At the end of the Indiegogo campaign in October 2016 I almost gave up on launching #EmergingProud. People had started to ask for their donations back because I hadn’t reached anywhere near the target I needed, and a comment on one of the videos stating that I should be ‘sent to jail for taking money from vulnerable people‘, left me feeling mortified and disillusioned.

But so many people who were feeling silenced wrote in and asked me not to give up. My soul screamed at me that giving up wasn’t an option…. “This is your ‘Amor Fati'” 

Again, I listened to my soul.

Today the last 5 months of collating interviews and heartfelt stories sent in by those bravely #EmergingProud to normalise traumatic experiences has seen its culmination in making the final edits to the #EmeringProud film set for its world premiere…

A press release is ready to go, and synchronicity is again playing a huge hand as ‘Mad to be Normal’ sets the scene in cinemas across the country;

Press release snippet:

Having set up the anti-stigma #EmergingProud campaign in October 2016, Katie Mottram will be hosting the first ever International Emerging Proud day in London on May 12, 2017 which coincides with the launch of the film ‘Mad to be Normal’, based on the work and life of R.D.Laing. Events are set to take place in multiple countries.

The purpose of the day, which is set to become an annual international event, is to focus on hope and to reframe these challenging experiences as potential catalysts for positive growth rather than incurable mental illnesses. The film features people who have #EmergedProud and they give the message that “these experiences are not crazy, and you are not alone if you are having them”. Those featured in the film show what is possible if people are supported with this more positive, understanding framework. Normalising such extreme but natural human experiences is fundamentally a Human Right***.

“The time has come to normalise extreme human experiences, to end the stigma associated with them, and we need to build bridges with the mental health services so ‘Experiencers’ can be more appropriately supported. The message of the campaign is ultimately that there is deep meaning and wisdom in psychological trauma.” Katie clearly sets out.

“We only have to look at the magnitude of positive change that the Black Rights movement and Gay Pride created. Now it’s time to do the same, but for people experiencing spiritual phenomena….Millions of people around the world are talking about waking up to an expanded level of consciousness and experiencing spiritual phenomena. For many of these people the journey of awakening is a turbulent roller-coaster ride into the abyss of a misunderstood universe, and as such, it can also be a fast admission ticket into the world of psychiatry. If the world is to evolve, our Western cultural perception of spiritual phenomena has to evolve too.”

Premier of a film on May 12, 2017

The film, to go live on May 12th in up to 12 countries, will include video accounts of personal stories and interviews featuring people worldwide talking openly about their own spiritual emergence experiences, many of whom were labelled as mentally ill.

Be amongst the first people to watch the #Emerging Proud film on 12 May 2017 – the film is set to end the stigma of difficult transformational experiences and bring spirituality into the 21st Century. If you can’t attend the live London event, then host your own celebration party for the premiere on May 12 – gather a group in your local area and access the film as it premieres.