tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10499863526209516602024-03-13T04:57:19.392-07:00Kate Massey-Chasecreative arts practitioner working in community contextsKate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-14123715273626342292016-09-13T03:34:00.003-07:002016-09-13T14:52:10.809-07:00A New Chapter<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm currently sitting on the train. This is a usual occurrence for me, but this time I'm on my way to a few days of induction at the University of Exeter, before I start my full-time PhD (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under the <a href="http://www.sww-ahdtp.ac.uk/" target="_blank">SWWDTP</a>). It's the beginning of a new and exciting chapter, but - as someone who finds endings difficult - this train journey is not only a chance to start feeling those churnings of nervous excitement, but also to reflect on the previous five years of freelance life since I finished my MA at <a href="http://www.cssd.ac.uk/" target="_blank">Central</a>.</div>
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I'll be keeping a couple of my jobs on to start with, as the practice feeds into my research (and I might need some pocket money!), before the Big Move to Devon with my wife next year, but certainly my working life of 11 to 13 jobs (on average) is now a thing of the past. This won't be a comprehensive list, but here's a few of the highlights and low-points of my self-employed adventures...</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">LOW POINTS</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Anyone who knows me well or is linked with me on social media won't find it difficult to guess what I'll put first here. BLOODY TRAINS!!! It might seem like I go on about this a tad too much, but when you are as reliant on public transport as I am and trying to work jobs spread all over London and beyond, you are basically helpless to the gods of the trains and they don't seem to look too kindly on me. My life over the last five years has involved far too much time looking at the live departures and swearing as trains are cancelled, delayed, and generally screwing me over. For example, last week: I was meant to be running a two hour creative writing workshop in Folkestone for young people who are self-harming. I got to St Pancras station for my connection, just as they cancelled the trains for the next two hours. Leaving me to call work and say I couldn't get there, let the young people down, and lose a day's wages. Leaving me in tears, to be honest. I tweeted Southeastern trains, but it's hard to get across the significance of losing money I needed and letting vulnerable young people down in 140 characters. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Not getting sick pay. Cue thought-process: "If I can't get out of bed, I will lose £100... Oh, I really can't get out of bed. Shit." </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Not getting holiday pay. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Feeling guilty when you're not working. Something I've been working on. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">There aren't a lot of other low points, to be honest. Being paid poorly by some organisations. Last minute cancellations. Being offered a zero hours contract and then never receiving any work from them. Having a contract ended by email. Being made to wear a horrid, highly flammable uniform to go into schools (my wife told me I looked like a work experience student; I had flashbacks of trying to buy trousers for school when you're a 5'11'' teenager. No-one was winning). Setting up a project in a prison and going through security clearance and then never getting another reply so never running it. Worrying about the summer holidays, when all the schools work dries up. Worrying about money. Trying to balance it all. </li>
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<span style="font-size: large;">HIGH POINTS</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Doing a job where I was running one session a month at an addiction recovery service and, over five years, being gradually asked to come in more and more - once every three weeks, once a fortnight, once a week and finally twice a week - at the request of the service users. And when the service went up for tender, I was the only external contractor who was kept on, as the group wanted me to keep coming. One of my proudest professional achievements.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">All the little moments. The other week, from a sixteen year old girl, grudgingly<i>:</i> "That was actually really helpful." From a participant a couple of years ago: "I thought I was going to hate that and I didn't". </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Laughter and tears. Chances for both. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">After working at The Living Room, funded by St Albans council, they didn't want my sessions to end, so they fund-raised and paid for me to come back. Parkinson's UK did the same: the funded sessions finished, so they wrote to their local counsellors and got enough for me to come back for another 6 months. Felt really privileged. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">When it's all going to shit and you have no idea what you're doing and then you have an idea and you pull it out the bag and it falls together like magic, like that's how you always planned it. And you sort of want to punch the air on your way out. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Running the Theatre for Change module at St Mary's University and watching the students grow.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The people. The funny students. The boy who doesn't speak much English but his physical comedy has you rolling on the floor. The addict who quits. The one who always shows up.</li>
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OK, mustn't get emotional. The sun has just come back out and we are about to roll into Exeter, so must go. </div>
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Singing David Bowie in my head and going to start the journey towards Dr Kate. Wish me luck!</div>
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-11792860411027369982016-04-26T10:02:00.000-07:002016-04-26T10:05:35.467-07:00#WEcount<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I’m an identical twin and growing up we found clear ways to differentiate ourselves. I cut my hair short with the kitchen scissors, sitting behind the sofa when I was about four. I wore yellow and my sister wore green. I mostly wore trousers and shorts, and she wore skirts and dresses. I was a “tom boy” (although I think that’s a silly term: I was a girl who wore trousers and climbed trees; but it is a useful short-hand and you’ll all know what I mean by it). At my primary school, the girls wore grey skirts and gingham dresses. I didn’t want to, so I was the first girl at my school to break tradition and my parents had to buy my new, little grey trousers from the “boy’s” section of the shop. Yet, it felt comfortable and natural to me at that age and I didn’t care what the other children or the teachers said.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
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Fast forward a few years and by the time I was at secondary school, I was too nervous to wear a skirt, although that wasn’t a feeling I think I would have been able to name, let alone say aloud. There was something about wearing one that made me feel self-conscious, made me feel I’d be looked at. I was extremely tall as a teenager (taller than all the girls, most of the boys and some of the teachers) and it was always a struggle to find a uniform that would fit me, within the strict parameter of my secondary school’s rules. I look back now rather longingly at my skinny long limbs, but at the time - although always proud of my height - I didn’t have the benefit of being popular or cool, so it wasn’t something I would ever have flaunted confidently.</div>
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In the summer term of Year 10, when I was 15 years old, I wore a skirt to school for the first time since I was six. I remember feeling self-conscious, like I had a neon sign above my head. And when I got on the school bus at the end of the day, the bus driver pulled me onto his lap, in front of all of the small, shrieking Year 7s, and wouldn’t let me go. I remember I had lots of bags, and the gearstick was pressing into my leg; I couldn’t get off him and I didn’t know what to do. I remember feeling humiliated, but acting like it was funny. One of my male friends came and pulled me off him and made a big show of it, to ‘lighten the mood’, saying “Oi! She’s with me!” and then dragging me to the back of the bus. I remember another friend, a female one, telling me I had it coming, that I shouldn’t have been so friendly. In 2003, I wouldn’t have been familiar with the term “slut shaming”. </div>
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That’s not the end of that story. That’s not the end of the messages I was given around it. Another few years later, at a house-party, that same teenage boy climbed on top of me when I was lying down upstairs, horribly drunk, and said “I really hope you don’t remember this tomorrow”. I remember rolling to face the wall, in the hope that it would form some protection. Fortunately, a couple of female friends came upstairs at that moment and shouted at him and got him off me. Although not before they’d taken pictures, which one girl posted online. That’s not the end of that story either. That’s not the end of the messages I was given around it. That’s also not the worst thing that happened to me as a teenager. </div>
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So when I see the recent articles in the media <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/victim-blaming-row-after-school-7757504" target="_blank">about school skirts</a>, it doesn’t bring back the best of memories. And what makes me livid, is that for a new generation those memories are being created right now. Right this second. And we haven’t stopped it yet. </div>
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So, I’m trying to stop it. I know I can’t do it on my own. I’m standing as a candidate for the <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/" target="_blank">Women’s Equality Party</a> (WE) because I want to end violence against women and girls. I want to end violence against everyone actually. I want young men to stop <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/20/britain-male-suicide-rate-tragedy-failure" target="_blank">killing themselves</a>, because we live in a world that sees courage as weakness. I want teenagers to be taught what consent is (which is why that’s one of my day <a href="http://www.teenboundaries.co.uk/" target="_blank">jobs</a>). I don’t want any part of the body to be used as a weapon to inflict pain, or be a source of shame. I want to see an end to the systemic gender inequality that underpins almost every single thing. I’m trying to end it. But I can’t do it on my own and WE can’t do it on our own. WE need your votes. WE need your confidence. WE need your bravery. </div>
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<a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/election2016" target="_blank">Vote WE</a> on May 5th. Because <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/wecount_campaign_launches" target="_blank">#WEcount</a>.<br />
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-79496558628874933372016-04-17T02:17:00.000-07:002016-04-17T02:22:21.452-07:00Equality is better for everyone<div style="text-align: justify;">
On May 5th, London is being given a new choice: the chance to vote for a party that is committed to doing politics differently. I'm not a career politician, and although I've always thought of myself as political, the jeering-sneering performance of politics has never appealed. I just don't think the route to social justice is lined with posh men in suits shouting at each other. It's dialogue, communication, empathy - it's <i>human connections</i> that make my world go round. So I've thrown myself into a career (in the arts and education) which celebrates them and tries to carve creative paths to a slightly better world for a few people at a time. But I've unexpectedly, and so naturally I almost didn't know notice it happening, become a politician; I've found a possible home for that political passion in the <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/">Women's Equality Party</a>. And on May 5th, registered voters in London have the chance to make the city a lot better for a lot of people. For everyone, actually. Because equality is.</div>
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The <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/">Women's Equality Party</a> (#WE) is a new, non-partisan political party, <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/our_history">formed last year</a> and growing with astonishing speed, which is putting gender equality at the top of the political agenda for the benefit of us all. It has six core-objectives:</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #351c75;">'WE are pushing for equal representation in politics, business, industry and throughout working life. <b>WE are pressing for equal pay and an equal opportunity to thrive.</b>
WE are campaigning for equal parenting and caregiving and shared
responsibilities at home to give everyone equal opportunities both in
family life and in the workplace. <b>WE urge an education system that creates opportunities for all children and an understanding of why this matters.</b> WE strive for equal treatment of women by and in the media. <b>WE seek an end to violence against women.'</b></span></span></div>
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I'm standing as a candidate on the London-wide list for the Greater London Assembly (the orange ballot paper), alongside <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/london_2016" target="_blank">9 other</a> inspirational women and <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/sophie_for_london" target="_blank">Sophie Walker</a>, our leader and mayoral candidate. #WE are also standing in <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/scotland_2016" target="_blank">Scotland</a> and <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/wales_2016" target="_blank">Wales</a>.</div>
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#WE have a vision for London that would make the city safer and fairer for everyone. #WE have specific, costed policies which would create:</div>
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<li>A transport system that is accessible for parents with buggies and wheel-chair users, where women and girls can travel safely, without the fear of sexual harassment</li>
<li>An end to the 23% pay gap between men and women, in a city where women can realise their full economic potential (and add £70 billion to the economy!)</li>
<li>A comprehensive solution to the housing crisis, by making housing more affordable and promoting inclusive design</li>
<li>Protection for women and children escaping domestic abuse, with ring-fenced funding for refuges and safe housing </li>
<li>A system of child-care for all children from the end of paid parental leave at 9 months, and a pan-London approach to meet the demand for care for older and disabled people </li>
<li>Compulsory, quality Sex and Relationship Education and PSHE, so that the next generation are taught to respect and protect one another</li>
<li>A thriving and brilliant work-force, which celebrates and awards the
achievements of everyone, and gives them fair access to work - #WE will
create <i>work that works.</i></li>
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And LOADS more. Just read our <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/womensequality/pages/839/attachments/original/1459956428/Women's_Equality_Party_Manifesto_for_London.pdf?1459956428" target="_blank">manifesto</a>. </div>
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In a political system <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/catherine-mayer-women-s-equality-party-is-a-wakeup-call-for-westminster-a3157491.html">stacked against new-comers </a>our voice cannot be heard as loudly as the old parties. #WE are fighting to be <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sophiewalker/wep-london-mayoral-election-hustings_b_9689554.html" target="_blank">seen and heard</a> and it can be heart-breakingly, back-breakingly hard. One of the biggest barriers, I think, to us winning as many votes as we could on May 5th is the completely forgivable lack of understanding by the electorate of the super complicated systems by which each of the different votes are counted and awarded. London Elects explains it nice and clearly <a href="https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/counting-votes" target="_blank">here.</a> </div>
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So if you are reading this and thinking "I'm super down with the whole equality thing, but I don't want to 'waste my vote' on a new party and risk a big, old party I hate getting in" then FEAR NOT. And then tell all your friends. The orange ballot paper, the London-wide list for the Greater London Assembly, is elected using <a href="https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/counting-votes" target="_blank">a form of proportional representation</a> (the <b>Modified d'Hondt Formula</b>, for those for whom that means something), and #WE have enough support that we can and will win seats on it. <u><b>If</b></u> enough Londoners know a) about us, and b) that <i>we</i> <i>can</i> <i>win</i>. A vote for equality will not be a wasted vote.</div>
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So <span style="font-size: large;">TELL EVERYONE</span>. And <span style="font-size: x-large;">VOTE!</span> </div>
Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-31556940706340891852016-01-25T13:21:00.001-08:002016-04-17T02:18:19.076-07:00Kate for Mayor!2016 has got off to a rather exciting start. For the last week I've been uttering a sentence which if you had told me I would be saying this time last year, I simply would not have believed you. "I've been shortlisted to the final five to run for Mayor of London for the <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/?recruiter_id=28284" target="_blank">Women's Equality Party</a>". One of the reasons that sentence would have been so alien in January 2015 is that the Women's Equality Party (#WE) didn't exist; it was an idea yet to be formed. People responded to its emergence so swiftly and with such passion, it's hard to believe last year it wasn't A Thing. Like a song you hear on the radio and can start singing straight away, thinking I <i>know</i> this song, it speaks to me. #WE is that song. The Party is the party. 2015 didn't <i>just</i> bring us the spiralizer.<br />
