Hope: Finding courage within the weakness

Quote from
Into the Light by Corina Duyn

Keeping the thoughts on Hope. And Trust. And finding the space in one's head for the beautiful and the challenging...

It always takes me a while to be brave enough to listen back to my own words spoken during an interview or talk ... But today I finally found this courage and the head-space to listen to podcast of the interview, or more precisely, a leisurely talk, recorded on the 24th November with Bernadette and Stan Philips on 'World in View' -Tramore Community Radio.
See MixCloud link at bottom of page.

The chat was a beautiful exchange of thoughts about art, life, illness, disability, nature, (Zen) poetry, ability, boxes and getting out of them, eggs, presence, puppets, the importance of Fun, strength, transition into disability, new beginnings, and changing attitudes...

The chat flowed freely and I think we could have chatted for a lot longer, given the time. The view of the sea from this radio station made it all the more special.

Towards the end Bernadette read out a quote from my Into the Light  book-  about finding yourself in those moments where you know what you are doing is exactly right for you... and thoughts about Hope. (see quote in image).
... Hope with the capital H, where one sees the bigger picture of one's role in life - I was told, and I can see it now, that yes, I have found that place of Trust - of knowing my role in this world of illness and disability, and being an advocate about Ability.

The experience of the Dis-ability ... This Ability exhibition has - for me personally- been an experience of growth. Thank you Grace O'Sullivan for your words at the opening talk, and Bernadette and Stan for the amazing and easy chat, for helping me to Trust. 
I will endeavour to remind myself of this in times when I am a bit 'rattled' by circumstances, and unsure on how to handle them.

One such challenge came a week after the radio chat.

...  a display in disarray.

When I arrived at the Cultural centre to pack up the exhibition on the 1st December I was rather shocked (to say it mildly) by the state of the show. The exhibition had changed from an exhibit of 'stories' to what looked like a badly organised store-room.

I became aware that the puppets and tables with our books had been moved to accommodate a gig on Friday 25th.
Which is fine...
But...
Although the puppets were returned to their previous location, they seemed to have been handled in an unkindly and thoughtless manner. They were thrown into, or on, their boxes.  The tables with books, prints etc were left in the back of the gallery. Open boxes with plastic wrapping flowing out of them on the floor where our book displays had been.

Seeing our exhibition in this way made me so incredibly sad. And I am embarrassed that people who came to see the exhibition, which had received such great publicity and kindness, would have seen a place in disarray.

For the past week I have tried hard to make sense of it all. To not let this strange event blithe the overall beautiful, positive and empowering experience.
To keep seeing the Bigger Picture.
To Trust.
Trust that all is well.
To still see the Hope with the Capital H. To find my courage within this weakness. Or perhaps also seeing someone else's weakness in their inability to see that, for the last 5 days of the exhibition, that there was something seriously wrong with the display...

After writing to the art centre, I have received an apology, and am assured that this will never happen again, and that they can learn from the experience.


I suppose the most challenging to get my head around was (is) that the whole point of the exhibition was  about Ability - about stepping out of boxes - and yet this exhibition ending had a visual aspect of being thrown in the boxes again.
I know this was not a deliberate act, but an unfortunate result.

To finish on a lighter note... two of the puppets - my own: The Reporter, and Miriam's Monk had their string completely entangled. An interesting side effect.

Reporting and Mindfulness all tangled up.

Seeing the bigger picture.

Trust and Hope.
Finding Courage within the weakness.



Thank you to all of you who have visited the exhibition, who have encouraged me through social media, through email, messages and phonecalls. For practical support and for believing in the thoughts behind this exhibition. My deepest gratitude.

Now, please make yourself a cup of tea and join us for a chat!

My interview proper starts at about 9.30 minutes in, but if you have the time, please listen to the whole program as it is all related and interesting.

Links:

My books mentioned in the interview.

Talk by Grace O'Sullivan

Waterford Crystal, a blast from the past

A little bit of history...

Some images of the making of the Waterford Crystal Folk in 1997/8. This project came up during the interview at Tramore Local Radio last week. (about 14 minutes in)

The making of the Waterford Crystal Folks in 1997
Photo by Frank Miller- Irish Times

My biggest and also last Corporate commissions before I got ill in 1998, was for Waterford Crystal. I re-created the workers and their skills in miniature. The Dolls were about 30cm height.

