Volunteer Spotlight: Survivor Art as Healing

How do you bring your skills, knowledge, experiences, and resources to the work you do with the Survivor Anthology Project?

I try to show up ready to chip in, whether that's with a thought, an opinion, a solution, etc. 

The first 32 years of life was abuse for me; I've seen it in every form that I think mankind could come up with. For me, I always leaned into books as a place of solace. I leaned into nature as a place of solace. I always sought out those “earth angels,” that would give me a safe refuge from it all. So I think I know what it's like to walk in the shoes of the “victim,” the survivor. But also having seen so much through literature [and] through nonfiction, I can see how I might be assisting other people in their journey. 

I started reading and writing at three because I was in the care of my grandparents, and they didn't have TV or toys. I started reading and writing young … so I get the release that comes from putting that feeling, that moment, that memory, that victory into writing. I was always told I wasn't an artist, so I have a mental block saying I'm not artistic. But I used to draw and color and keep those pieces on the walls as best as I could to have those little pieces of my soul made manifest.

I think what the Anthology Project allows is for each of these contributors to put their soul into a living piece of work, whether it's written or artistic, and that piece of their soul gets shared and praised. When one part of us heals, it then has a cumulative effect. So that little bit of healing [can lead survivors to say] “Oh, well, now I've got the confidence to try this,” and “I feel encouraged to try that” and “Oh, look at me, I'm healed a bit better.”

What’s something you’re looking forward to in your work with the anthology?

I think, with the Anthology, it sets a precedent, it sets a tone. Once we've got two or three issues, then we can start to encourage other organizations to either get on board with us or start their own, and kind of start this grassroots movement of giving survivors a voice differently.

You know, I think one of the scary things—if you look at where some of our fellow countrymen and women are, that shows a real clear inability to empathize with others. So the more voices we can put in print, whether it's digital or physical, the more context we have for lawmakers, for decision makers to understand that their one experience isn't the sum total of life for everybody here. I think it creates a positive groundswell. 

And when we factor that in with other movements—like Black Lives Matter, like Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, like the #MeToo movement—when we start to put our Anthology in that kind of vein … that's huge.

In being part of such a big project, what is a meaningful experience you've had volunteering in the past year?

During the only in-person training session I've had so far, it was fabulous to actually meet some of the team (both staff and volunteers) and to laugh, learn and problem-solve together! Zoom is great, but being in person, seeing the offices for the first time, and having that in-person communication was superb! We have amazingly talented and educated people here!

[About the Anthology Team] Honestly, it makes my soul happy to be able to collaborate with such good quality people that have, not just kind hearts, but the very best of intentions and the very best conscientiousness about them to keep at [a project] until it's right, and to maybe have a hard conversation in order to make it better. Everybody is just pulling in that same direction, which I really appreciate.

You know we're gonna get it done, but we're going to have a little laugh along the way. And I think that's the way most of us are going to stay safe and grounded and whole, as we do some of the difficult lifting that maybe we have to do, whether that's the cognitive load, or waking up skeletons in closets, whatever it might be.