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From its <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/our_history" target="_blank">conception</a> at <a href="http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/wow-women-of-the-world-festival" target="_blank">WOW</a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/catherine_mayer?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank">Catherine Mayer</a>, joining forces with <a href="https://twitter.com/sanditoksvig" target="_blank">Sandi Toksvig</a>, in March 2015, it is now a proper party (which is a crazily hard thing to become in a political system <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/catherine-mayer-women-s-equality-party-is-a-wakeup-call-for-westminster-a3157491.html" target="_blank">stacked against new-comers</a>) and a real contender in the next elections. #WE has more than 45,000 members and supporters and over 70 local branches (some of which I helped set up when I started volunteering for the party last spring). And now we are standing candidates for the <a href="http://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/what-mayor-london-and-london-assembly-do" target="_blank">London Assembly </a>and London Mayoral elections. And I'm lucky enough to have been short-listed as a candidate! Bloody hell, January!<br />
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Hustings are tomorrow night and voting (internal, for party members in London) closes on Thursday. So if you want to vote for me to stand for either mayor or the London Assembly, crack on and j<a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/?recruiter_id=28284" target="_blank">oin the party</a>! If you want to know why I'm standing and why I believe I'd be a credible candidate, here are my reasons:<br />
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<li>My professional life is hugely varied - if you've read my other blogs you'll know I work with people with Parkinsons, people who are HIV+, mental health service users, recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, young migrants; I run creative arts and education projects; I facilitate interfaith dialogue; I teach sex and relationship education; I go into schools as a Role Model to combat homophobic bullying. I keep myself busy! This has given me insight not only into the needs of these different groups - who come from a vast array of backgrounds - but also into the local provision for different communities. Most importantly it means I am experienced in working with people, discussing their needs and concerns, and supporting them to take positive action. I get on with people and I care about their lives.</li>
<li>I’ve been involved with the party since the second meeting, firstly as a volunteer ‘Branch Maker’, supporting the set-up of the local branches across the UK, and also <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user224237551/wepyouth-first-meeting-kate-massey-chase" target="_blank">spoke</a> at the first meeting of the Youth Branch. I planned and delivered a pilot workshop about #WE at Nonsuch High School, and have been invited to join the education group leading on school speaking materials.</li>
<li>I care passionately about the fight for equality and believe gender inequality is a crazy anachronism in today’s society. From every-day sexism, to the gendering of emotions, the pay gap, to the threat of violence to women and girls - I see the impact of gender inequality all around me and I cannot sit back and let it continue. Only last week, an <a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/comment/columns/dominiclawson/article1656813.ece" target="_blank">article </a>in the Sunday Times suggested female doctors are causing the NHS to fail. Gahhh!!!! The issues behind this are systemic. But that means they can be systematically tackled (see #WE's <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/objectives" target="_blank">6 core objectives</a>).</li>
<li>I am a lively and confident person, who enjoys leading from the front, back and side, responding to the needs of the people I’m working with. I have strong values but am never evangelical; I always want to understand all the different sides of a debate and form a considered opinion, and I’m not too proud to change my mind.</li>
<li>I strive to be authentic and a positive role model. When I regularly taught at a school in Lewisham, I decided to be honest about my sexuality when asked questions by the students, as I think it is crucial that young people have a normalized and human view of difference (and this also led to considerably reduced homophobic language in my classroom). In the workplace, I’m not afraid to be honest about my feelings and communicate them appropriately.</li>
<li>The political arena could seriously do with some normal people, who aren't career politicians, who know the world outside Westminster. I am authentic. I'm nice. I'm not another man in a suit. </li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/kate_massey_chase" target="_blank">VOTE KATE!!!!</a></div>
Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-48715558986481184882015-12-30T10:09:00.000-08:002015-12-30T10:12:37.081-08:002015: stepping up and looking back<div style="text-align: justify;">
2015 is drawing to a close. The world continued to get <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201510" target="_blank">warmer</a>, the Conservatives won the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/results" target="_blank">General Election</a>, the House of Commons authorised <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/02/syria-airstrikes-mps-approve-uk-action-against-isis-after-marathon-debate" target="_blank">airstrikes</a> over Syria, people the world over were killed at the hands of terrorists... It's been an internationally frightening time. Yet, important political campaigns also started, there were also lots of amazing books, films and songs written and made, sporting events I have no interest in happened and people won them, same-sex marriage became <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/26/417717613/supreme-court-rules-all-states-must-allow-same-sex-marriages" target="_blank">legal in the USA</a> and the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34810598" target="_blank">Republic of Ireland</a>, and scientists made amazing discoveries, including the first <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/20-amazing-scientific-discoveries-of-2015-so-far-2015-3?r=US&IR=T" target="_blank">new antibiotic</a> in 30 years. And the 'future' also became the past with <a href="http://www.october212015.com/" target="_blank">Back to the Future day</a>. What a year!</div>
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So, what have I been up to?</div>
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I married the woman I love and we went on an amazing honeymoon to Canada. We got some really bad news. We got some really good news. I sat with someone whilst they slipped out of life. I 'MC-ed' a funeral. I discovered that the reason we keep not having hot water is that the boiler was plumbed in with the pipes the wrong way round. I've taken THOUSANDS of trains, buses and tubes. I've done lots of jobs (old and new). I've made new friends.</div>
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Here's what I've been doing in my working life (this can now act as a crib sheet for my wife when I test her on where I work!) - in no particular order:</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.turning-point.co.uk/" target="_blank">Turning Point</a> - delivering their bi-weekly 'Creative Space' for service users on an Abstinence Day Programme, who are all in recovery from substance addiction. I also recently ran professional training for the staff team on how they could make their sessions more creative, which I'm hoping will be rolled out to other teams in the new year. I got one of my favourite pieces of feedback of the year from a participant at this service the other week who, when 'checking out' at the end of the session, said: "Kate, you don't step back, you step up. And that makes us step up too." Gave me the feels. My other fav feedback that day was: "I thought I was going to fucking hate it and I didn't." </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.attictheatrecompany.com/" target="_blank">Attic Theatre Company</a> - running weekly Drama workshops for young migrants to help them learn English and make friends, as well as developing communication skills, team work, mutual respect and empathy. I also delivered a week's summer school (for the second year running) for children who are preparing for the move from primary to secondary school, where we designed Drama-based activities to support them with this transition (such as a giant, interactive game I made up loosely based on Snakes and Ladders).</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.fearlessfutures.org/" target="_blank">Fearless Futures</a>
- a new job I started in the summer, as a 'Trailblazer', I first worked on their summer school and then worked with a
small group of ten 16yr old girls to discuss gender inequality (locally,
nationally and internationally), develop their leadership skills,
discuss their aspirations and inspire them to be social activists. It
was really moving to read their feedback at the end, as one young woman
wrote that she had been being bullied since starting at the school and
our work together had given her the confidence to tell her teachers
about it. So definitely worth the early starts and three hour round trip
to the school! </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qgDWZHTiDyM/VnsRXRgqb6I/AAAAAAAAANE/oc-AfuMQmJo/s1600/WP_20151110_009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qgDWZHTiDyM/VnsRXRgqb6I/AAAAAAAAANE/oc-AfuMQmJo/s400/WP_20151110_009.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/mental-health/equilibrium-magazine" target="_blank">Equilibrium</a> - facilitating a weekly group at <a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/mental-health/clarendon-recovery-college" target="_blank">Clarendon Recovery College</a> with mental health service users, supporting them to produce a quarterly online magazine about wellbeing, with the help of our amazing graphic designer, <a href="http://www.parkepaintings.com/" target="_blank">Anthony</a>. Check out our <a href="http://issuu.com/antz333/docs/equilibrium_57_autumn_2015" target="_blank">latest issue</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.3ff.org.uk/" target="_blank">3FF</a> - facilitating interfaith workshops in schools for their <a href="http://www.3ff.org.uk/schools/education-workshops.php" target="_blank">education</a> team, including 'The Art of Asking', 'The Art of Empathy', and 'Encountering Faiths and Beliefs', where I facilitate the dialogue between our guest speakers and students; for example we might go into, say, a Catholic school and take a Muslim, an Atheist and a Buddhist speaker, and the students get to ask them questions about their beliefs (I love those sessions). </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.familylives.org.uk/" target="_blank">Family Lives</a> - continuing to work on their <a href="http://www.teenboundaries.co.uk/" target="_blank">TeenBoundaries</a> project, delivering Sex and Relationship Education in secondary schools - particularly focusing on sexual bullying, self-esteem, consent, sexting, porn, and healthy relationships. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.future-creative.org/" target="_blank">Future Creative</a> - another new job, delivering Drama-based workshops, which has already taken me as far as Lincoln, to run a day of workshops on immigration, and Birmingham, for a Roald Dahl day.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.innerdrive.co.uk/" target="_blank">Inner Drive</a> - <i>another</i> new one (one can't have too many zero hours contracts), running education workshops drawing on neuroscience to teach young people life-skills.</li>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VGBeW0ELLL8/VnsQeXcvO_I/AAAAAAAAAM0/NpqARpioqBU/s1600/11214323_10101011685348485_3865283008603524331_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VGBeW0ELLL8/VnsQeXcvO_I/AAAAAAAAAM0/NpqARpioqBU/s320/11214323_10101011685348485_3865283008603524331_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/arts-and-entertainment/Arts-development/default.aspx" target="_blank">St Albans Arts</a> - continuing to deliver Creative Writing workshops in St Albans. The project I'd started in 2014, first working with <a href="http://mindinmidherts.org.uk/" target="_blank">Mind in Mid Herts</a> and <a href="http://thelivingroom.me.uk/contact-us/living-room-st-albans/" target="_blank">The Living Room</a>, then <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/Services/clinics/MapsAndDirections/DefaultView.aspx?id=33384" target="_blank">Albany Lodge</a> (an inpatient psychiatric hospital, which proved a logistically challenging context to work in), culminated in May 2015 with the publication of an anthology of their work, <i>Tell Me on a Monday</i>. Then for the next phase of the project, I delivered 'Write it Out': workshops for people with/supporting people with Parkinsons, in partnership with <a href="http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/" target="_blank">Parkinsons UK</a> (who are funding me to come back and work with them again in the new year - yay). I also presented at Creative Hertfordshire's <a href="http://creativehertfordshire.com/the-art-of-wellbeing/the-art-of-wellbeing-conference/" target="_blank">'Art of Wellbeing' conference</a> and did some group writing with the delegates. I'm now really looking forward to working on an <a href="http://www.trestle.org.uk/participate/workshops/arts-on-prescription/" target="_blank">Arts on Prescription</a> project in partnership with Trestle Theatre Company in the new year.</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://thelivingroom.me.uk/" target="_blank">The Living Room</a> - after delivering Creative Writing workshops there funded by St Albans Arts, I was really pleased to be invited back for two sets of eight more sessions with the service users, all in recovery from various addictions. It's been really interesting working with people whose addictions aren't only substance-based, and has really made me reflect on my practice. </li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
Coopers Hill - I've been doing some consultancy in the form of Creative Direction and Partnership Strategy for the lovely <a href="https://twitter.com/peterrabbett" target="_blank">Peter Rabbett</a>, supporting the evolution of a new centre for Creative, Digital and Performing Arts at Coopers Hill in Bracknell. It also meant I got to meet one of my educational heroes,<a href="http://sirkenrobinson.com/" target="_blank"> Sir Ken Robinson</a>, at the <a href="http://festivalofeducation.com/" target="_blank">Festival of Education</a>.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3dByvaNRxVc/VnsQiOQzWKI/AAAAAAAAAM4/BLoccFvr3OI/s1600/11402350_10101052385894265_3625411948152534083_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3dByvaNRxVc/VnsQiOQzWKI/AAAAAAAAAM4/BLoccFvr3OI/s320/11402350_10101052385894265_3625411948152534083_o.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my "new best friend", Sir Ken</td></tr>
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I've done a few more bits and pieces for the <a href="http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/" target="_blank">Southbank Centre</a>, including running a two-day workshop for the <a href="http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/festival-of-love" target="_blank">Festival of Love</a>, in the place of <a href="https://twitter.com/jodiannbickley?lang=en" target="_blank">Jodi Ann Bickley</a> (who was unwell), called <a href="http://onemillionlovelyletters.com/" target="_blank">'one million lovely letters'</a>. This is a project designed to send 'a hug in an envelope' for anyone who needs one, and so I spent a couple of days helping people write and decorate letters to strangers, old and young, near and far, who might need to know someone out there cares. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-498mXI3ml_4/VnsQYjhnt3I/AAAAAAAAAMo/80aV1k3xC1I/s1600/11053268_10101043905583875_4770384892209383484_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-498mXI3ml_4/VnsQYjhnt3I/AAAAAAAAAMo/80aV1k3xC1I/s400/11053268_10101043905583875_4770384892209383484_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I also came back for a second year to do some early morning 'speed mentoring' in the London Eye for their <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/girlchild/" target="_blank">International Day of the Girl</a> celebrations, which was again a complete privilege. Watching the sunrise over London, whilst talking to young woman about their ambitions, worries and dreams, might be one of the very best ways to start the day. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kgd1ufNg2WE/VnsPlRtdhyI/AAAAAAAAAMc/RBSC26-miG0/s1600/12113531_10101149396199835_2577484483795476112_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kgd1ufNg2WE/VnsPlRtdhyI/AAAAAAAAAMc/RBSC26-miG0/s400/12113531_10101149396199835_2577484483795476112_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Another little, but very moving, work-thing I did earlier this year was for Jennifer Lunn at <a href="http://culturcated.com/" target="_blank">Culturcated Theatre Company</a>, when I spent the day at <a href="http://www.evelinalondon.nhs.uk/Home.aspx" target="_blank">Evelina Children's Hospital</a> with three other actors, performing stories the children on the ward had written to them at their bedsides. I got to be a giant bubble floating through the sky, a robot warrior, a naughty cactus, an Elven King, and plenty of other bizarre and amazing characters. It was such a wonderful and inspiring day; I really hope I can go back sometime and do it again. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">In May, I made a brief appearance on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/vote-for-me" target="_blank">CBBC's 'Vote for Me'</a>, a programme designed to engage children in democratic processes. I was doing a Shakespeare assembly in a primary school in Lewisham. I had a wooden sword. Next stop, fulfilling a life-long dream of being on Jackanory??</li>
