THANK YOU FOR LISTENING HOW TO

The residency is funded by the Australia Council’s Community Partnership fund through the Creative Producer scheme.ĭuring my residency I will devise, create and produce three writing, publication, spoken word and recording (audio and video) projects with my partner organisation Jesuit Social Services ( Jesuit Social Services work with people who require focused attention due to their specific critical social and cultural issues. I am currently the artist-in-residence with Jesuit Social Services and over 12 months will develop and produce the project. This is the impetus behind the Thank you for listening project. It’s been happening for decades in all cultures and civilisations.īut for some people the desire to share and communicate has been robbed from them – be it due to incarceration, addiction, mental illness, grief and loss or social taboo such as the loss of a loved one to suicide. Using writing as a therapeutic form, for self-expression or in order to share experiences is neither new nor novel. These four people all need to write and it is through writing that they can make sense of the world. Their other common link is that they have found a way to be heard and that is through writing. The common link between Karen, Alice, Anita and Kevin is that all in some way feel closed off from the world – be it from depression or fear or through social taboo. He is a policeman and has no doubt seen a lot but didn’t ever see the death of his son to suicide coming: I think of a song that my father used to sing “When Irish eyes are smiling”, but I know that Kevin does not smile or sparkle all the time. I have to say, “could you repeat that please?” Kevin generously repeats his words and I notice that he has a cheeky smile and sparkly eyes. Kevin* has a beautiful Irish accent but sometimes I can’t quiet catch what he is saying. (From publication/project Nothing prepared me for this – Support After Suicide) Inside her calm and containment is a huge understanding of life in its most fragile and minute form: In 2002 Anita lost her sister to suicide in 2003 her husband. Slowly we get to know each other and over time her story is revealed. When I first meet Anita* I am struck by how contained she appears. She’s an honest young woman with things to say:īut there was a deep sigh lingering around She makes no bones about the fact that she has struggles with her family, her mental health and her addictions. But like Karen her outside demeanour hides her fragile interior.

She has a steely will and a strong resilience especially for survival. I have known her for a number of years and seen her deal with all sorts of adversity. (From Write On – zine produced by the Artful Dodgers Studios)Īlice* is small and thin like a whippet and moves with the same amount of speed and dexterity. Yourself from the inside out, but slow down

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING HOW TO

How to fake itĪnd how to sleep for real, to avoid the lonely Your soul, release the pent-up worries that You should know how to walk so that othersĬan’t see your fear, see your hatred, see your Without shoes, without protection from the world. You should know how to tie your shoelaces.Ĭan’t get outside the house without shoelaces, Behind the wide smile is a young woman who is trying to come to terms with her many fragilities: But slowly, through her writing I discover that all is not as it seems. At times I wonder why she is doing writing workshops with me – she seems already so accomplished.

Karen is good at many things: photography, film making, speaking Japanese, stage managing for theatre companies. But life is not always generous in return, even if you do have a beautiful smile and an external cheery demeanour. At first I wonder if she smiles because she is nervous, but then I learn that she smiles because she is generous. It is wide and open and when she smiles you can see her even, small teeth. The first thing I notice about Karen* is her smile. This article is part of our April and May focus on Arts and Human Rights.