The Secret Self

What began with the discovery of a box of envelopes in my closet became a journey toward my identity as an artist and writer. Unburdening myself from the box’s contents was only the beginning. More than an archive of lost love, the box’s contents catalyzed a cathartic process of letting go.

Through a series of performances in Vancouver’s public parks, I returned the envelopes’ contents to the embrace of Mother Earth — a symbolic act, a rebirth, a return to the elemental source of inspiration.

These performances were the descent — the letting go, the long journey into the dark. During my time in the underworld, I gathered evidence. I suffered. I also learned to accept the parts of me that were seen as ‘too much,’ ‘too strange,’ ‘too beautiful’ and ‘too dangerous.’

What follows is the rising: the empowered ascent back toward the light, and a deeper connection with my creative self. Words born in the abyss and illuminated as I rose. The book they are becoming is what I went down to meet: The Original Wound.