Publications
Ely, B., Artist’s statement, Menindee Fish Kill; Personal Structures: Reflections, European Cultural Centre. Palazzo Bembo, Venice, 2022. P 296, 297.
Ely, B., Plastikus Progressus: the Trauma of Waste. 2019, Plasticity of the Planet: On Environmental Challenge for Art and its Institutions. Editor, Magdalena Ziolkowska, Centre for Contemporary Art, U-jazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland. Mousse Publishing & U-jazdowski, Milan, 2019. P.129-145..
B. Ely, We Live to Be Surprised. Short story, Future Tense exhibition catalogue, 2019/20, pub. Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane (catalogue essay). P17-19.
B. Ely and J. Chlanda, We Are Not Superior to Other Species. Interview. Future Tense exhibition catalogue, 2019/20, pub. Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane. P 28, 29.
B. Ely & Richard McEwan, Murray River Punch: A Conversation on Changes Along the River. Edited by Alexandra Tolland, Jay Stratton Noller, Gerd Wessolek, Field to Palette: Dialogues on Soil and Art in the Anthropocene, 2018, P 81-94.
B. Ely, Murray River Punch: the Drink, the Paste, the Soup, 2018, page 351. What is Performance Art? Australian Perspectives. Ed., Adam Geczy, Mimi Kelly. Pub. Power Publications, Sydney University.
B. Ely, interview, Absolute Humidity, page 190. Ed., Tess Maunder. 2018. Pub. Hardworking Goodlooking Book, 2018.
B. Ely, artist’s statement, documenta14 Daybook, 2017. Pub., Documenta14.
.B. Ely, Artist’s Statement, catalogue, Guarding the Home Front, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, 2015. P22, 23.
B,a Ely, Coexisting, P. 14. Interview with Louis Mayhew. Framework #2, The Gender & Sexuality Issue, pub., UNSWA&D.
Ely, B. (2014) Interior Decoration: A ricochet through time, Art & Australia, Vol 50, #3, Summer 2014. P 421 – 423
Ely, B., (2011) Buffer Zone: Site Specific Art at Sydney Olympic Park. National Sculpture Magazine of China, 2011.
Ely, B., (2011) Teaching Sculpture at COFA, Sydney. National Sculpture Magazine of China, July edition, 2011.
Ely, B., Three Rivers. Australian Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide. Catalogue.
Ely, B., [2006] The Cleveland Street Projects [2006], Performance Space, Sydney. Catalogue notes.
Ely, B., [2006] Between Art and Nature, COFA Magazine, Issue 15.
Ely, B., [2003] Taxing Fine Art Academics, NAVA Newsletter, March – May.
Ely, B., [2002] Border Panic, Performance Space with Museum of Contemporary Art. Catalogue notes.
Ely, B., (2001), Longevity In Hue, TAASA Review, the Journal of the Asian Arts Society of Australia, Vol. 9, No. 3.
Ely, B., (2000), Inside Mawson’s Sleeping Bag: the Poetics of Heroism, Catalogue.
Ely, B, (1998), Juggernaut, Catalogue, Sutton Gallery, Object Gallery, Bellas Gallery.
Ely, B. (1998), Two Gardens and a Wasteland In LA, TAASA Review: the Journal of the Asian Arts Society of Australia, Vol. 7, No. 2.
Ely, B. (1997), The Spatiality of Hindu Temples, Southern India, TAASA Review: the Journal of the Asian Arts Society of Australia, Vol. 6, No. 4, P. 10 - 11.
Ely, B. (1997) Artists In The House! Elizabeth Bay House Contemporary Art Installation Program, Historic Houses Trust, New South Wales. P. 12. Catalogue notes.
Ely, B., (1994) 25 Years of Performance Art In Australia, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney. P. 25. Catalogue notes.
Ely, B., (1994) Sexism and Art Education. Women’s Show; Conference Papers, 1977. Ed. Moore, C., Dissonance - Feminism and the Arts 1970 - 1990. Artspace, with Allen and Unwin, P. 48.
Ely, B. (1981), Murray/Murundi, Adelaide, Experimental Art Foundation.
