Storied Lives on Living Landscapes

Narrative researchers Clandinin and Connelly write: "we are live storied on living landscapes". Lately I have been collecting visual data and personal narratives on bodily scars; a project I am calling Bodily Scar Sharings. I have aways been interested in the relationship between surface and depth- the illusion of ego and the transparency of truth. In Japan I experienced these distinctions as the tatemae of the outer face, and the Hone of the inner being. Just as skin clothes our lives, they reveal war wounds, the marks of being in the world. Often they reveal deeper expereinces that go unsaid, yet carry medicinal insights. Defined widely, the body scars stories I have recieved so far represent everything from accidents, surgeries, and botched surgeries, tumor removals, and self-inflicted cutting. Each story carries its own trauma and integrity. People ususally dont just email or hand me their written narrative; they want to talk. In homes, in studios, in people' s bedrooms and kitchens, they share moments in which they discovered that life itself is impermenent, and out of their control. Medical ethnographer, Gail Becker writes about the healing power of narrative she collected among patients in crisis. As they are invited to reflect on their expereinces, she found that such opportunity releases a new sense of empowerment because it allow an empatihc space in which people are listened to, validated, and embraced by an audience of listeners. Narrative becomes the thread that binds human beings to one another. It is this process that opens a THIRD SPACE to enter in and identify with the authentic thoughts, emotions and ideas of others. The POWER of story is the KNOWING that we ARE NOT ISOLATED AND ALONE individuals. In collecting the data for this project I have recognized the power of shared narratives; its work to connect human beings in common threads. With opened ears, eyes, and hearts, narrative asks us to courageously meet one another as the recognition of our responsibility to one another.