Sometimes you just gotta do the unexpected…..!

 

 

Harley-Davidson Tri Glide. 

Is there a point to having a Harley Trike in this article? 

Oh most definitely.  Because guess what happened.

I rode that bike in a parade!

 

Now… to be fair, I was not the driver.  I was the rider in the second seat.  Still fun!

And, I was sharing this Harley-experience with another business whose colors are red and black.  As you know, the Discussing Dissociation logo is teal and gray.  I clearly didn’t plan far enough ahead of time to bring in any of my teal (which I should have, but didn’t, and I regret that), but still…  this Harley trike was part of a fun day which included a parade.

 

 

Sooooo, okay.  This was a small town, and a small town parade.   Certainly nothing fancy like what you see in the big cities, but you know what?  This annual parade was just as exciting for the people here in this community.  This small town event has been in existence for over 120 years, and it’s a big deal to these folks.  Every summer, they go to the Picnic and Parade.

And of course, there was a point to doing this.  

Let’s scoot back to the beginning of the story……

 

What does a small town parade have to do with Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Surely there is a moral to this story, lol.  
This is a mental health / DID-related website after all, right?  

The first point is….  

Hey Dissociative folks — go out there and do something fun! 

Ever have a last minute wild and crazy idea, and you aren’t so sure if you should just go out there and do it?  Sometimes, YES!  The answer may very well be: “go do it!”   Having fun and exciting adventure is good.  It certainly can boost your mood and add to your sense of well-being.

Do you have insiders who suddenly take you off into some wild adventure before you know it?  

There is value in adding some fun and excitement to your life.  So… as unpredictable as these insiders might be, their preferences, their skillsets, their activities, and their interests might be worth discussing with them. But also… I will add, it’s important to improve your communication skills with those insiders so you are not surprised with chunks of missing time and any extra fees.  System communication is still key!

Sometimes it’s fun to be a little wild!  Who cares if the hair gets messy?!  Go out there, be a bit silly, and have some fun! 

 

 

Secondly…. Be creative.

And of course, every good idea begins with a booming art department! 

Now… you might giggle at the size of this art department, but even so, we were prepared with markers, and tinsel, and yarn, and rulers, and pencils, and pens.  We even had shiny foil and motorcycle stamps.  We had all the necessary artsy stuff to make a fancy poster for the parade.  We had to get creative on our “poster board”.   Problem-solving is a good skill to use when being creative, right?   We ripped a few boot boxes apart and had plenty of flat, stiff cardboard to use for our signs.  

Now, most dissociative systems will have someone who will ride a Harley, and someone who definitely will not.  I can imagine that you would have some insiders who would be far too anxious or maybe too young to get on the back of a bike.  And fair enough — riding motorcycles isn’t for everyone, and not everyone has to do that. 

When selecting projects to do as a system, it is a real bonus when there are additional options available for others, or for at least more than one of you.  If only one of you likes a thing, you’ll get more flack for that.  But if more of your people can participate at one stage or another, that activity is going to be more successful overall because more of your system gets to be involved.

For our parade project, we also needed to draw, and design, and create.   We were really rushed for time in the end, so the decorations we made aren’t so fancy, but if you planned your adventure project ahead of time, the parts of your system who prefer to draw or color instead of riding a motorcycle could participate as well.

 

Be Proud of Your Efforts!

When your people chip in together and they make some art, be proud of what they were able to accomplish!   Creating art for a group project isn’t about making the very best, most perfect artwork — it’s about having fun, and being getting involved, and contributing how you can.   

Who knew drawing little puzzle pieces would be so weirdly complicated to do — hahaha.  But you know?  It didn’t matter that our art wasn’t fantastic.  It’s more important that your system is working together, cooperating, and even if the littles share on their level of ability, it is okay to let their coloring be what it is.

Sometimes, some DID systems may feel a little embarrassed by the coloring ability or drawing skills of their younger selves.  I figure it is more important to be proud of their efforts than to worry about perfect art.  If a group of little old ladies can put out wonky puzzle pieces on display in a parade, your littles (or your little old ladies!) can draw and color too!

Even if you don’t have all the right colors, proudly display what you make! 

 

When You’re Ready, Go For It!

Yep, it was time to ride down Main Street and toss some candy out for the small town country kids.  

This may seem like a teeny tiny parade to you, but for these kids, from a small town rural area, this Community Event was a highlight of their summer.  And, they came to town, standing at the front edge of the street, or maybe even in the middle of the street. They were fully ready to catch some candy!  

Since I wasn’t the driver of the Harley, it was my job to toss out the candy.  Fun, fun!  “This was gonna be great!” I thought.  

We had a good-sized bag of candy — looked like oodles and gobs —  especially since we knew the other participants in the parade would be tossing out treats as well.  

Oh, but let me tell you what!

I quickly learned that tossing candy from the back seat of a motorcycle is no easy feat!  Turns out, this is a much more challenging job than one would ever guess, ha.

I thought I had prepared a proper “candy-bag-holder” to use, but… not so much.  Nope.  My candy-bag was a disaster, right from the beginning. 

Tootsie rolls, gumballs, lollipops, jolly ranchers, and sweet tarts would sneak deep into the crevices and folds of my little bag, hiding from me in when it was time to toss. I mean, you only have seconds to toss candy to all the children you are driving by at that moment, so… the time pressure alone was more intense than I ever expected, lol.  