Ely, B.; Havana, A. (1979), A Profile of Australian Women Sculptors, 1860 – 1960, (inc. slide kit), Schools Commission, Women’s Art Register, Melbourne.
Conference papers
2011, National Institute of Experimental Arts conference (NIEA), Improvisation in the Visual Arts. UNSW.
2009 ACUADS conference, Aftermath: Teaching sustainability and the practice of publicart. For the Sustainability, Design, Education and Transformation strand.
2001, The Ancient History of Installation Art, Spatial Cultures Conference, University of Newcastle:
2001, Inside Mawson’s Sleeping Bag, Australians In Antarctica Conference, National Museum of Australia. National Council for the Centenary of Federation event.
2001, Great Ideas: the Influence of Artists’ Organisations on Public Art Policy, Sculpture Out There Conference, Canberra School of Art Gallery, National Institute of the Arts, ANU, Canberra
Citations
J.C. Sourris, V. McDonald, J. Ewington, Meet the Artists, State Library of Queensland, 2023. P. 38, 39.
M. Rackham, E. Richardson, COUNTess: Spoiling Illusions Since 2008, C.R, 2023. P. 89, 90.
Manya Sellers, Artist Room: Bonita Ely, 20Art Matters, MCA , Autumn/Winter 2022.
Neil B S Howe, Parallel Realities, 2nd edition, 2022, student version. Available to download on https://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/Performance_Art
Alex Nathanson, A History of Solar Power, Art and Design. 1st Edition. Published July 30, 2021, Routledge. P. 179.
Shields, Bevan, New Tate exhibition isn’t rewriting our history – but it aims to fill the gaps, Sydney Morning Herald, June 8, 2021
Jeremy Eccles, It’s All Happening Elsewhere, Aboriginal Art Directory, June 30, 2021
Claire Dalgleish, Sparse yet strong: Tate Modern’s ‘A Year in Art: Australia 1992’ Art Monthly, July 20th, 2021, London.
Vogue Italia, On Post-Colonialism, Race And Identity: Tamsin Hong Unravels “Modern Patterns Of Capitalism Existing On Ancient Living Ground”. Re/ A Year in Art: Australia 1992, Tate Gallery, London, 2021/22.
Know My Name, catalogue, exhibition, National Gallery of Australia, 2021.
Staff reporter, Southwark News, Year In Art: Australia 1992, 07 June, 2021
Steven Meacham, Jabiluka Video Art Gets New Lease of Life, Sydney Morning Herald, 15th March 2021 (pg 16) https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/jabiluka-video-art-gets-new-lease-of-life-20210314-p57alb.htm
Goddard, A, Bonita Ely: Optimistic Evolution, for Future Tense exhibition catalogue, 2019/20, pub. Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane (catalogue essay).
Thurlow, Hilary, A Space to Speculate: Bonita Ely’s ‘Future Tense’ at Griffith. Art Monthly, P48. Summer Issue, 2019.
Documenta14 Daybook, 2017. Statements: Bonita Ely, Hendrik Folkerts. Editors: Quinn Latimer and Adam Szymczyk. English, Greek & German versions.
Vivian Ziherl, 'Frontier Imaginaries' (2016). Pub. IMA, Brisbane.
Elsom, Derek M., Lightning: Nature and Culture, (2015) pub. Reaktion Books – Earth. Pages 202, 203 – images of my public sculptures featuring lightning imagery, Thunderbolt and Lake Thunder.
La Lune: Energy Producing Art, 2014, Item 19, HQ (catalogue).
Warwick Heywood, Reality in Flames: Modern Australian Art & the Second World War. Pub. Australian War Memorial, 2014. P 82, 83 (catalogue).
Sue Ford, 2014, National Gallery of Victoria. P 5, 101, 102 (catalogue).
Vivian Ziherl, (editor) The Lip Anthology: An Australian Feminist Arts Journal, 1976-1984, Kunstverein Publishing, 2013.
The World Turned Inside Out (catalogue). Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, 2013.
Susan van Wyk, Bonita Ely, 101 Contemporary Australian Artists, 2012, Ed. Kelly Gellatly, pub. National Gallery of Victoria.
Ella Mundie, The Research Degree – Consistency VS Diversity, Real Time, rt110 August/Sept, 2012, p 6.