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So, that was all the paid stuff (I think; I may have forgotten something). As a volunteer, I also did:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1F2VR-WYBlw/VnldPI4ye0I/AAAAAAAAAL0/KC28dfYQVk4/s1600/11215190_10101183875997045_4707606017051768034_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1F2VR-WYBlw/VnldPI4ye0I/AAAAAAAAAL0/KC28dfYQVk4/s320/11215190_10101183875997045_4707606017051768034_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Talking to Yr6s in Lewisham about my wife</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.diversityrolemodels.org/" target="_blank">Diversity Role Models</a> - I've been volunteering as a 'Role Model' with DRM for four years now. They're such an inspirational charity, working tirelessly to prevent homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools. I've only volunteered in secondary schools in the past, but a few weeks ago was invited into a primary school to talk to the young people about being bisexual and my recent marriage, which was super fun and the children asked such brilliant and interesting questions.</li>
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One Yr6 child's promise after the workshop</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGVZ4YEZ-xI/VnldklSDYDI/AAAAAAAAAL8/72RbhxaQUIg/s1600/12308215_10101183685907985_7908433039933899445_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGVZ4YEZ-xI/VnldklSDYDI/AAAAAAAAAL8/72RbhxaQUIg/s320/12308215_10101183685907985_7908433039933899445_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Feedback from another Yr6 child</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.actionbreakssilence.org/" target="_blank">Action Breaks Silence</a> - this is such an amazing charity, working internationally to combat and prevent sexual and gender-based violence. I supported them in the development of their new programme for 7-11 year old boys, designed to build empathy and prevent abusive or violent behaviour in the future. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/actionbreakssilence/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Like</a> them on Facebook if you want to watch the most AWESOME videos of small girls being empowered to kick the shit out of violent attackers!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">I helped make a <a href="http://funpalaces.co.uk/" target="_blank">Fun Palace</a> in Streatham (and you should all make one where you live too next year!)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.femalearts.com/" target="_blank">Female Arts</a> - continued as a reviewer for an online magazine focusing on female creatives</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/" target="_blank">Women's Equality Party</a> - I started off as a volunteer Branch Maker (helping set up local branches across the UK) for this new and exciting political party, whose ambition of bringing gender equality to the mainstream political agenda is, I believe, hugely important and well overdue. I spoke at the Youth Branches' first meeting (you can listen to it on <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user224237551/wepyouth-first-meeting-kate-massey-chase" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>) and am now supporting their education outreach group. I'm also planning on putting myself forward as a <a href="http://www.womensequality.org.uk/stand" target="_blank">candidate for the GLA elections</a>. Watch this space!</li>
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I think that's everything!! In other work-related news, I'm currently applying for funding for a PhD, and I'm also co-editing a book with Annie McKean (to be published next year) on the work of <a href="http://www.playingfortime.org.uk/" target="_blank">Playing for Time Theatre Company</a> in HMP Winchester. I think January is going to be pretty full on.</div>
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The new year can be a good time to look back and reflect, as well as look forward and plan (as long as we haven't eaten too much cheese, spent too much time with family, and slip into a 'what am I doing with my life' panic!). Parts of this year have been truly amazing and other parts have been genuinely devastating; we never know what life is about to throw at us (sorry if I'm starting to sound like a motivational fridge-magnet) - so I only hope 2016 brings us some luck, a bit more money (being a grown up can be shit), and I keep getting the chance to work with amazing people in inspirational places. I'm going to keep stepping up...</div>
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-47670040554771787112015-05-21T01:57:00.000-07:002015-05-21T01:57:54.899-07:00Foxes and Feminism<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was brought up by parents who were (and still are) feminists. They taught us that no-one should be limited by their gender (or class, or race, or disability status, or sexuality, or all those other tick boxes you see on forms) but that, world over, they are. We were dressed in gender-neutral colours, we cooked, we gardened, we climbed trees, played football, played with Sylvanians... We wore clothes that were handed down from my sister, our baby-sitters, the boy down the road, the girl across the field - they were just clothes (I mostly favoured a heady combination of orange leggings and a lime green t-shirt). </div>
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When I cut my hair short with the kitchen scissors behind the sofa, my dad neatened it up and I chose never to grow it long again. When I was seven, I decided I didn't want to wear a skirt or dress to school, so they bought me some trousers and shorts. I was the first girl at my primary school ever to wear trousers; people teased me but I didn't care. A couple of years later, a few more girls were wearing trousers. I bet if I went back now any girl who wanted to would be wearing them without question. What can I say? I'm a trend-setter. </div>
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I went into a primary school in London quite recently and asked the pupils to divide the list of jobs I gave them into '<b>Jobs for Boys</b>' and '<b>Jobs for Girls</b>'. I felt like I had been transported back to the 1950s when they wrote:</div>
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<b>BOYS</b></div>
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Farmer</div>
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Doctor</div>
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Lawyer</div>
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<b>GIRLS</b></div>
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Nurse</div>
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Beautician</div>
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Receptionist</div>
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In a secondary school the other day, we discussed what words girls who are perceived to be sexually active get called. They said:</div>
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Slut</div>
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Sket</div>
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Whore</div>
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Hoe</div>
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Slapper</div>
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Slag</div>
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Thot</div>
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[700 more....] </div>
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I probably get new ones every month. Then I asked them what boys get called:</div>
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Player</div>
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Legend</div>
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Man-whore, man-sket, man-slut...</div>
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One of the girls looked at me and suddenly her pupils went big and she just said: "But that's not FAIR!" I looked back at her: "Of course it's not". And then I taught them the term 'double-standard' and we talked about why it might be there and how we could try and get rid of it. </div>
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What can I say? I think (I hope), I'm making my parents proud. Certainly my Dad's eyes went equally big when we had a conversation recently about to what extent gender was essential or socially constructed; he had a light-bulb flash the next morning and turned to me over breakfast and said: "I could wear a nice dress if I hadn't been socialised not to". Yes, Daddy, yes, you could. </div>
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A couple of weeks ago I got married. I heard afterwards that my mum had gone around telling the guests it was a 'feminist wedding'. Was it? I don't know - I'm not sure what the criteria would be. It was an excellent wedding. It was excellent because I got to marry the person I'm in love with. The WOMAN I'm in love with. And because it didn't cost too much, the food was great, we made it ourselves, people danced The Snake like children and sang 'She'll be coming round the mountain', getting sweaty and kicking off their shoes. We used, ignored, altered and borrowed traditions, based on if we liked
them (no-one 'gave us away' *shudder* and our mums walked us down the
aisle, but my father still gave a speech because he's ace at speeches). It was excellent because everyone there got to bear witness to our love and commitment to each other and to celebrate it with us. And because my beautiful wife made a speech about same sex marriage which made half the room cry (men and women), and we toasted Equal Love and sent our hopes and our love across the world to those who aren't as lucky as us and are punished for 'doing nothing more radical than loving each other' (as Gem said over the noise of tissues being madly scrabbled for). </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Posers.</td></tr>
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Laura Bates, of <i>Everyday Sexism Project </i>fame<i>, </i>wrote in her article <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jun/28/can-a-feminist-be-a-bride-laura-bates" target="_blank">'How to have a feminist wedding'</a> in the Guardian last year: 'Until I told my friends I was getting married, I didn't know marriage and feminism could be considered mutually exclusive'. Marriage has been branded an out-of-date, patriarchal institution (cue
comments about property, chattel etc), and although when I was little I used to design
wedding dresses with a particularly artistic babysitter, I'm not sure if
I ever thought I'd wear one. A friend of mine recently said, "I don't know why anyone bothers getting
married any more. Unless it's a right that's previously been denied to
them." Could I use this as a handy <i>Get Out of Feminist Jail Free</i> card? Should I need to?</div>
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For me, equality is about opportunity and choice, having the right to choose. Cool if I don't want to get married, but if I want to then why should my genetically identical twin be allowed to marry her boyfriend if I'm not allowed to marry my girlfriend? And people might say we're 'aping' heterosexuals (I found <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Straight-Expectations-Julie-Bindel/dp/1783560002" target="_blank"><i>Straight Expectations</i></a> a really grating read), but a) there's nothing like a really animalistic term to degrade someone, and b) why should commitment be considered 'heterosexual' anyway? Equality is partly the right to legal recognition, and although that might not sound sexy, I like that my wife and I are now legally family. </div>
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Growing up, my mother always said, on the topic of changing your name: "It's one man's name or another". She'd changed her name when she married, no biggie, no desperate attachment. Yet over the years her views have changed and she has now begun expressing her disappointment at any of her daughters changing their names upon marrying. I think my view has secretly always been more based in vanity than politics and I'd always thought I'd just go with the better name. Massey-Chase isn't super hard to beat (although some people have, in recent years, bizarrely expressed their love of it, when I was younger it was a bit of a yoke/joke). My mum also hadn't anticipated our rather unique situation. It's not <i>one man's name or another</i>. My wife, Gem, doesn't have her dad's surname. Or her maternal grandfather's. Her dad is a massive shit, so she changed it a few years ago to a name of her own choosing. And who doesn't like Fox(es)? I don't know whether I would have changed it or not if this wasn't the case. I quite like Massey-Chase now. As a freelancer, generating and collecting my own work, it is also my currency, my reputation. So - solution: I'm using both. </div>
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I am <b>Kate Massey-Chase </b>for work.</div>
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I am <b>Kate Fox</b> at home. For me, Gem and the extended skulk. And, hopefully, one day we will have fox cubs and we will all share our own, chosen, name as a family.</div>
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So, yes: I am a feminist fox. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's amazing what you can <a href="http://www.redbubble.com/people/tamaghosti/works/12492939-feminist-fox?p=photographic-print" target="_blank">find</a> in google images...</td></tr>
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-91872615878274648642015-03-02T10:20:00.001-08:002015-03-02T12:22:26.863-08:00Arts for All<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8GqHoLAI6c/VPShxzBHrYI/AAAAAAAAAKw/sTFHWxSDHmo/s1600/220px-Jennie_Lee%2C_Baroness_Lee_of_Asheridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8GqHoLAI6c/VPShxzBHrYI/AAAAAAAAAKw/sTFHWxSDHmo/s1600/220px-Jennie_Lee%2C_Baroness_Lee_of_Asheridge.jpg" height="200" width="152" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennie Lee</td></tr>
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Wednesday 25th February marked 50 years since Jennie Lee's white paper: <a href="http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/historyofou/story/jennie-lee" target="_blank">A Policy for the Arts - First Steps.</a> Lee was the arts minister in the 1964 Labour government of Harold Wilson, and it was the first (and is so far the only!) white paper that had been written on the arts. In it, she argues that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2015/feb/23/jennie-lee-policy-arts-white-paper-funding" target="_blank">the arts must occupy a central place in British life and be part of everyday life for children and adults</a>, be embedded in our education system, recognised as an important industry, widely accessible, properly funded, and valued by society. </div>
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So, 50 years have passed. How far have we come? Mid February saw the publication of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/17/arts-and-culture-systematically-removed-from-uk-education-system" target="_blank">Warwick Commission's report on The Future of Cultural Value</a>, which - although demonstrating that the arts are a significant contributor to the economy - also shows that arts and culture are being 'systematically removed from the UK education system'. Under our current government, the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, has said that <a href="http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2014/education-secretary-nicky-morgan-arts-subjects-limit-career-choices/" target="_blank">'Arts subjects limit career choices'</a>; we've watched Arts subjects being devalued, undermined and squeezed out of the curriculum, and at the same time provision outside of formal education reduced and dismantled due to funding cuts (from a regime of austerity which consistently <a href="https://www.unison.org.uk/upload/sharepoint/On%20line%20Catalogue/22532.pdf" target="_blank">harms the younger generation</a>). As Paul Collard, Chief Executive at Creative Culture and Education, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jan/23/performing-arts-colleges-elitism-row" target="_blank">recently said</a>:</div>
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<i>'What is clear now is that young people, especially those in the less affluent areas, are not getting any opportunities at all, because arts... access for young people has been swept away. And it will only get worse.</i>'</div>
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Cheerful reading. So, what shall we do? Make some noise! Make some art! DO SOMETHING! That was the call of <a href="http://www.devotedanddisgruntled.com/" target="_blank">Devoted and Disgruntled</a>, spear-headed <a href="https://stelladuffy.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/jennie-lee-white-paper-anniversary-25th-february-2015/" target="_blank">by Stella Duffy.</a> With a twitter handle <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/artspolicy50" target="_blank">#ArtsPolicy50</a> ready to go viral (which, YAY, on 25/02/15 it DID!), the mission was clear: mark the anniversary; let people know why you think it's important; make a fuss.</div>
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I think it's important, so I celebrated, discussed and responded with two groups I was working with that week: a group of adults in recovery from various forms of addiction, who I do Creative Writing with at <a href="http://thelivingroom.me.uk/contact-us/living-room-st-albans/" target="_blank">The Living Room</a>, and a group of young migrant/refugee teenagers in South London, who I do Drama with for <a href="http://www.attictheatrecompany.com/" target="_blank">Attic Theatre Company</a>. </div>
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With my group at The Living Room, I decided to challenge both them and myself, and worked with them to write a group villanelle. A villanelle is a poetic form that is supposed to be one of the very hardest to write, and I thought this would not only give my group a lift, knowing how capable and talented they are, once we had written one, but would also be a nice way of demonstrating that a community group, gathered together for the purpose of recovery (rather than because they had chosen to attend an arts-based class) could be damn creative, that the arts could be of value to ANY community. And they did bloody well, so I'm going to let their work provide all the evidence I need....</div>
