I met John Zaritsky and became familiar with his work 25 years ago. I have never been anything but impressed with the quality, thoughtfulness and accuracy of his documentary films. John’s films are well researched, directed and produced. Leave Them Laughing is no exception to the type of film one comes to expect from John.
Leave Them Laughing is a film based upon the current life of Carla Zilbersmith, a talented Canadian singer and comedian who is presently diagnosed with ALS and struggling with this incurable disease. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neuromuscular disease that weakens and eventually destroys motor neurons (components of the nervous system that connect the brain with the skeletal muscles).
My wife Deb and I are both mental health professionals. Deb is a retired social worker, and I have worked in a variety of mental health settings, including psychiatric hospitals, and presently work with a variety of patients. Over the years, I have studied the brain and neurological system in order to improve the quality and variety of clinical services I provide which includes biofeedback and neurofeedback. As everyday people and professionals, Deb and I come in contact with others who have been diagnosed with diseases and disorders that effect their lives. Deb has rheumatoid arthritis, and refuses to let this disease get the best of her. Like other people, we have experienced the loss of a loved one, and have friends with serious and or terminal illnesses.
As we age, all of us begin to decline… sometimes mentally, sometimes physically, sometimes both. Thus, this film was of significant interest to Deb and me on both a personal and professional level.
On a personal level, Leave Them Laughing is the type of uplifting film that reminds both Deb and I to never take for granted anything involved with the quality of our lives. It reinforces our belief that we should take advantage of and enjoy every day and not get hung up in living in the past or with those things which we simply cannot change. We cannot change the past, but we can direct our future. It reminds us that we have and should continue to enjoy the humor in our lives and the world around us. It reinforces our belief in Karma and that in any bad situation we can always find some good… and have a learning experience.
As a mental health professional, I come in contact with patients who are suffering from a variety of disorders, and in some cases disorders of the brain that can create a host of mental, emotional and physiological disorders. Often these patients have struggled for years with a particular disorder and are ready to give up when they finally come to my office. Leave Them Laughing reinforces my belief that people can chose to think positively and make a bad situation better. We, as individuals, are the director of what we chose to think and feel and how we chose to behave. Instead of focusing on what is bad or wrong, we can chose to focus on what is good and positive and chose to look forward versus backward. We can learn to savor many moments of each day. Love of life makes life feel better. Laughter and humor sweeten the day.
Leave Them Laughing is both a brilliant and powerful film. I believe every health professional, be it doctor, nurse, psychiatrist, counselor, psychologist, or social worker, should see this film. While humorous and uplifting, it also sends us to the core of our soles and who we are as people. Can we be as aspiring as professionals as the remarkable Carla Zilbersmith?
I also believe this film has a purpose and can benefit many of the people I work with. It is very educational in a variety of ways. It says in a way I cannot, and with words I don’t have, what many of the patients I work with would benefit from viewing and hearing.
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