Diana Smith, Putting Dogwoman Back Into History, Time Machine Festival, Serial Space, Sydney, July, 2012. P 15, 46.
Pedro de Almmeido, Discoveries Continued, catalogue essay for Excavation, 2012. P 6, 16, 51.
Glenn Barkley, Bonita Ely, Artist Profile, Issue 14, 2011. P 62 – 69.
Tell Me Tell Me: Australian and Korean Art 1976-2011. Museum of Contemporary Art, 2011. Catalogue
Buffer Zone, Sydney Olympic Park Gallery, Sydney. 2011, Catalogue.
The River Project, Cambelltown Arts Centre, 2010. Project Officer, Susan Gibb.Catalogue. P 11, 51, 52, 56, 173, 181, 189.
In the Balance: Art for a Changing World, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. 2010. Catalogue.
Mezzer, Barbara, Eye Witness, 2010, Incubate magazine, COFA, UNSW. Issue 6. P 63, 64.
Nicholas Croggan, Bonita Ely’s Art of Ecology, Art and Australia, 48, #1, 2010.
Britton, Stephanie, New Work: Imaging Climate Change, Artlink, 2009. Vol. 29, No 4. Pp 58, 63.
Stefan Delatovic, Sculpture to Have Powerful Message, Barrier Daily Truth, Broken Hill. 17/12/09. P 3.
Heat, catalogue, 2008, RMIT Gallery.
Helen Vivian, When You Think About Art: the Ewing and George Paton Galleries 1971 – 2008. Macmillan Publishing, 2008.
Who’s Who of Australian Women – Leadership and Beyond, Crown content, 2005.
Waterlow, N., 5 x 5, [pub. Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts, UNSW, Catalogue notes.
Crawford, Ashley, Long live the tent embassy. The Age, July 30, 2005.
“Today, the list of artists showing there [Art Projects] reads like a serious who’s who of contemporary Australian art; Greg Ades, Tony Clark, Brett Colquhoun, John Davis, Bonita Ely, Robert Jacks, Jill Orr, John Nixon, Mike Parr, Imants Tillers, Jenny Watson and more.”
McDonald, J., Emotion in Slow Motion, Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald [SMH], 3-4/9/04
Neylor, M. & S., Even by Name, Even by… Sunraysia Daily, 17/3/04
Engberg, Juliana, Breadline: Women and Food. Art Link, Vol. 19, No. 4.
“Linking fundamentally to Rosler’s Budding Gourmet in format, but extrapolating the cooking demonstration format to satirise scenarios of the natural environment as well as the domestic ones, Bonita Ely’s Murray River Punch (1980), performed in Melbourne as a part of the Ewing and George Paton Gallery’s performance and discussion program Women at Work, and in the Adelaide Festival in the public thoroughfare of Rundle Mall, marks a subtle shift in the program of feminist performance.
“Dressed as the typical CWA-suited disciple of home economics, the paragon of rationality, Ely proffered her Murray River Punch, a foul and toxic cocktail of phosphates, chemicals and animal waste, for sample tasting to unsuspecting passers-by. Her performance illustrated the extent to which Australian women had already, by the early 1980s, moved out of the kitchen and into the public realm to take on the larger issues of land degradation and environmental collapse, a theme explored by many Australian women artists including Jill Orr. While Rosler, in the mid 1970s, was still firmly entrenched in the kitchen, Ely had, by the beginning of the 1980s, made the escape to the public arena as a spokesperson, using the role of matron as a form of authority, as well as an alternative to the generally forgiving and ample figure of an essentialist mother nature, nature/mother.
“Graham’s breadline differs significantly from that of Bonita Ely’s earlier New Zealand performance, Breadline, in which the artist moulded shapes of her body in bread dough, then baked and served it as she washed off in a bath of milk, as a critique on woman as a consumable product of culture.”
“So from the semiotics of the kitchen, and the dangerous Murray River punch, through the refined repetitions of domestic rituals and back again to street-level in aesthetically organised shelters and socially active projects we see food emerge as a metaphor and a meal.”
