Phil Borges Is a dentist-turned-photographer, author, Filmmaker and Social Change storyteller. for More Than 25 years, He Has Been Documenting Indigenous and Tribal Cultures in Some of the world's Most remote, Inaccessible areas. Phil Uses His

/> Mish: Many years ago, I was going through a life crisis. I was in a great state of fear and anxiety. I was in such a state that I didn't think I'd be able to turn to my friends or to doctors. Instead I went out and I sat in my back yard, it was a sunny day, and I looked up at the sky and said, "I need help, I can't do this by myself." And this sounds really strange, but right away at that moment from the tips of my toes to the top of my head an energy filled my body, a rush like every chakra was opened. From that moment on, the fear and anxiety was replaced with peace and I felt great love towards everyone involved in this frightening situation. So I know it was happening at the universal life force energy. Is there any other explanation that you might have for what happened?

Phil: It sounds wonderful. I think you've explained it very well. A couple things come to mind -- you surrendered, you didn't try to fight the symptoms. You connected yourself to nature in a very spiritual way in the backyard, looking up at the sky and you had faith that you could be answered. I think that probably helped a lot, don't you?

Mish: Yeah, I just felt we can turn to the universe and ask for help and I don't know if some people believe it's angels coming to their aide or ancestors. I only know that we can ask for help out there and it can come. And sometimes it can come immediately. That was before my association with Kindspring and that's what brought me into loving everyone. Sometimes you do need medication and help from doctors, but sometimes you can ask for help out there.

Phil: And you believed you could get it.

Mish: Well I didn't really know if I was going to get it, to be honest, Phil, I just knew I needed help and I was scared as hell and so I went out and asked and was grateful for what happened. I would encourage anyone who's going through something that's frightening, go out into nature and ask for help.

Phil: Yes, we have heard that from many of the people we've interviewed--going out in the back yard and gardening; getting your hands in the soil. When we were in Brazil, we looked at how mediums worked in the psychiatric hospital. Even though Brazil is a first-world country they have 13,000 spiritual centers where people believe the energy can be transferred much like it was to you. And these people that have the sensitivity are volunteering. And the 50 hospitals that have these volunteers are the most popular psychiatric hospitals in Brazil. The volunteers do things like pray for the patients, they do passes with their hands transferring loving energy to them; all that stuff that doesn't lend itself to the scientific method. This is the place most patients, most individuals, having heavy mental emotional crisis want to go.

Mish: I hope we get more of that here in the States.

Deven: The question is, ethically if a person has experienced a form of this, is it appropriate to claim disability insurance?

Phil: The main character in our film is right now deciding whether he wants to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance. All the time knowing that's a label he'll carry the rest of his life. How disempowering will that label be for him? So he's struggling with that. He wants to believe that he can be functional again, start to contribute and lead a fulfilling life. But we live in a very material world where we need resources to survive so that is the problem; that is the dilemma. You're taking on an identity when you go and seek the disability insurance. Not to say that isn't necessary in certain cases, but that is the down side of it.

Deven: One of my biggest takeaways is that quote "spirituality to me is building connections to everything and everyone around me." That is so beautifully put especially when I think of all the individualism being promoted so strongly in our society. We are so enamored in celebrating personal success and drive and milestones that we sometimes lose that collective power we all have around us, so thank you for doing that. Phil we always like to ask all our guests, "How can all of us at ServiceSpace help you in your beautiful and touching endeavors?"

Phil: We've been blogging and showing excerpts from the film the last two or three years at Crazywisefilm.com. You can help get the word out about the film and our message, if it has resonated. We're working on it feverishly now to finish it and make sure our message is clear.

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