Thank you to the kind people who sponsor books to be given to community groups for the young people they are supporting. This box is bound for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in rural Northam.
The idea of making the book bags (pockets, pouches) above, for The Black Dog Project came from spending time with young people who’d experienced trauma, and my own experience of it. When you’ve experienced trauma ‘safe places’ and ‘being held’ become very important. The books themselves are created with that in mind – soft paper, muted tones, ink soaked deep into the page. Characters who ‘hold you’. And space.
The community groups who gift the books to those they’re supporting say the kids often hold the books to their chests (hearts) with a sense of preciousness. So from that emerged the idea of creating a safe place to keep the books in and somewhere to add their own things. A group of friends got together with their sewing machines and made a beautiful batch of the pouches. They have a soft draw string cord and a symbol embroidered by hand with string. The symbol being code for ‘righting the wrongs’.
The hand-made part of the gift box is really important. Interestingly, we had some graphically designed and slickly printed black dog bookmarks done in 2010 but the counsellors say the kids are always drawn to the handmade things. Like the cardboard squares cut from the back cover of art journals and stamped with The Black Dog Project stamp on one side and Clunk & Jam typewriter on the other. Aside from being ‘quiet’ and softly sensory, maybe it’s because they’re imperfect and no two are the same? A good message about the value of difference maybe? And things not being perfect?
The New Brave .
If it is brave to be tough – is it not also brave to show sensitivity?
If it is brave to fight in anger – is it not also brave to not fight the sadness?
If it is brave to get on with it – is it not also brave to sit still in it?
If it is brave to confront something – is it not also brave to choose to retreat?
If it is brave to hold emotion back and in – is it not also brave to feel it? If it is brave to be in the spotlight – is it not also brave to be alone?
Pictured book page from Clunk & Jam. Pic from The Concise Oxford Dictionary and ‘Mary Poppins’ book.
Thanks again to Planet Books for the wall space at the rear of the bookshop for Robin and Amelia.
What’s with all the smiley faces – things are not really that great.
The one thing she disliked most was false optimism 🙂 And it was making its mark everywhere, particularly in emails and text messages 🙂 Sometimes people even shouted happiness :)!!! But was all this just a disguise? Were people really that happy :/ She sensed the world increasingly turning away from those who weren’t feeling all that happy right now 🙁 Opting for the pretense of living fairy tale lives:) That made her feel sad. 🙁 As did the effect of so many colons and wrong way brackets consuming a perfectly good language.
See this Rose who is free from the labor of smiling. This Rose about dealing with all matters of the emotional kind. This Rose is curious about the origin of sadness.
(Clunk & Jam book 2019)
Donated some copies of Clunk & Jam, Wisdoms of Rose, cards and paste-ups to Condell Growers and Sharers community library and vege garden in Condell Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne.
Dump The Damsel .
She dismissed the damsel in distress and became the authority on herself. She also had any dull idea of becoming a star, well and truly covered. In conclusion: A sturdy resistance to being dumbed down, could well be her greatest achievement.
(Clunk & Jam book, 2019. Reposted from 2013)