During this time I was given access to all the different parts of the factory. From the glass blowers, the woman at the kiln, the cutters, the packers. My then partner and I made the machines and tools all to scale.

The Waterford Crystal artists made me a set of all the stages of glass in scale with the dolls.

one of the Waterford Crystal cut glass
made to scale of the dolls.

A huge project. All very exciting. 

It was displayed in the visitor centre for a few years.

Full display of my Waterford Crystal workers at the visitor centre in the late '90's

article in Crystal Clear about the project 

article in Crystal Clear about the project 

When it was dismantled before the closing down of the factory, I was given back the dolls.
Unfortunatelly, most of the glass went 'missing', apart from the one piece I have.

I have a three of the ex-Waterford Crystal workers in my studio -  now reading the newspapers or playing music, one of them still wearing it's protective clothing.

The three men Have moved to another home in Waterford, the woman now lives in Kerry! The others workers, I think, are enjoying retirement in County Westmeath.

Waterford Crystal  ex-workers Contact

Radio and Blog as communication tools

What a week it has been ...
A week of learning and accepting, of beauty and annoyance, of extreme tiredness, pure joy and big smiles. 
A week in which I was told - again-  to not give up on the path I am on, and that I Rock :-)

It started off with art student Phyllis coming for work experience. A sharing of skills and knowledge: I have support to do some experimental work on my animation project, in turn I give guidance with the sculptural work for her course.

After the interview on TCRfm
with Bernadette and Stan Phillips.
image from facebook page

On Tuesday I received a phone call from Bernadette Phillips, while she was visiting the Dis-ability ... This Ability exhibition.  Bernadette persuaded me to travel to Tramore on Thursday to be interviewed on their 'World in View'  program on Tramore Community Radio.
I was honoured to be asked, but also concerned about travelling two days in a row as unfortunately I had a hospital appointment on Wednesday which made me yet again experience the wasteful-workings-of-the-HSE ... I will write about that later, as it would spoil the beauty of the other happenings this week!

I am SO glad that Bernadette did not settle for having an interview conducted over the phone...
Yes it was a challenge to get up on Thursday morning while feeling quite ill with tiredness, even though I had been in bed and on the couch for almost twenty hours. Painkillers, a shower, meditation and a conviction that this was an opportunity not to be missed, I was driven to Tramore. Yet again the weather played its part and granted me with stunning views of mountains and the sea. 
Even the studio has a view over the beach and sea!

The connection that was made with Bernadette during our initial phonecall certainly continued when we met. The energy of Bernadette and husband Stan, who run the radio program together, is just simply beautiful.  They are people who are absolutely grounded in spirituality, in nature, in love of life, in understanding of life. What a privilege to be in their company, to talk with them about my journey through life and illness. About art and writing, disability and the exhibition. To received encouragement, or maybe their 'push' to not deviate from the path I am currently on: to share with 'the world' the Ability of people with dis-abilities. To share my story. Bernadette- like Grace O'Sullivan at the opening talk looked me straight into my eyes when saying this... Thank you! Thank you also to the listeners who commented with such positivity on the interview.

The half hour interview is available as podcast . My interview starts at about 9.30 minutes in, although the whole program is interesting!

For me personally, there is a lot to take in from this interview, the exhibition, the reactions to it all. It does take time to make it mine - to find ways in which I can tell me story in a way that it does not negatively influence my health, by going over my energy limits. 

This BLOG is for now the best communication tool I can use, and over time, maybe I can do more talks, like to ones I did this year at The Sanctaury, at UCC, radio, at exhibitions and book launches... All in good time! If you like to get notifications of my posts, please sign up for "Follow by email" 

Again, Thank YOU, my readers for coming along on my journey of discovery.

Show during Trump protest,
with original quote by Angela Y. Davis 

To finish of for today, I saw this quote recently: “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept…” - Angela Y. Davis

A good goal to have!

Links for further reading: 

Grace O'Sullivan's talk, which is included in this post 
Hatched (with poetry and images) now available as e-book 
Talk at the Sanctuary 
My book SHOP
Tramore Community Radio 'World In View'
Bernadette Phillips website

Apparently I 'rock', now that made me smile!
facebook comment