“If we have in Bonita Ely’s Murray River Punch the first signs of environmental collapse and toxic shock - the symptom - then Norrie’s most recent object from the installation ERR 1999, an oversized jar of ‘anti-radiation’ jam, is the home-spun, and somewhat hopeful, yet probably hopeless antidote.”
Kaufman, Nicola, The George Paton Gallery and the Avant-garde. Catalogue essay for Reunion: the art of sixteen graduates”, George Paton Gallery. The University of Melbourne’s 150th Anniversary, May, 2003.
James, Bruce, Don’t be Afraid to Touch Them, They Won’t Bite, 28/5/03, SMH.
“And while the massed hairpins in Bonita Ely’s Infrastructure 262OBR, 2003, snake beyond our reach in the ceiling, we seek their familiar shapes with our eyes, looking for every characteristic bump and bend. In doing so, we take part in the normally inactive space above the line of sight, extending our experiential realm as well as that of the art object.”
Dr Juliet Peers, This was the Future, the McClelland Sculpture Award and Sculpture at RMIT during the Jomantas Years 1961-198. Art Link, VOL 24 NO 1.
“Bonita Ely’s welcome inclusion indicated the input of `70s feminism to expanding sculptural possibilities.”
Merritt, B., On the Outside Looking In, Daily Herald, Salt Lake City, 30/10/03
Wright, L., Outside Inside: Installation Art at the MOA, The Daily Universe, 14/10/03
Seymour, N., Museum Draws Varied Exhibits to Campus, The Daily Universe, 7/1/04
Quoc Hung, Cultural Fusion, The Saigon Times Daily, 16/9/03
Quang Thi, Bon hoa si Uc va mot tieng vang Viet Nam, Than Nien, 19/9/03
Chu Minh, “Tieng Vang” tu Viet Nam, Lao Dong, 16/9/03
Anh Ngoc, Exhibit Falls for Viet Nam Sound, Viet Nam News, 25/9/03
Trinh Cung, Bo tu nghethuat duong dai den tu Australia, The Thao & Van Hoa, 23/9/03
Hoai Nam, La ky niem nhung chuyen tham Viet Nam, Van Hoa: Nghe Thuat, 18/9.03
My Thuat, 4 nghe si Uc, Tuoi Tre, 19/9/03
Thomas, D. 2002.Terra. Catalogue, Fieldwork: Australian Art1968 - 2002, the Ian Potter Centre [IPC] , National Gallery of Victoria [NGV], pp.66, 67
Green, C., 2002, Into the 90s: thedecay of postmodernism. Catalogue, Fieldwork: Australian Art1968 - 2002, IPC., NGV., pp. 102, 104.
Fieldwork: Australian Art1968 - 2002, IPC., NGV., p. 152
Hill, P., Simple Pleasures and Hue, SMH, 8/11/02
“Collectively, the works are tough, subtle, complex and at times camouflaged as in the case of Ely’s intervention into the fabric of the gallery’s window blinds.”
Hill, P., Raise the Baa. Metro, SMH, 8-14/11/02, p. 26.
Hill, P., Critic’s Picks, SMH, 1/11/02
Duncan, J., Michael, L., Monash University Collection: four decades of collecting, Monash University Museum of Art. 2002.
