretty enlightened thing, which is not
reflected in the federal fundings. Right. The thing, right, we.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Haven't come around to it yet, right, yea, sometimes.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
The three of us are a hundred years I think.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I think, I think we will get there when we
when we get to a more level headed uh way
of leadership and collaborative and collaborative and programs, you.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Know, research, you know that that supports and more.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
It's more enlightened, right, But we were a little bit
in the dark ages.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
But yeah, we were treated to the dark age, right.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Isn't it funny how we digress and then we progress
right now, but at least now we know we digress.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yes, we know, we know we're in the dark. We're
in the dark ages right now.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah, we're striving. Give me a sense about the workshops.
I know you had to twelve fruits.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Of the spirit, but I'll give you an example. The
name of my buck is I Dare you to Walk
in My shoes. Strong title, Thank you, thank you, the
whole premise behind it, And it really just came to
me because my very dear friend Michael initially told me,
why don't you just call it moving forward? You know,
because I had moved so far in my progression and
(25:16):
had you know, done so much growth, and things were
getting really better and I was able to start doing
things again because I had some seriously dark times. I
had self injurious behaviors. I've had reckless car accidents where
I almost lost my life. I have a disability with
my walking, with my walking that came from an attempt
(25:40):
to take my life. So I would say I've definitely
had nine lives at least. But basically, you know, as
far as my book title, it just came to me
another thing that I think was kind of like you know,
a higher being and telling me this is what you
(26:02):
need to resonate to the world, Like I dare you
to walk in my shoes. I don't judge me, you know,
read my story, hear my soul, and then certainly don't
judge me because you all need to, you know, dare
yourselves to walk in your own shoes and be authentic
(26:23):
and be real because that's so far fetched in our society.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah, and even idea you too is a challenge. It
sort of has a bit of a push in the
chest to the reader. So you really want to wake
people up idea you okay? Wow?
Speaker 4 (26:46):
And something that that you ended, you know on it's
that note of accountabilities that you know, ideave you to
even walk in your own shoes, you know, to walk
in your own and to face your own demons or
just take responsibility and be accountable and then grow through that.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yes, that's you know, that's what my whole mission is about.
It's about helping others get to the light.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
And so when you use the word earlier in the
Show of Healing, do you want to describe some of
the things in your own healing or recovery that you
went through, like things you were having a hard time,
and what did you do that was useful in terms
of having you well?
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Now I do along the way, you know, I've learned
a lot of as they say, coping skills, but I
do a lot of things in today's in my I
would say, in the last five years, my life is
really transformed. I did have a long career in advertising,
public relations and writing in Westchester for those of you
(27:59):
that are familiar with Westchester County and you know New York. However,
I wasn't able to obtain consistency. I would work at
one big organization for maybe three to four years. Then
I would get a terrible mania because it was a grueling,
tough pressure job, and there were quotas and there was,
(28:21):
you know, a lot of demands, and I would go
into manias, which are you know, forms where there's there's
no balance. And you have insomnia which you have trouble sleeping,
your thoughts of racing, you your your words are very
fast paced. You have spending sprees. I mean I filed
(28:45):
bankruptcy in my twenties for one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
You know, so.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
You know basically and back then you know now would
be discrimination, but back then, you know they would let
you go. You know, so I got fired from a
lot of jobs, and then I would also then go
into depression because I couldn't hold the job. So that's
(29:16):
been a big part of the mental illness, feeling less
than because you know, I couldn't work or I couldn't
hold the job. You know, when I had such high
from a very young age, I always had grand and
high visions.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
And then you then but there's I you know from
your communication is resilience in your story. Because now you
have a nonprofit. How can people learn more about the nonprofit?
Do you guys have a website or you share that please?
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yes, it's uh Universe of Self Spiritual Awareness dot org.
I also have a personal website which is Lori l
O which is Diane.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
Everybody, I'm just kidding, I'm kidding everyone, which is Lori
l O r I tatarski t A t A R
s k y dot com.
Speaker 4 (30:10):
Okay, well, Lorii, I believe we're out of time right correct?
Speaker 2 (30:13):
We are?
Speaker 4 (30:13):
We are at a time a great conversation with you.
Thank you so much for going on. We appreciate you.
Once again, it's loritatarski dot com and it'll lead you
to our other website as as well. And thank you
to our listeners for coming on finding out with Pete
and the Poet Gold.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
We appreciate We appreciate you. Okay,
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