Mitch's apartment or rooftop, Kalispell
Virginia Woolf's essay On Being Ill was first published in 1926 via T.S. Eliot's British literary journal The Criterion (1922-1939). The essay was later revised and republished under other titles as well as in book format. Interestingly, Woolf's mother, Julia Stephens, had written an instruction manual in 1883 titled Notes from the Sick Room, and in 2012 these two works were combined. (If you are purchasing a book for this month's read, perhaps consider purchasing the one that combines the two: https://www.amazon.com/Being-Ill-Notes-Rooms-Stephen/dp/1930464134) If you'd rather not purchase anything, On Being Ill can be read in full here: https://thenewcriterion1926.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/woolf-on-being-ill.pdf
Woolf, of course, struggled with mental illness up through her death in 1941, so spent much time in reclined, confined, low-stimulation settings via the psychoanalytic treatment methods of her era(s). This vantage point of the ill & reclined can be keenly felt throughout her essay, and speaks to her emphasized concern for the subject itself. It may also be helpful to consider her female'ness and her context (hysteria's/melancholia's contexts) via this resource: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3480686/ (or having a glance/read of Phyllis Chesler's Women and Madness).
At a minimum, I know that there are at least three of us actively contending with mental illness diagnoses and associated daily navigation - bipolar, ptsd, and anxiety/ocd among them (for those I've missed, share as you are up for & assist the overthrow of stigma and misinformation). As well, at least one of us oversees the treatment of those with mental illness. No doubt it would be relevant to draw from these insights as we consider Woolf's commentary on being ill, along with all the other times in life we've all known other bodily illnesses, changes, surgeries, losses, being at another's bedside, deaths, and so on.
Bring appetizers, desserts, drinks to share to Mitch's on the 20th.
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