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<u><b>Arts for All</b></u></div>
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We feel as if we're up against the wall,</div>
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This generation is under duress.</div>
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Art is for everyone. Art is for us all.</div>
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So we shall answer our heart's secret call</div>
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With a tight grip or with a sweet caress.</div>
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We feel as if we're up against the wall.</div>
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We know we're got the gumption and the gall</div>
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The talent, deep inside us, to impress.</div>
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Art is for everyone. Art is for us all. </div>
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It's not as if the order's very tall,</div>
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We're tired of giving more and getting less.</div>
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We feel as if we're up against the wall</div>
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From Cornish coast up to remote Rockall</div>
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We will push for proper, fair access.</div>
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Art is for everyone. Art is for us all. </div>
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Inside our schools and every village hall.</div>
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Fifty year's since Jennie Lee's address,</div>
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We feel as if we're up against the wall.</div>
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Art is for everyone. Art is for us all. </div>
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Before they left, many of them said they had felt 'lifted' by the experience, that they were 'proud' of what they'd achieved, that they felt 'lighter', 'invigorated', that they'd had 'fun'. Arts for all. It does matter. </div>
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Then on the day itself, I ran our Drama group with my colleague, Rob Lehmann, at <a href="http://www.scola.ac.uk/" target="_blank">SCOLA</a>, with the young migrants. Many of the students have very little English, and come from all across the globe. Some have come from war-torn countries, some have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, most are in foster care. All agreed the arts are a fundamental part of their lives. We we had some fun, took some photos, and celebrated the importance of the arts in all of their lives. </div>
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-4622539861602166182014-06-12T02:18:00.001-07:002014-06-12T02:18:44.242-07:00Men: Sit down for your rights<br />
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One of the many hats I wear (figuratively in this instance, though I am lucky enough to rock a good hat) is as a reviewer for the wonderful <a href="http://www.femalearts.com/" target="_blank">Female Arts</a>, a website 'promoting women in the arts and business'.</div>
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I wrote <a href="http://www.femalearts.com/node/1073" target="_blank">this article</a> back in March about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayson_Perry" target="_blank">Grayson Perry</a>'s lecture for the wonderful <a href="http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/women-of-the-world" target="_blank">Women of the World Festival</a>. Thought I would share it on here too, as it had such an impact on me. </div>
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Grayson Perry Lecture: Southbank Centre - WoW Festival - Review</h1>
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<span content="2014-03-16T20:18:33+00:00" datatype="xsd:dateTime" property="dc:date dc:created" rel="sioc:has_creator">Submitted by <a about="/user/3115" class="username" datatype="" href="http://www.femalearts.com/user/3115" property="foaf:name" style="color: #ac00fa; text-decoration: none;" title="View user profile." typeof="sioc:UserAccount" xml:lang="">Kate Massey-Chase</a> on March 16, 2014 - 20:18</span></div>
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<b>Men: Sit down for your rights</b></div>
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It’s a Sunday evening in March at the Southbank Centre and the last event of their Women of the World (WOW) festival, celebrating International Women’s Day. Over two thousand men and women have gathered in the Royal Festival Hall to listen to the musings on masculinity of a Northern transvestite potter: the one and only Grayson Perry. A great pull to the festival, a quick show of hands confirmed that many people had joined the celebrations just to see the ‘national treasure’ himself, alongside many who had bought day passes or been celebrating the festival all week.</div>
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Introduced by Jude Kelly, artistic director of the Southbank Centre, although for most of the audience he needed little introduction, we were listed the many accolades afforded to Perry over the years, from winning the Turner Prize in 2003, giving last year’s Reiths Lectures, to his recent visit to the palace to be award a CBE in the Queen’s new year’s honours. Kelly gave her usual poise, confidence and excellent timing to her introduction, and explained Perry’s lecture in the context of the WOW festival, asserting: ‘There’s no such thing as a world made equal by just one side’. Perry had previously given this lecture earlier in the year for the Southbank’s first ‘Being a Man’ festival (this is the fourth time WOW which has hit London’s Thames-side cultural hub), but, as the lecture would go on to explicate: the rights of men and women are inextricably entwined.</div>
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Perry’s lecture was titled ‘Men: Sit down for your rights’, with a subtitle in parenthesis: ‘but please don’t whine’. There was no whining, but plenty of whopping on Perry’s entrance, as he did not disappoint in a little girl dress with, what he later described as ‘crack cocaine frills’. Although his attire speaks panto-dame-meets-Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang-dolly-meets-Meadham-Kirchoff, Perry’s manner is never grating, flouncy or camp. Indeed I think he might be the most insightful, witty and honest person I’ve ever heard speak.</div>
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Regarding his title, he explained that there are losers as well as winners in any power imbalance, and – for example – gaining equal gender representation in parliament necessitates some male MPs stepping aside. Men need to ‘Stop getting up on one’, and his talk called for a softer form of masculinity, not just for the benefit of women, but for men as well. The current conception of masculinity and the standard of the Modern Man is not succeeding in its current form. Three times as many men commit suicide as women; in US fertility clinic where you can choose the gender of your child, 75% of parents choose a girl. Sometimes ‘it’s unhealthy being a man’. Of course this comes from Grayson Perry, who has ‘in some deep psychological way...difficulty with the symbols of being a man’. Hence the frilly dresses and bows. But the facts and stats remain the same, and increasing attention to crises of hypermasculinity and the role anxiety/ambiguity many men face today highlights the need for discussions such as this.</div>
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From birth, we are gendered and this role is rigidly policed. With brilliantly drawn and wittily annotated illustrations projected behind, Perry took us on a multi-layered journey through the history of this process, the complexity of the male brain, and the socio-historic context of changing conceptions of gender roles. A recurring theme was the problem of the ‘Tower of Power’ from which everything else is Other: the White Middle-Class Heterosexual Male Gaze. Hidden in plain sight, this is the ‘voice of society that’s ringing in our heads, whether we like it or not’. And as the least challenged group, they are also the least self-aware. Other issues and conflicts Perry explored were men’s sexual drives (they are ‘shackled to this incredible, powerful imperative to fuck everything’), adrenaline as the ‘great unspoken addiction of our age’, and MAMILs (Middle Aged Men In Lycra). He also expounded his excellent theories on the rise of the beard, how we are probably already past ‘peak beard’, and his diagram of ‘Bike knowledge to beard ratio’ (essentially the longer the beard, the greater the knowledge, until you reach Gandalf-style where he’d noted ‘probably a wizard, no need for bikes’). This incisive break-down of modern trends – with illustrative cartoons – is emblematic of Perry’s greatest gift, bring together the amusing, the current and the context in a way that is accessible, enlightening and entertaining all at the same time (did you know that there was a rise in beards in the nineteenth century, as the male role became threatened by mechanisation? I do now). Indeed he said so many excellent and erudite things, that it’s hard not to relay the whole lecture. He also taught us the term ‘skeuomorph’, which is an excellent word. The crux of his message was that men need to learn to be more vulnerable, flexible and move away from the symbolic, cosmetisized and ultimately redundant version of masculinity that has become pervasive in the West. His brilliant, male-friendly analogy to explain the purpose and importance of a softer masculinity was through the image of the contact patch of a tyre against the road: softer tyres are stickier and safer; you get better traction.</div>
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Perry is really just after a ‘Cheesy Happy Everyone’ and a rainbow-coloured, diverse Tower of Power. To get there, here is his Bill of Rights for Men:</div>
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We men ask ourselves and others for the following:</div>
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1. The right to be vulnerable</div>
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2. The right to be weak</div>
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3. The right to be wrong</div>
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4. The right to be intuitive</div>
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5. The right not to know</div>
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6. The right to be uncertain</div>
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7. The right to be flexible</div>
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8. The right not to be ashamed of any of these things.</div>
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Perry noted: ‘I’m not a spokesman for all men here, as we can see’ (note love of frilly dresses), but it is this lack of generalising, the open hypothesizing, and the integrity with which he exerts his ‘right’ to be wrong’, that makes Grayson Perry such an important voice for our time.</div>
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(C) Kate Massey-Chase 2014.</div>
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Author's Review: 5 stars</div>
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Grayson Perry's Lecture</div>
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Men: Sit Down For Your Rights</div>
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Southbank Centre</div>
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WoW Festival</div>
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9th March 2014</div>
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Web: <a href="http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/grayson-perry-82530" style="color: #ac00fa; text-decoration: none;">http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/grayson-perry-82530</a></div>
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Twitter: @southbankcentre @WOWtweetUK #WOWLDN</div>
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-84410988537264950882014-06-12T01:59:00.002-07:002015-05-21T02:50:17.226-07:00Tell Me on a Monday<div style="text-align: justify;">
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I've just started running a project, organised by <a href="http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/arts-and-entertainment/" target="_blank">St Albans Arts</a>, at <a href="http://www.thelivingroom.me.uk/contact-us/living-room-st-albans/" target="_blank">The Living Room</a> (addiction recovery) and at <a href="http://www.mindinmidherts.org.uk/" target="_blank">Mind</a>, and just had some super lovely feedback. Thought I'd be very un-British (talking about things we're proud of rather than the weather, urgh!) and share it with you:</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'I wanted to say thank you for the impact you’ve had on the group at TLR, Kate. D-- (counsellor) is full of the great work you are doing with the group when I come in on Wednesdays, S-- tells me that it is a joy listening to the animated stuff going on and how you are engaging zest and enthusiasm (there has been little in many of their lives) but most of all I heard from the group themselves this morning. I asked a simple question – how did it go with Kate yesterday? The people who were at the workshop yesterday spoke about the work they had done for 15 mins – I heard about love and candles with flickering flames and grandfathers carrying children on their shoulders and ….. it was also said in a respectful and appreciative way that is even more significant than the actual words. You really have made a big impact and I’m only sorry I cannot sit in on Tuesdays myself...'</span></div>
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Welling up.<br />
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<br />Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-56429036878837716542013-08-17T14:47:00.002-07:002013-08-17T14:48:46.167-07:00Say it in songIn case they've not crossed your cyber-path, here are two songs you should listen to. They make the points themselves, so I won't say too much, just take a look/listen - why write an essay when you can say it in a song?! Socio-poitical comment with sexy beats.<br />
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The only context you need for the first is the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwT6DZCQi9k" target="_blank">original song</a> by Robin Thicke. Watch that, feel your soul swiftly destroyed, then watch <u>this</u> version and feel your heart lift again with its fucking brilliance.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/tKfwCjgiodg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Next up Amanda Palmer sings a letter to the Daily Mail, after their <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2351373/Making-boob-Amanda-Palmers-breast-escapes-bra-performs-stage-Glastonbury.html" target="_blank">article</a> about her 'wardrobe malfunction' at Glastonbury. What a legend.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/OiAffX0x04k?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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(skip to 2.28 if you're time-limited and want to jump straight to the song)<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Enjoy!!!!</span></b></div>
Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-31888309661961615862013-08-08T08:00:00.001-07:002013-08-08T08:02:49.941-07:00EQUILIBRIUM - Summer Issue If you haven't checked out <a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/social_care_and_health/mental-health/equilibrium.htm" target="_blank">Equilibrium: Magazine for Wellbeing</a>'s latest issue (<a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/equilibrium_magazine_issue_49_summer_2013.pdf" target="_blank">Summer Issue 49</a>), why not?<br />
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GET ON IT.<br />
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<a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/social_care_and_health/mental-health/equilibrium_magazine_cover_spring-2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/social_care_and_health/mental-health/equilibrium_magazine_cover_spring-2013.jpg" /></a></div>
Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-40970361032876260132013-07-23T03:56:00.001-07:002013-07-23T03:58:36.280-07:00Volunteering with Diversity Role ModelsWith the next issue of <a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/social_care_and_health/mental-health/equilibrium.htm" target="_blank">Equilibrium</a> about to come out, here's another one of my articles for it, to whet your appetite!<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Volunteering with <a href="http://www.diversityrolemodels.org/" target="_blank">Diversity Role Models</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I first discovered how
volunteering could warm your soul in 2007 when I spent a good portion of my
week at the <a href="http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/local-shops/oxfam-books-music-winchester" target="_blank">Oxfam Bookshop</a> in Winchester, whilst trying to sort my life, health
and head out a bit. And it genuinely made a massive impact on me; I felt
honoured to be giving my time for free there. It wasn’t completely selfless; in
that little bookshop on the aptly named Parchment Street, I made friends, found
a sense of purpose, and co-invented our Sunday game: Shop Cricket (and got
‘caught out by Proust’ for the first time).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Now I’m living in London,
freelancing my arse off to pay my rent (doing a job I love, though, so can’t
complain too loudly) and working for free is something I hoped was consigned to
my student days. But volunteering and working for free are two different
things: one a social problem of glass ceilings and a devalued sector, and the
other an act of giving to a society you want to be an active part of. So when I
heard about Diversity Role Models, I knew I wanted to volunteer as a Role Model
(hard to say without following the term with some kind of witty,
self-deprecating remark, but I’ll resist).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Set up in 2011, Diversity Role
Models is a charity that helps schools to eradicate homophobic bullying and
provide an inclusive and safe environment for their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT" target="_blank">LGBT</a> students and families.