Being able to quickly and efficiently grab a handful of candy was crucial!  Seeing the disappointment on their faces if you didn’t get candy tossed to them was not something I had prepared for.   Oh dear — I was here for fun, not to see sadness.  If the kid next to them got something, and they didn’t?  Oh no!

And another oopsie, in the heat of the summer, some of the candy began to melt. (Yikes!).  Some of it even stuck to the side of the bag! (Oh my goodness!).   And no, I did not toss out the stuck-to-the-bag candy, ha.  (Gross!)  It stayed right where it was.  

Then we ran out of candy before the end of the parade!  Uh oh, and Oh my gosh!  That was definitely NOT the plan!

I really didn’t realize just how complicated of a job it is to be the candy-tosser, lol.  I well underestimated the requirements of this task. It takes some skill, and I obviously was a newbie at such a job.  

Also, it requires a pitching skill (if you have the time to do this!) to toss the candy directly at the kids waiting to catch their highly anticipated treasure.  I wanted to make sure even the quiet, shy little ones were tossed a gumball, so I tried to aim my throws.

Sometimes I was successful…. but not always.

And of course, you gotta toss to both sides of the road.  Kids were lined up in all kinds of areas, and no one wanted to be left out.  Trying to be fair to as many kids as possible, was a big job!

Plus, I had a second job to try to photograph our journey…

I was hoping to capture some of the excitement of the event.  The little kids were sooo excited, and the tweeners, well.  They weren’t quite as impressed, even though they still were ready to catch a bag-full of candy!

And also, I had the task of holding on, with no hands (coz my hands were busy tossing candy, of course.) 

Parade speed is relatively slow, but every now and then, we would bust a move, weave-in-and-out, suddenly speed up.  I don’t know why all the back-n-forth — I wasn’t the driver — but there was a whole lot of jerky movements going on for driving up one country small-town road.

So you know… holding on was important.  I had no plans of falling off that Harley in front of the whole parade of people!  

So many things to do all in a few minutes of time.  My task-level felt like it was very high.  Much higher than I expected. Multi-layers of tasks.

Anyone with DID understands how the MULTI-TASK feels.  

The pulls from so many inside all at once, going this way, running that way, stepping forward, sliding back.  The busy-ness inside a dissociative system is something that feels normal for the dissociative person, but would probably be more-than overwhelming for anyone else.

 

And in an adventure like this… I can imagine, for a dissociative system:

• Your teenage motorcycle fan could be pulled forward to either ride or drive the Harley.
• Your kids could be pulled forward to see the other kids catching the candy.
• Your athletes might be trying to make the perfect candy toss!
• Other kids would feel afraid of the motorcycle and want to hide.
• Other kids, or even adults, would be reaching out, hoping to get some of that candy!
• Other kids would be crying for the kids who didn’t get catch any candy.
• Your “be careful” older ladies might be having a cow or a fright or a big ol’ worry about anything or everything. “Don’t fall!” 
• Your protectors would be busy watching, because there is a crowd of people, and you never know who will be there.
• There would be lots of switching from person to another then another so everyone who wanted to ride on the Harley would get a turn in the seat.
• Someone else would be totally bored and ready to go home.
• Your artist might be stressing because some of those puzzle pieces looked more like weirdly shaped little people instead of puzzle pieces.
• Your adult, worker-employed person could be long ways away, resting deep inside, maybe not even looking or paying attention.
• And if anyone was triggered by anything, hopefully, they were a little further tucked away inside, in a safe internal place, giving a little more space for some fun to happen.
• Someone else inside would be remembering your own childhood, small-town experiences…
• Some dissociated insiders might be watching the sparkles on the tinsel.
• The ones who are scared of noises and people would be hopefully be hiding deep inside, also in a safe place.
• No doubt, there would be someone totally uninterested, and would want to be at the mall, or the library, or tucked away reading a book, or sitting at home, etc.
• And so many more…..
• Hopefully, there would be lots of insiders present and paying attention, having a good time!

 

The point being, whether you want your whole system involved in an exciting adventure, most of them will be reacting to it in some way or another.  

Do you know your people well enough to know how they would handle this kind of activity?

What would you need to do to prepare for a day in the parade?

How do you get internal system cooperation when you go out to do an adventure?

 

 

But did you have fun?!

The most important part of this project was about having a good time, sharing that good time with others, and bringing a smile to the faces of many.

 

And absolutely yes, we had fun!  

I recommend this little country-town parade project to any of you.   You might not all have a Harley to ride, but do what you can to find a way to make the world a better place for a day.  Have fun, share the joy, and bring some smiles to lots of faces.  Cheer up some kids, and give them some goodness.

Remember — let as many of your insiders participate in your next fun project as you can.  It really is okay to occasionally take a break from all the hard work you do, and enjoy the day in a different way.  Your inside community will appreciate some fun experiences, creating new and positive memories.  

One way to help your insiders overcome their trauma experiences is giving them new experiences to remember.

Got anything in mind?  I hope I’ve encouraged you to consider your next adventure!

For now, I wish you the very best in your healing journey, and may all your rides be fun! 

Warmly,

Kathy 

 

A special thank you to the driver of this awesome Harley-Davidson Tri Glide.

 

Copyright © 2008-2026 Kathy Broady and Discussing Dissociation