10. Con Palabras

With words.

To anyone who knows me, you know that I like to talk a lot. I sometimes get overexcited and talk too much. In my work as a storyteller, this works. But I also know that in order to be an excellent storyteller, you must be an excellent listener.

When I applied for the Luminato Festival, I applied with an idea for a project that would be multidisciplinary in nature. It would feature mixed media collage art bigger than I have ever created, It also would include the creation of a one woman show that combines song, story and movement.

The themes that I have been exploring have been aging, invisibility, gender and popular culture.

The world would have us think that as women age we become frail, forgetful, absent minded, kooky people, and a part of that is truth. My memory went out the window when I had my uterus removed. BUT I also know that we become stronger, wiser, and more aware of the world around us.

I want to create art and words that shares this experience of change and aging. I am asking the question of where do we fit in as we get older? Are we valued in this quick, always online, survival of the fittest world? Are we valued for our experience and knowledge, or just set aside so that the younger and stronger might take our places.

One of my favourite people lived until he was 98 years old. My grandfather Tonet was strong willed, independent and stubborn. He walked everyday to keep his heart healthy, he wrote letters every day to keep his mind healthy, and he said that if he remembered to do it then his memory was intact.

Telling stories is something that I do, and as I seek out stories I will continue to listen to myself and those around me and to write and walk and remember.