Through high-quality, interactive workshops involving role models and
discussions that allow young people to explore their views and understand
difference, DRM hopes to tackle the prejudice that leads to homophobic
bullying. ‘I firmly believe that by providing role models for LGBT young
people, we can have a positive effect on the negative statistics’, says <a href="http://www.diversityrolemodels.org/about-us/ceo.aspx" target="_blank">Suran Dickson</a>, CEO and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">founder of the organisation, who was prompted
to start the charity after witnessing the impact homophobic bullying had in the
schools she worked in.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> And the statistics are
shocking: LGBT youth are six times more likely to commit suicide and two thirds
of them suffer bullying at school. Furthermore, as they say on their website:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>…it's
not just LGBT young people. Straight students are terrified of being called
'gay'. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Girls drop out of sport and boys hide artistic talent to conform to gender
roles and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">avoid being labelled gay or lesbian.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Anyone who’s been into a school recently will
know that this is an issue that affects the wellbeing of all young people,
whether<span style="color: #222222;"> implicitly or explicitly.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #595959; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Since its conception, DRM has delivered their workshops to over
5,000 pupils and the results speak for themselves. Over 90% of young people
indicated that they would treat LGBT people better and use the word ‘gay’ as a
derogatory term less in the future. Teachers and pupils that have attended the
workshops have seen a significant shift in attitudes and behaviour in their
schools and would urge other schools to seek their help. ‘Fabulous - should be
part of the national curriculum! This workshop should be offered to all year
groups', enthused one teacher who attended a recent workshop. I know I agree. I
am proud to be a Diversity Role Model. The biggest payment is knowing that
you’re making a difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.pink-parenting.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/diversity-role-models1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="diversity role models1" border="0" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2151" src="http://www.pink-parenting.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/diversity-role-models1.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The next academic year will see DRM delivering workshops
across the country, as well as continuing to work across the capital. For more
information on the workshops and to enquire about booking, contact<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022mailto\:info\@diversityrolemodels\.org\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: #1155cc;">info@diversityrolemodels.org</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-27392423426507838522013-07-20T14:01:00.001-07:002013-07-20T14:17:54.818-07:00The Politics and Power of Words<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mftIjL3iReE/UerPYVU_S5I/AAAAAAAAAIs/JaKz71VI3bs/s1600/1010583_10200163454428970_1994023037_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mftIjL3iReE/UerPYVU_S5I/AAAAAAAAAIs/JaKz71VI3bs/s200/1010583_10200163454428970_1994023037_n.jpg" width="128" /></a>Tuesday 16th was the launch of the poetry anthology I compiled for <a href="http://www.cooltanarts.org.uk/" target="_blank">CoolTan Arts</a>, <i>Diagnosis: Hysteria? Prescription: Hysteria! - </i>the final product of the women's poetry group I ran there last year. The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/475287289226351/" target="_blank">event</a> had the dual purpose of launching both our poetry book and also celebrating CoolTan's new venue. They're still on the Walworth Rd, but have just moved to the other side of the road, and have - drum roll, please - an INDOOR TOILET (luxury!) and other lovely things like windows and a view. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yLajeMfld7I/UerUhjK6TAI/AAAAAAAAAJE/bxVYkSdtv_M/s1600/540784_10100215694325875_198605164_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yLajeMfld7I/UerUhjK6TAI/AAAAAAAAAJE/bxVYkSdtv_M/s200/540784_10100215694325875_198605164_n.jpg" width="150" /></a>I'll miss their old warehouse in some ways - it certainly had character - but think I can get over that in the face of not having to use a portaloo. Though I will miss the cat from the warehouse next door, who used to flirt with me whenever it was sunny. Meow. </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was a great event, with fantastic artwork exhibited, and fancy guests, like the local GP/sexy TV doctor, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span><a href="http://www.drjonty.com/" target="_blank">Jonty Heaversedge</a>. We also had readings from some of the women who contributed to the book. The <i>Forward</i> explains the title a bit (buy the book, buy the book!), but you can also check out CoolTan's newly launched online magazine, <a href="http://issuu.com/coolfruit" target="_blank">CoolFruit</a>, where you can read an article by one of their members which takes <a href="https://issuu.com/coolfruit/docs/cool_fuit_pilot/29?e=0" target="_blank">a closer look at hysteria through the ages</a>. Oh yeah, or <a href="http://www.cooltanarts.org.uk/2012/12/gift-ideas-from-cooltan-arts/" target="_blank">buy the book</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fWfcvrOKGK4/UerO7J9Zv-I/AAAAAAAAAIM/0AJTO_m6G-E/s1600/1001302_10200262214337906_1343367460_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fWfcvrOKGK4/UerO7J9Zv-I/AAAAAAAAAIM/0AJTO_m6G-E/s320/1001302_10200262214337906_1343367460_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In honour of the occasion, rather than reading one of my own poems from the anthology, as planned (I also read some of my students' poems, who couldn't make it), I instead read a poem I wrote on the tube on the way there, inspired by/in honour of the event. I feel quite strongly about some of the issues that surround our work and the lives of the country's most vulnerable - you'd never have guessed - such as the impact of political policies and the state of the mental health services - check out my <a href="http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/263/feature/funding-fog" target="_blank">article</a> about how funding cuts, etc, are effecting places like CoolTan (after you've read my poem, obvs!). </div>
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Let me know what you think....<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>The Politics and Power of Words</u></b></h3>
<h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Your 'skivers not strivers' rhetoric</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Don't give a shit about our mental health</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Disadvantaged for not having a dick</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And not being born into wealth</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm not hiding behind closed shutters</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Don't believe what it says in the Mail</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm doing my best, we're doing our best</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Though it feels like you're helping us fail</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We know the meaning of work</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Have you pulled <i>yourself</i> up from the brink?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Have <i>you</i> hit rock bottom and started again?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Have you actually stopped to think</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
What your language is doing?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
'Cos I'm not a 'hard-working family'</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But that doesn't mean I'm not contributing</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To this world, with love and integrity</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
So, I'll write emails like nobody's watching</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Read the papers like I've never been hurt</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Speak 'til people start listening</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And believe in the power of words</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o1XR8_Asm5Y/UerPFjLEcSI/AAAAAAAAAIU/wlWaHVzbpN8/s1600/946938_10200262216417958_2013816437_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o1XR8_Asm5Y/UerPFjLEcSI/AAAAAAAAAIU/wlWaHVzbpN8/s320/946938_10200262216417958_2013816437_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photos of the event by Amy Bradshaw</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</h3>
Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-76309200492002650612013-07-12T12:33:00.000-07:002013-07-12T12:34:28.660-07:00Compassion<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In anticipation of our Summer Issue of <a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/social_care_and_health/mental-health/equilibrium.htm" target="_blank">Equilibrium</a> coming out in the next week or so, here's a sneaky peak at my little article on a lecture on compassion. Enjoy (and if you don't, be compassionate and put yourself in my shoes before you comment)...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></u></b></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Compassionate Living, with Karen Armstrong<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sitting in the
marvelous <a href="http://www.conwayhall.org.uk/" target="_blank">Conway Hall</a> on 18<sup>th</sup> April 2013, I attended my second
<a href="http://www.actionforhappiness.org/" target="_blank">Action for Happiness </a>lecture of the year (see the <a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/equilibrium_magazine_issue_48_-_spring_2013.pdf" target="_blank">Spring issue of Equilibrium</a>
for my write-up of my evening with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn" target="_blank">Jon Kabat-Zinn</a>), this time to see the
magnificent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong" target="_blank">Karen Armstrong</a>. Introduced by <a href="http://www.actionforhappiness.org/about-us/director" target="_blank">Mark Williamson</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Layard,_Baron_Layard" target="_blank">Lord Richard Layard</a>, Armstrong’s lecture provided a historical, theological, scientific and
cultural exploration of compassion and its fundamental importance to our world.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pd-MzJQYre0/UeBRUyjuU1I/AAAAAAAAAH8/xnuKMvWGb8U/s1600/Karen-Armstrong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pd-MzJQYre0/UeBRUyjuU1I/AAAAAAAAAH8/xnuKMvWGb8U/s1600/Karen-Armstrong.jpg" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Armstrong
explained how liberty and the pursuit of happiness are a modern ideal, and how
happiness often gets confused with emotions like tiredness, hunger, and hormones.
In an oxymoronic world of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>'must-have accessories' and post-modern pressures, happiness has become
something actively sought, yet still elusive; it is a mirage on the horizon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Armstrong
contextualized her ideas on compassion with a scientific breakdown of the human
brain’s different parts: the reptilian brain (the deepest and oldest), the
mammalian brain, and the neo-cortex. Now, you’ll have to excuse my schoolgirl
knowledge of science (blame me not Karen Armstrong if this isn’t right!), but
she essentially explained how the reptilian brain is the one that is
egocentric: all about me; it is only concerned with the four ‘F’s – fighting,
fleeing, feeding and…reproduction(!), and was not designed for an age of plenty.
Next we have the mammal bit of the brain, which came next and developed in line
with their new needs. So, whereas reptiles laid eggs, which they could then abandon,
mammals give birth and care for their young, and they started to learn that
they were stronger as a group. Thus we can see the need for compassion starting
to creep into the evolutionary process. The last brain-section (I have no idea
what to call it!) in Armstrong’s codification of the brain is the neo-cortex,
the newest part, wherein we find the ability for rational thinking, where we
can stand back from our instinctive drives. She also posited a very sobering
idea that, historically, the worst human atrocities – such as Auschwitz and
9/11 – happen when the first and third brains (base instinct and objective
thought: what do we want and how can we do it most effectively) are used
without the second: compassion for another’s suffering. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Armstrong
suggested that we need to think globally if we want to be happy, that the trick
is ‘to live with suffering’, kindly, creatively and peacefully. If we are
caught up in the endless prism/prison of the self, preoccupied with our own
thoughts, feelings and small lives we can never be happy. Happiness, with the
essential component of compassion, comes from 'dethroning yourself from the
centre of your world and putting another there'. Author of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/History-God-000-Year-Judaism-Christianity/dp/0345384563/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373657411&sr=1-1&keywords=A+History+of+God%3A+The+4%2C000-Year+Quest+of+Judaism%2C+Christianity+and+Islam" target="_blank">A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam</a>,</i> Armstrong also brought
theology into the debate, reminding the audience that the ‘Golden Rule’ of all
religions and ethical traditions is to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">treat
others as you would like to be treated</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In her new
book, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Steps-Compassionate-Karen-Armstrong/dp/0307742881" target="_blank">12 Steps to a Compassionate Life</a></i>, she suggests that we exercise
compassion through remembering our own pain and refusing to inflict it on
others, that we use our own feelings as a guide. This doesn’t mean that we
literally treat others as we would like them to respond to us, as it is far
more nuanced than that; we need to use our knowledge of that person as well,
and not assume that their desires and responses would mirror ours. For example,
the sentence, ‘Well, I would have wanted to know’ encapsulates this, as it does
not encompass the crucial question: but would <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> want to? It takes a constant effort of imagination to put
yourself in other people's shoes, but is all part of compassionate living (and
why I think Drama – active empathy! – should be recognised as an important part
of the National Curriculum – but I’ll save that article for another time). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Her allusion to
the ‘12 Steps’, commonly associated with recovery from addiction, is no
coincidence, as Armstrong suggested that we are addicted to our likes and
dislikes, to our need to compare, to bitch even, and to say things like 'the
trouble with her is...' – trying to ‘sum up the mystery of a person in a single
phrase’. It makes us small, narrows our horizons, and does nothing to aid our
own happiness. We need to let go of our opinions and take responsibility for
the world's pain. The pain ‘needs to break our heart, so we reach out into the
world in compassion’. This sat slightly uncomfortably with me, as I just feel
that there is simply too much pain in the world for me to take on – how could I
even process it and, if I did, how would my heart ever recover? But I can do my
best, and I will sign up to her <a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/" target="_blank">Charter for Compassion</a> as I do believe we need to make compassion 'a clear, luminous and dynamic force
in our polarized world’. Will you do the same? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.childrenscharterforcompassion.com/" id="irc_mil" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="161" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.childrenscharterforcompassion.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Childrens_Charter_large_logo.307165352_std.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.648438) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.648438) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 98px;" width="320" /></a></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-82122681719873117892013-05-11T09:28:00.003-07:002015-03-02T23:49:29.089-08:00MARVELLOUS!Having been told by <a href="http://yesmissfox.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Miss Fox</a> that I do too many jobs where I use the phrase 'victims of multi-perpetrator rape and sexual violence' and not enough jobs where I bring home free goodies, I spent last weekend (and shall most likely spend the next two weekends in May) working up and down the country as a <a href="http://www.beardedkitten.com/" target="_blank">Bearded Kitten</a>. Which is not a euphemism for anything remotely dodgy, but actually a jolly company offering 'Interactive Entertainment for Events and Marketing'. Meow.<br />
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So, off to Blenheim Palace I skittered to work at the <a href="http://www.cadburydairymilk.co.uk/" target="_blank">Joyville </a>funfair, to advertise two of the new <a href="http://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/products/1105-cadbury-new-marvellous-creations.aspx" target="_blank">Marvellous Creations</a> chocolate bars. I won't give away my best lines, but most of them use the word 'marvellous'. Marvellous. Although I kept forgetting myself and trying to move into some kind of social theatre or philosophical commentary about joy, reciprocity and wellbeing. Or trying to expand young children's vocabulary by making them list synonyms for marvellous whilst they queued. Then I remembered where I was and just carried on jumping up and down in an exceptionally frivolous way and giving out chocolate. </div>
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The Fox was very pleased, as not only did I bring home with me an obscene amount of chocolate, she also got to laugh at my stylish purple attire...</div>
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Like I said:" Meow!</div>
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-5243909074049596632013-05-11T08:57:00.000-07:002013-05-11T08:58:04.406-07:00Equilibrium - Spring Issue!Here's the <a href="http://issuu.com/antz333/docs/equilibrium_48?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage" target="_blank">latest issue</a> of Equilibirum, the magazine on wellbeing I produce with <a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/social_care_and_health/mental-health/equilibrium.htm" target="_blank">mental health service users in Haringey</a>.<br />
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Check it out for a range of articles, including <a href="http://tactlessgrace.com/" target="_blank">Alyssa's</a> tale of her ridiculously long bike ride and the importance of taking risks, some great reviews, a bit of science, thoughts on Anti-psychiatry and the Hearing Voices Network, and some gorgeous spring photos.<br />
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Here's my article on Mindfulness to whet your appetite, or for those too lazy to click the link....<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Mindfulness<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">On 28th March, I joined a staggering 1000 other people at the Friend’s
House on the Euston Road for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An evening
with John Kabat-Zinn</i>. Famed for bringing Mindfulness to the West, 35 years
ago, the evening was a celebration and further investigation into this
practice: ‘an adventure into the art of conscious living’. The event was run by
Action for Happiness, and introduced by their chair, Mark Williamson, an
organisation whose prime concern is to take action to try and create a happier
world. They do this by looking both outside – calling on political leaders and
those with the power to change policy – and inside at the self, in an endeavour
to maximise human wellbeing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">JKZ (as I shall call him, for ease) was welcomed to the stage by Lord
Richard Layard, the economist – and Labour peer – who made the economic case
for IAPT (Improving Access for Psychological Therapy) to the Labour government
in 2006. I was thrilled to hear Layard had not only been involved in JKZ’s
mindfulness course for parliamentarians (I wish they’d make it compulsory in
Whitehall!), but will also be involved in a pilot study to reform PSHE
(Personal, Social, Health Education) in schools, including adding mindfulness
to the curriculum. But, rather than going off on a tangential rant about the
need for cohesive, consistent and relevant emotional and social education in
our schools (a matter close to my heart), I shall try and stick to JKZ and
mindfulness for the moment – and mindfulness is all about the moment! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Mindfulness – a practice rather than a technique, as it is something you
cannot simply learn and store away somewhere, but more a way of living in the
world, ideally a way of living that is practised and observed daily – is drawn
from the principles of Buddhist meditation, and is essentially the act of being
with our experience as it is unfolding, moment by moment. JKZ described it as <b>‘the
awareness that arises intentionally, in the present moment, non-judgementally’</b>.
Or something like that – it was quite hard to be in the moment, listen, and
frantically scribble notes all at the same time! But breaking it down into its
necessary components, it is:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Awareness</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">This is not ‘doing nothing’, but ‘non-doing’:
waking up to the world around us; being present without an agenda</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Intentional </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Interestingly, he described it as ‘a radical
act to wake up early and take your seat every morning’, particularly in a world
where distractions seem everywhere; intentionally being in the moment, rather
than the past or future</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Present </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Right
now, this very moment</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Non-judgemental </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He talked about the importance of cultivating
an ‘affectionate attention’; ‘putting the welcome mat out for things as they
are’</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Mindfulness is essentially being fully mindful, physically, emotionally,
mentally of the now; my favourite thing he said was ‘Now is the now. Check your
watch – it’s now again’. As a group of over 1000 individuals we all came
together in a moment of formal meditation, quite early on in the evening, which
JKZ instigated by rolling his sleeves up and saying, ‘Let’s arrive’.
Mindfulness is complex in its simplicity and very hard to explain in a few
paragraphs or pages, and thus actually doing it was important to the
discussion. I found myself repeatedly trying to explain it in my head
throughout the evening, knowing my partner would ask when I go home what it had
been about. And, pre-emptive of her questioning, trying to answer: But what
purpose does it serve? And, as I was trying to be mindful, my thoughts were
going: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, it’s all very nice to have
some quiet time, to reflect, but… although, hang on, we’re in the now, aren’t
we? So, we’re not reflecting, we’re….what are we doing again? Oh yes, trying
not to think. Eek, I’ve ruined it: I’m thinking. And now I’m worrying about
thinking. Which is even worse! Arghhh, I’m really bad at this!</i> So goes the
mind chatter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">JKZ says: ‘We need to get out of our own way, to the silence underneath
and between every sound’. But, as a relative novice, it’s hard not to want to
shout: ‘How?!!’ Yet – and as an educationalist, this is something I hold true
for many things – he says we should covet a beginner’s mind, the place where we
see things newly, freshly, and non-judgmentally. He also repeatedly reinforced
that you can’t develop muscles without resistance, so the fact that trying to
be a human <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">being</i>, rather than a human
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">doing</i>, is hard is part of the
process. And part of why this is a practice, rather than a technique. He used
the analogy of thoughts as weather patterns in the mind, drifting across, which
is a metaphor I find really helpful, and will certainly use to calm my
chattering mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I worried that it could be seen as ego-centric and self-absorbed to
dedicate that much time to yourself (which is indicative of both my own hang
ups regarding guilt over self-compassion, and that I find any talk of
‘cultivating the garden of the heart’ flips my sceptical switch on). But – and
really there doesn’t need to be a ‘but’ to justify it, but I’ll slip one in for
other sceptics out there – mindfulness looks out as well as in, and is also
about ‘being in wise relationship with the suffering and happiness around us’,
learning self-compassion <u>and</u> compassion for others. JKZ also highlighted
the urgency of it: destruction is woven into our human nature, and we need to
take action – radical, sitting down in silence action it may be – to transform
the world we live it. And although he told us, ‘You’re fine the way you are’,
none of us would be worse for being mindful of the world in which we live, at
this moment, exactly as it is and we are. Interestingly, in all Asian languages
the word for heart and mind is the same thing; mindfulness is also
heartfulness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">If you need more convincing to take a quiet seat every morning and
attune yourself to the cosmos, there is also some amazing sciencey stuff to do
with epi-genetics, biochemistry, enzymes and things, which I’m probably not
clever enough to explain, so you might want to google. Although the crux of it
was that daily practice of mindfulness leads to greater emotional balance,
caused by more left than right brain activation in the pre-frontal cortex, and
greater anti-body production. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">If mindfulness is therefore an ‘act of love, sanity and
self-compassion’, which has a positive impact on not just my emotional but also
my physical wellbeing, and which also builds compassion for others, then I’m
sold. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And</i></b> you can do it sitting down – brilliant! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-26372075829420984052013-03-19T16:24:00.001-07:002013-03-19T16:25:18.127-07:00Facilitate (said in the 'exterminate' voice)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here I am, facilitating. With the fan heater pointed directly at me. And biscuits on the table. I know how to work.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RKPe06PAroU/UUjpZ829htI/AAAAAAAAAGs/6Rd_QaFFLF0/s1600/DSC00295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RKPe06PAroU/UUjpZ829htI/AAAAAAAAAGs/6Rd_QaFFLF0/s400/DSC00295.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is also an errant ironing board, which has nothing to do with me. I don't iron my <i>own </i>clothes (nothing wrong with the shake and 'hand-iron' rub), let alone facilitate domesticity in others. For that sort of thing, indeed to <i>make it easy </i>(sophisticated pun on the etymology of the word FACILE-itate), I'd be better off handing over to my good friend, <a href="http://www.lottaquizeen.biz/" target="_blank">Lotta Quizeen</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/__data/assets/image/0009/67176/Katie-Richardson-P1000556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/__data/assets/image/0009/67176/Katie-Richardson-P1000556.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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She even knows how to fold a fitted sheet. And since I'm moving in with my girlfriend this week - and apparently the bed is not an acceptable place to leave a cereal bowl, who knew - I might be in serious need of some tips from Lotta, in the<a href="http://domesticbits.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"> 'rituals, responsibilities and realities of domesticity'</a>. The beautiful Miss Fox not only has high standards, but also has an impressively popular <a href="http://yesmissfox.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">blog </a>(it's a good thing I'm not competitive, she lies) as a platform for<a href="http://yesmissfox.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/mornings-with-lady-fox/" target="_blank"> mocking me</a>. Might need to up my game. And stop looking confused when she mentions cleaning products I've never even heard of, let alone knew you needed a special product to clean whatever it is she's brandishing. I wonder if Lotta does home visits?<br />
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<br />Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-3630204642170526252013-02-27T08:34:00.000-08:002013-03-19T16:25:43.059-07:00Feedback<div style="text-align: justify;">
Everyone needs a little confidence boost sometimes. I certainly needed one this week - not due to work, just life-stress. And this fitted the bill perfectly:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kqYM-jr5FPs/US4w3shipqI/AAAAAAAAAGc/PAUMxduE3I0/s1600/2013-02-27+13.27.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kqYM-jr5FPs/US4w3shipqI/AAAAAAAAAGc/PAUMxduE3I0/s640/2013-02-27+13.27.12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I come for the educating, I stay for the compliments!</div>
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These general feelings of self-worth were also aided by the fact that two of my recovering addicts group on Monday skipped their one-to-ones to come to my session, feeling it would be more beneficial. I love my sessions at CRI (Crime Reduction Initiatives) - the adults in recovery are so insightful; I learn so much from them, and always appreciate their honesty, humour and integrity. I also laugh so much at some of their stories. And when they finish a session by saying:</div>
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'I didn't want to come today, cos I thought it was going to be shit and not for me, but actually...it was alright, y'know'</div>
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'This is the first time I've made eye contact with anyone in the group and I've been here two weeks'</div>
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'I haven't laughed this much in ages; it's great just to be a kid again, or maybe for the first time, cos I never got to be a kid much when I was one'</div>
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or</div>
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'I'm going to play this game with my little boy on his next visit - I think he'd like it'</div>
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there is no feeling like it. What can I say, I'm a junkie for this shit. I need it. I love it. I want more. So I keep doing my workshops, and yes, sometimes people walk out or don't turn up, but when they do, my god they can astound me. </div>
Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-26213708616846042262013-01-06T15:57:00.001-08:002013-01-06T15:59:30.302-08:00Slava's Snow ShowAfter a mentally busy few days - and too many nights away from my own bed - despite my physical inability NOT to look forward to the theatre, taking a class on a trip this evening was not feeling so appealing. Partly because I'd fallen asleep on the train back to London from Birmingham and had a beautiful pattern of pressure marks on my face where I'd been leaning on my woolly hat. Not as bad as realising I had a ring of hot chocolate on my face for the<b> whole hour</b> I'd been chatting to the cute guy next to me on the plane back from Glasgow on Friday, but that's another story.<div>
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Yet, despite sleep deprivation, aching limbs and the end of a cold, this particular show blew me away. In fact, at one point, I thought it might literally blow half the audience across the auditorium. <a href="http://www.slavasnowshow.co.uk/" target="_blank">SLAVA'S SNOW SHOW</a> - an international successful clowning masterpiece.</div>
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<a href="http://www.slavasnowshow.com/english/biography-page.html" target="_blank">Slava Polunin</a> - acclaimed as 'the best clown in the world' - from Ovlovsk, brought his character Asisayai to the <a href="http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/dance-performance/tickets/slavas-snowshow-63980" target="_blank">Southbank's Winter Festival</a>, complete with yellow boiler suit, red nose and fluffy red slippers. His style of <a href="http://www.slavasnowshow.com/english/biography-page.html" target="_blank">'Expressive Idiotism'</a> is one to which I think we should all aspire. After all, who doesn't need more comedy falls in their life?? Because, watching the show, I had some startling flashes of insight I think it's important I share with you:</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">1. Falling off chairs is FUNNY</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">2. Massive shoes are FUNNY</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">3. Folding yourself up like a concertina and looking like you're the Wicked Witch of the West post-<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">H<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub>O</span>: FUNNY.</span></b></div>
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And, fundamentally: we are all children. Even children - who sometimes forget it. And what better way to remind ourselves than to be in a room where paper snow flakes are falling from the sky and giant inflatable balls are zooming towards your head at an alarming rate amid shouts of 'Bash the purple one, BASH IT!'</div>
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However, although wholly playful and pushing physical comedy through a beautifully crafted lens of snow storms and magic lanterns, the dark side of The Clown was omnipresent. With the first half opening with the two clowns trying to hang themselves with either end of the same rope, morbidity and the loneliness of the outcast were the starting note. Indeed, a touch of research into Polunin's method shows that he takes his main inspiration from the <a href="http://www.slavasnowshow.com/english/biography-page.html" target="_blank">'poetic sadness of Leopnid Engibarov's clownery, the refined philosophising of Marcel Marceau's pantomime, and the humanity and comic poignancy of great Chaplin's films'</a>. </div>
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It was also bloody beautiful. And the chorus of clowns alongside were superb. Especially the baby clown - bring back the baby clown! With scenes that gave a nod to an eclectic mix of cultural and theatrical references - his take on <i>Woman in Black</i> and <i>A Brief Encounter</i> were exceptional - and a cast of men in funny hats and long shoes, who looked like a cross between scarecrows, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puddleglum" target="_blank">Puddleglum </a>the marsh-wiggle, and shocked spaniels, the whole show was an assault on the senses and diaphragm (the Afghan students I was accompanying were mortified by how loudly I was laughing). </div>
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Slava's theatre is one where:<a href="http://www.slavasnowshow.com/english/slava-page.html" target="_blank"> 'It is a king of wedding cavalcade, where I try to marry everyone to everyone.'</a> And what better way than through laughter and a GIANT snow ball fight?!!</div>
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p.s. One of my favourite moments of the show - aside from the repeated-falling-off-a-chair-sketch - was the ending where a blazing blizzard blew out into the audience, to a crescendo of O Fortuna. </div>
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A little bit of googling led me to this. Which in the spirit of clowning, I thought I would share:</div>
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-7018804787021744782012-12-31T14:18:00.001-08:002013-03-19T16:25:43.060-07:00Puurrrfect<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">New Year's Eve, 2012. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I haven't written a post in ages and to make up for it I'm letting you in on a
secret regarding how cool I am: I'm writing one now; I'm not an a party; I'm not
shit-faced. I'm writing a blog post. And (as my students would say) what? As a
complete sentence, obvs.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>And
what? </i>You need to to do the eyebrows and the hand gesture to go with
it, to really convey the sentiment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I'm having a wicked evening. And by writing this blog post now,
I'm actually making myself feel more relaxed. Cos not writing one for such a long
time has meant that I keep putting off writing one, because
there's a list of about seven posts I've half written on the bus in my head
that I want to write before I write the next one. But screw it. It's the end of
the year, and one of my resolutions will definitely be to write more on here.
So, this is the segue post. I bloody love the word segue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">NYE is a time to reflect. Whether we want to or not. And despite
being 25, I've reflected that it's OK that I'm spending the evening with my
beautiful girlfriend, having an indoor picnic of tasty treats, and playing with
the cats. Rather than lashing it large. We might even have a bath later and read some Caitlin Moran. And watch Jools. There's alcohol in
the cupboard if we're feeling extravagant. And did I mention there are
CATS. Jasper and Jessie, the newest addition to the family. They're rescue cats
and a bit mental, but hey, that just means they fit in. Although none of our
family have a penchant for hiding under beds, going and sitting in the bath at
every opportunity (oh, except maybe Gem - being clean is one of her favourite
things; sometimes I think she prefers long, hot baths to me. And I</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">know<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">she prefers baby animals), and
licking plastic bags. I think the second parenthesis was really important in
that last sentence; she's Miss Fox, not A fox. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">My mum bought us treats from M&S (feeling guilty, I think,
that she's got a more active social life than us) and we're in a house where there's heating and everything. We are lucky. We are. I've got a cold, which I've given to
Gem, and once it's turned midnight we might go to bed, but right now I'm happy.
She's got a job in the new year; I've got ten. I need to sort out my
work-sanity balance, but that's a job for tomorrow onwards.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">So, I'll being saying HELLO TWENTY THIRTEEN (is that what we're
calling it? Has the consensus been reached?) with Gem, Jessie, Jasper and Jools - which almost entirely alliterates!!! What could be better?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-65986368159779580442012-10-31T16:24:00.000-07:002012-10-31T16:26:01.782-07:00Art in HospitalsThroughout the year, <a href="http://www.applesandsnakes.org/" target="_blank">Apples and Snakes</a> run a series of Artist Development Masterclasses. I've been to a few of them (they're FREE), as I'm always looking to develop my practice, meet new people and learn from other artists and practitioners - and these events never disappoint.<br />
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Today, I made my way through commuter hell to Whitechapel, to the <a href="http://www.bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk/about-us/how-to-find-us/the-royal-london/" target="_blank">Royal London Hospital</a>, for a masterclass on Arts in Health: <a href="http://www.applesandsnakes.org/page/66/Arts+and+Health+Masterclass/717" target="_blank">WORKING IN HOSPITAL AND HEALTH CARE SETTINGS</a>. The morning was split in two, with the first half run by Rachel Louis of <a href="http://www.vitalarts.org.uk/" target="_blank">Vital Arts</a>, who showed us some magnificently inspiring projects that she had co-ordinated and facilitated a Q+A with us, followed by some more practical work with storyteller <a href="http://www.sallypommeclayton.com/" target="_blank">Sally Pomme Clayton</a>, who ran some writing exercises with us, as well as discussing some of her past projects. </div>
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I wrote my MA thesis on arts in health - specifically using Drama in inpatient psychiatric settings. Indeed the title, colon and all (you've got to have a colon, other wise it's not a real title!) was: </div>
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<i><b>Stuck in the middle with you: </b></i></div>
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<i><b>How can Applied Theatre help build personal and social skills that could assist young people in the transition between adolescent and adult psychiatric services?</b></i> <i> </i></div>
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It was really nice today to think about it again and it's inspired and motivated me to try and source funding to actually do the work I wrote so many thousands of words about. I really care about this topic, and - hey - I got a distinction, so the idea can't be shite!</div>
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The practical writing exercises we did with Sally were also really interesting; I enjoy being a participant, not just because it's an important reflective component to facilitation, or because I like learning new tools, but also because it's nice to be guided as an artist sometimes, and to think about my own work - my own writing, my own performance - and to indulge in that a bit. We did a series of writing exercise, some of them based on memory and some imagined, and then we edited bits together. 'Cos I'm feeling a little bit impulsive this evening, I've copied what I wrote below. Feel free to mock me that my being impulsive results in sharing a little bit of unpolished creative writing, rather than doing ketamine and texting all my exes... </div>
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<i>Hospital. The word hospital to me means a secret. A secret I have to be very careful about telling.</i></div>
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<i>Orange and green. Why orange and green? They're supposed to be fun and bright and happy, but really they are forced jollity or colours like puce. What would make me happy? Cool blues, calming colours, dashes of turquoise, of the sky, of the sea. Something that spoke of freedom. Not primary school bedrooms. Not 'we're making up for it', secret punishments. Not matt and shiny floors, and walls that look wet, and fake glass, so you can't slit your wrists. </i></div>
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<i>I'm starting to feel well again. When I breathe in I taste air, rather than sickness. </i><i>I never thought I would enjoy quiet like this. I'm learning to live with the world while it rolls by gently.</i></div>
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<i>I'm well enough to walk to the lake. All the time I've been here I've looked out at it and felt it would mark the epitome of wellness to walk there. I'll collect some bread on the way in case there are any ducks. I'm disproportionately excited, like a child at Christmas. This is my present for being well. </i></div>
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Feels a bit like the beginning of something I want to write. I must make myself write more. Doing the free writing exercise earlier, I discovered things I didn't even know I thought, and that my imagination was much more potent and fluid than I think it is. </div>
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So, while I go away and muse on that-play-I-simply-must-write, I leave you first with a poem and then with a picture. A truly beautiful and powerful poem about hospitals and health. Written by someone who knew what she was talking about.</div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tulips, Sylvia Plath</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The tulips are too excitable, it is winter here.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Look how white everything is, how quiet, how snowed-in</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">I am learning peacefulness, lying by myself quietly</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">As the light lies on these white walls, this bed, these hands.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">I am nobody; I have nothing to do with explosions.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">I have given my name and my day-clothes up to the nurses</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">And my history to the anaesthetist and my body to surgeons.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">They have propped my head between the pillow and the sheet-cuff</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Like an eye between two white lids that will not shut.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Stupid pupil, it has to take everything in.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The nurses pass and pass, they are no trouble,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">They pass the way gulls pass inland in their white caps,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Doing things with their hands, one just the same as another,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">So it is impossible to tell how many there are.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">My body is a pebble to them, they tend it as water</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Tends to the pebbles it must run over, smoothing them gently.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">They bring me numbness in their bright needles, they bring me sleep.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Now I have lost myself I am sick of baggage ——</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">My patent leather overnight case like a black pillbox,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">My husband and child smiling out of the family photo;</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Their smiles catch onto my skin, little smiling hooks.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">I have let things slip, a thirty-year-old cargo boat</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Stubbornly hanging on to my name and address.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">They have swabbed me clear of my loving associations.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Scared and bare on the green plastic-pillowed trolley</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">I watched my teaset, my bureaus of linen, my books</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Sink out of sight, and the water went over my head.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">I am a nun now, I have never been so pure.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">I didn't want any flowers, I only wanted</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">To lie with my hands turned up and be utterly empty.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">How free it is, you have no idea how free ——</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The peacefulness is so big it dazes you,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">And it asks nothing, a name tag, a few trinkets.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">It is what the dead close on, finally; I imagine them</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Shutting their mouths on it, like a Communion tablet.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The tulips are too red in the first place, they hurt me.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Even through the gift paper I could hear them breathe</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Lightly, through their white swaddlings, like an awful baby.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Their redness talks to my wound, it corresponds.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">They are subtle: they seem to float, though they weigh me down,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Upsetting me with their sudden tongues and their colour,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">A dozen red lead sinkers round my neck.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Nobody watched me before, now I am watched.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The tulips turn to me, and the window behind me</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Where once a day the light slowly widens and slowly thins,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">And I see myself, flat, ridiculous, a cut-paper shadow</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Between the eye of the sun and the eyes of the tulips,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">And I have no face, I have wanted to efface myself.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The vivid tulips eat my oxygen.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Before they came the air was calm enough,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Coming and going, breath by breath, without any fuss.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Then the tulips filled it up like a loud noise.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Now the air snags and eddies round them the way a river</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Snags and eddies round a sunken rust-red engine.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">They concentrate my attention, that was happy</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Playing and resting without committing itself.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The walls, also, seem to be warming themselves.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The tulips should be behind bars like dangerous animals;</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">They are opening like the mouth of some great African cat,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">And I am aware of my heart: it opens and closes</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Its bowl of red blooms out of sheer love of me.</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">The water I taste is warm and salty, like the sea,</span><br style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f0; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">And comes from a country far away as health.</span></div>
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And here is a picture not of tulips, but poppies. And a girl I will never forget, who also knew hospitals and for whom health never got close enough. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/5530_638305850035_3395838_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/5530_638305850035_3395838_n.jpg" /></a></div>
Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-9782836422311198912012-10-29T14:51:00.002-07:002012-11-25T12:26:01.445-08:00Celebrating Performing Arts in Prisons<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/2012/exhibition/12K7106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Wot is Justice - Ashworth Special Hospital, Mixed Media" border="0" height="320" src="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/2012/exhibition/12K7106.jpg" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #e8e8e8; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Wot is Justice - Ashworth Special Hospital, Mixed Media </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: justify;">. </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Last week I attended the</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><a href="http://artsalliance.ning.com/xn/detail/4217082:BlogPost:3103" target="_blank">Arts Alliance</a>'s<span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">excellent 'Celebrating Performing Arts in Prisons' event, which reminded me that - other in than in my</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><a href="http://katemasseychase.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/koestler-trust-exhibition-bojo-gets.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">post</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">about Massey-Chasing Boris - I haven't yet done a proper post about</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/exhib2012.html" target="_blank">Free:</a> Art by Offenders, Secure Patients and Detainees</i><span style="text-align: justify;">, the Koestler Trust 50th Annual UK Exhibition of Prison Arts, currently on at the</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><a href="http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Southbank Centre</a><span style="text-align: justify;">.</span><br />
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Other than obviously being a big fan of prison arts, free exhibitions and indeed the Southbank, this exhibition is of particularly significance to me, as I have my own very small link to one of the exhibited works. The back story to this is that my twin sister and I have a little competition every Christmas over who can get the best, cheapest present (which has to be under £5). Last xmas, she rather thought outside the box, and decided to not spend any money on me directly. Instead, she donated to the Koestler Trust and, as a surprise, named an award for this year's exhibition after me. Which was a lovely present and I even shed a little tear over it. So, this year, when you rock over to the Southbank Centre, look out for the <i>Kate Massey-Chase Commended Award for Drawing</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F4nkQ-1rkwA/ULJ-ui-0ZqI/AAAAAAAAAFE/wwSqtNWQmHI/s1600/2012-11-09+17.48.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F4nkQ-1rkwA/ULJ-ui-0ZqI/AAAAAAAAAFE/wwSqtNWQmHI/s320/2012-11-09+17.48.18.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I didn't choose the picture or anything, but it's still very exciting to feel part of an exhibition so close to my heart, even in just a small way. And this is the picture <a href="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/2012sarahlucas.html" target="_blank">Sarah Lucas</a>, the curator, chose to win my award: </div>
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<a href="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/2012/exhibition/12K3771.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Moment - HM Prison Parkhurst, Kate Massey-Chase Commended Award for Drawing" border="0" height="640" src="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/2012/exhibition/12K3771.jpg" style="visibility: visible;" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's called 'The Moment', and you probably can't see it, but the title of the piece of music the subject is composing is 'A New Life'. The artist came from HMP Parkhurst. He says about it:</div>
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<i>I wanted people to know that any form of artwork can be created anywhere by anyone and...change people's lives...by inspiring them...in some way that will make their world a better place to be. It is an incredible feeling as an artist when a work is completed, so I also tried to depict that moment.</i> </div>
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And here are my personal favourites from the exhibition (all images come from the Koestler Trust <a href="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/exhib2012gal1.html" target="_blank">website</a>): </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Wasted! - HM Prison Channings Wood, James Wood Q.C. Silver Award for Mixed Media" src="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/2012/exhibition/12K7891.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #e8e8e8; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Wasted! - HM Prison Channings Wood, James Wood Q.C. Silver Award for Mixed Media</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Sorrows to Follow - HM Prison Send, Margaret Wignall Highly Commended Award for Portraits" height="400" src="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/2012/exhibition/12K5698.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; visibility: visible;" width="285" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #e8e8e8; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Sorrows to Follow - HM Prison Send, Margaret Wignall Highly Commended Award for Portraits </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Pain I Cause - HM Prison Full Sutton, Gustave Courbet Highly Commended Award for Portraits" height="400" src="http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/pages/uk2012/2012/exhibition/12K6200.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; visibility: visible;" width="251" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #e8e8e8; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">The Pain I Cause - HM Prison Full Sutton, Gustave Courbet Highly Commended Award for Portraits</span></td></tr>
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The artist of the last piece says:<br />
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<i>I never did think I had anything to give to anyone not even myself, but through my art I find that I do. I now believe I can do anything and through my art I can express myself and I know I will not be coming back to prison. I know I have a future so I will be able to give back something to try to make amends.</i></div>
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The whole exhibition is fantastic, so hopefully these will have whet your appetite and you'll hurry down to the Southbank Centre before Nov. 25th, when it finishes, to take a look.</div>
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My next plan, although she doesn't know it yet, is to get my twin sister to donate a lump sum to <a href="http://www.cleanbreak.org.uk/" target="_blank">Clean Break</a>, so they can fund their Access course (which I volunteered on in 2011, and is a fantastic course, which enables female ex-offenders and women vulnerable to offending through drug use or mental health needs to progress through further education, to the point they could apply to a degree level course at university - which many do). It really saddens me that this course isn't funded at the moment, as it has the capacity to make a really meaningful and lasting change to the lives of women who aren't always given the chances they need and deserve. So, when Becca asks me what I want for my birthday.... The Kate Massey-Chase Access Course, please! Sadly, she works in the charitable sector, and despite growing vegetables, riding her bike, and wanting to change the world, she hasn't quite got the finances to fund all my arty social justice endeavours. Why did my parents encourage us to do meaningful jobs, that would fulfil us, and shit??! I live in a house with mould on my bedroom ceiling and damp coming through the walls, and Becca can't fund my predilection for supporting prison arts charities. What's that about? </div>
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Anyway, on a more positive note, at the conference last week we had a bunch of practical workshops, with arts organisations working in prisons, and that included an EXCELLENT workshop with <a href="http://www.good-vibrations.org.uk/" target="_blank">Good Vibrations </a>where we all got to play the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamelan" target="_blank">Gamelan</a>! I'm all about the Javanese gongs right now. </div>
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<img src="http://www.mus.cam.ac.uk/files/2010/09/gamelan_1.jpg" /></div>
Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-66378704224292306532012-10-15T11:02:00.000-07:002012-10-15T11:02:18.389-07:00Because I keep my promises...OK, I'm fully aware that I missed out the word 'speak' on the card about not speaking much French, but sadly shit like this can't be re-created.<br />
<br />
Lisa Stocker, this one's for you.....<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxZBgeXxKi6mb5ilCRpwzXpqTdyczGkI5mf-EnMhWqWx1f6ZvFCap4AqRgubFswWn2Rx-pkzJyngRiZc5H_2Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-42772959516423516482012-09-30T14:26:00.001-07:002012-09-30T14:26:46.684-07:00Not on my (search) terms #2<br />
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development of vulva in girls</div>
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My name I can understand, but the other two??? What?! And most importantly: <span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;">WHY DOES THIS TAKE YOU TO MY BLOG???????????</span></div>
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Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049986352620951660.post-46941811693362184012012-09-28T08:32:00.000-07:002012-09-30T02:22:14.037-07:00Networking or Not WorkingIt's very un-British to be proud of and share your achievements, but in the para-phrased words of Charlotte Bronte's preface to the second edition of <i>Jane Eyre</i>: fuck convention.<br />
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One thing I'm particularly good at is networking. Now, I know that conjures up an image of shiny suits and phrases like 'blue sky thinking', 'USP' and 'maximise potential', but I promise you I don't mean or do it in a wanky way. Or in a sycophantic, obnoxious, flirting, touting for work by laughing at your racist jokes and offering my boobs on a plate kind of way. My sort of networking is basically built on the fact that I'm very friendly, like talking to strangers, and I'm passionate enough about my field of work to want to talk about it to anyone who'll listen. So there. One of my male friends also told me I have a way of looking at you like you're the only one in the room (feel free to swallow the vom in your mouth, I won't take offence). I am the polar opposite to the guy Lisa Mitchell sings about in her delightfully whimsical video for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG1F-rUyR6k&feature=relmfu" target="_blank">Neopolitan Dreams </a>- I AM IN THE ROOM (OK, she's not to everyone's taste - and my sister's boyfriend would probably call it whiny white girl music - but check out her song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhdXPGTCAd4&feature=relmfu" target="_blank">Coin Laundry</a> below if, like me, you like Edwardian nighties, bird cages and girls who steal buttons. And she's talking about meeting someone in the coin laundry - a fabulous example of networking in unusual places!!).<br />
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So, many people - hundreds, thousands, maybe - have asked me: 'But, Kate, how do you network so awfully well?' They say: 'I'm shy', 'I don't know how', 'I can't talk to adults' ('But you are an adult', I reply. 'I know, but I can't talk to them!' they reply, 'Not real ones!'). Now, as a freelancer, networking is fundamental to my acquisition of work (networking or not working - punalicious!), and at this fucking horrible economic time, it's becoming an increasingly intrinsic part of securing work. So, to be blessed with this talent is a very useful tool. And - because sharing is caring - I'm going to give out some much coveted advice on how to do it.<br />
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NETWORKING FOR PLEBS (as Andrew Mitchell might say):<br />
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Firstly, do you own a cute thing? Babies and puppies work best, as do kittens and bunny-rabbits, although these are less easy to transport.<br />
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If yes, this is your conversation hook. Spend a day on public transport, in a doctor's waiting room, or in a department store like Debenhams. Use your cute thing to ensnare passers-by. Baby twins are clearly a big win, but are obviously rarer and harder to find, steal or produce. Although their rarity does contribute to their awwwhhh-quota (although please do not dress them identically, even if this might make your task easier, as this may psychologically damage them and suppress the development of their distinct identities; not even a job with <a href="http://www.cleanbreak.org.uk/" target="_blank">Clean Break</a> or <a href="http://www.safeground.org.uk/" target="_blank">Safe Ground</a> is worth that. And please don't dress up puppies either; that could alienate a number of potential networkees, and embarrass other dogs). Wave your cute things at passers by. Drop a cute little sock. Obviously struggle to get through doors. Be creative. Use any means legal and ethical to start a conversation. The cuter the baby/puppy, the easier this will be.<br />
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If no, have a little cry about the lack of cute things in your life. Have a little look at pictures of the <a href="http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/ben-torode-kitten-in-japan" target="_blank">Cutest Little Kitten in the World </a>to cheer yourself up. Oh dear god, just look at it:<br />
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<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/ANrkEoRhemGKCapnt8w*-Mow82xRXUwtjDEcfcMSSIgPJ3GFoM0g-XcYiBBucBqLcfs8zw4eYpWJGSxA1HXAhxjNwMmBxnFa/kitten00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://api.ning.com/files/ANrkEoRhemGKCapnt8w*-Mow82xRXUwtjDEcfcMSSIgPJ3GFoM0g-XcYiBBucBqLcfs8zw4eYpWJGSxA1HXAhxjNwMmBxnFa/kitten00.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
And again:<br />
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<img height="305" src="http://api.ning.com/files/cAC5-I5yqyFcBndPTuSHABKrE98PIF9AgfaiJJwL7-FHgN83HTluh4d-nQ*QuFvTMC9*5FqZN*YHYFIyilD7zRG*ObCiQHsD/kitten11.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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HOW ADORABLE IS THAT??? THE CAT IS IN THE JEANS! <i><b>IN</b></i> THEM!</div>
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Still, if you owned something that cute, you wouldn't want to go to work, would you?</div>
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Anyway, once you've got over the lack of puppies and kittens in your life, it's time to re-group and re-focus on how to NETWORK LIKE A PRO. So, you've got no baby to steal. Fine, you'll just have to strike up conversations with people who do. When getting onto a carriage on the underground, have a quick scour of the existing passengers. Does anyone have a baby? If not, Plan B: is anyone reading a book you've read? Or is there an old lady who's gagging for a chat about her grandchildren? You never know - one of them might be a passionate philanthropist looking for young people who need a cash-injection to their arts projects. Or a policy-maker who'd love to read your MA thesis. YOU JUST DON'T KNOW 'til you ask them what they're knitting. Go on, bite the bullet!</div>
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So, you've gone for Plan A and you're sitting next to a baby. Where do you go next? Try something like, 'I wish the kids I teach were this well-behaved'. Or: 'I know this is a bit of a random question, but do you know a good children's toy shop where they sell cheap juggling balls?' Filled with curiosity they'll then ask why, and you can explain, 'Well, in my last Drama workshop with drug addicts in Hammersmith, someone threw mine a bit hard and they burst'. And Bob is your proverbial uncle. Bish bash bosh. Conversation OPENED. And if they look at you like you're crazy, rather than putting you in touch with all their friends and relatives <i>who would be really interested in what you do</i> and pocketing your business card, get off at the next stop. And go looking for the next puppy you can stroke (that is in no way a euphemism). <i> </i></div>
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<i>DISCLAIMER: If you are the lovely man I met in Debenhams yesterday, with the baby with the big blue eyes, to whom I gave my business card and am genuinely interested in your work, I promise it was not all part of my plan for world domination. You were my muse, not a pawn in my great big networking chess game. I genuinely thought your baby was cute! I promise! </i></div>
Kate Massey-Chasehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10366487516284418308noreply@blogger.com2