Woodburn, Jena, Bonita Ely: Inside Mawson’s Sleeping Bag. Eyeline, ISSUE #46 SPRING 2001
Hill, P., 3 Foot Square, Critic’s Picks, Metro, SMH, 1st November, 2002
Surgeon, Graham: “The Development of Australian Sculpture”, Thames and Hudson, London, United Kingdom
Scarlett, Ken: A Dictionary of Australian Sculptors
Germain, Max: A Dictionary of Australian and New Zealand Artists
Burke, Janine: “Site Specific: Bonita Ely’s Landscapes”, Island Magazine 1981
Murphy, Bernice: “Perspecta” catalogue, Pub. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 1981
“Art in Australia”, Vol. 18, August 1981, p. 227
“Art and Australia”, Volume 19, No. 2, Fine Arts Press, 1981
Paroissien, Leon: “Art Review – 1982”
Paroissien, Leon: “Art Review – 1983”
“Island Magazine”, No. 16 (Anzart Supplement) September 1983
“Perspecta 83 Catalogue”, update section, AGNSW
Brady, Tess, Boult, Jenny: “After the Rage”, Tutu Press, Adelaide, 1983
“Art Link”, Vol. 3., No. 3, July/August, 1983
Marsh, Ann, Kent, Jane: “Live Art”, Pub. Adelaide, 1984
Taylor, Paul: “Anything Goes– Art in Australia 1970 - 1980”, Pub. Art and Text, Melbourne, 1984
Catalano, Gary: “The Bandaged Image: A Study of Australian Artist’s Books”, Hale and Ironmonger, 1984, Sydney
Bond, Tony: “Perspecta 85 Catalogues”. Pub. Art Gallery of New South Wales
Ruinard, E: “Dogwoman Makes History”, (Catalogue) First Draft, 1986, Sydney
“A Certain Place”, Artspace, 1987, Sydney(Catalogue)
Bruce, Adams: “Traversing the Difficult Territory of Aboriginal Art”, Sydney Morning Herald, Jan.,16, 1987
Coventry, Virginia: “The Critical Distance”, Hale and Ironmonger, Sydney 1987
McIntyre, Arthur: “Australian Contemporary Drawing: Resurgence and Re–Definition”, Boolarong Publications, 1988
March, Anne: “Performance Art in the 1970’s”, Art in Australia, Autumn 1989
“In Transit: Australian Sculpture, Video, Performance”, catalogue publication. Drew Gallery, Canterbury, and Chisenhale Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 1989
Losche, Diane: “Osmosis: Irony and Disappearance”, Art Monthly Australia, No. 35, October 1990
“Art Dock: Art Contemporain Australien”, (cat.), Noumea, New Caledonia, pub. Department of Cultural Affairs, New Caledonia. 1990
Burke, Janine: “Field of Vision, A Decade of Change: Women Artists In the70s”, 1990, pub. Viking Penguin Books, Australia.
“Unfamiliar Territory”, catalogue pub. Art Gallery of South Australia, 1992
Kirby, Sandy: “Sight Lines: Women’s Art and Feminist Perspectives in Australia”, pub. Craftman House, 1992
Marsh, Anne: “Body and Self: Performance Art in Australia 1969 – 92″, 1993 Oxford University Press
Brauer, Faye: “Bonita Ely: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” , Eyeline, No. 21, Autumn, 1993
Green, Charles: “Art as Printmaking: The Deterritorialised Print”, Art Monthly, No. 58, April, 1993
“Fifth Australian Sculpture Triennial”, 1993, (cat.) Art Gallery of NSW
Sullivan, Graeme: “Seeing Australia: Views of Artists and Art Writers” , Piper Press 1994
Green, C., “Peripheral Vision: Contemporary Australian Art, 1970 - 1994″; Craftsman House, 1995
Kenyon, T., “Under A Hot Tin Roof: Art, Passion and Politics At The Tin Sheds Art Workshop”; Power Publications, U. of S., 1995
Timms, P., “Impressed By Nature”, art., The Herald - Sun, August 23, 1995
ONE OFF BOOKS BY THE ARTIST
“Memoirs of a Dogwoman”, 1986 , funded by the Kiffy Rubbo Memorial Arts Award. Binding by Heather Mc Pherson.
Pictorial essay composed of images of dogs in art works from public collections in Berlin, Germany, and photographs of live dogs from the environs of (West) Berlin. The dog and its relation to human kind is used as a metaphor of the human condition.
“Lake Benanee/ Dry Lake”, 1983. Hand made artist’s book. Murray River Series.
A pictorial essay of images of dead river red gums that were “drowned” by the raised water table of the Murray River basin in the N.W. corner of N.S.W. near Euston. Lake Benenee and Dry Lake are fed from the MurrayRiver system.
“Controlled Atmosphere Inc: Lake Pedder Environmental Impact Statement”, 1983, Anzart in Hobart, Tas.
“Controlled atmosphere Inc: Progressive Dementia of Integrated Resource Assemblage”, i983, Artspace, Sydney, N.S.W.
Both of these books were assembled from material created during performances of the same names and as such serve as documentation of the performances as well as works in their own right.
“Hold” 1999. Images drawn in pencil on transluscent draughting paper, each overlaying the next as an exploration of the contra indications and complexities of Australian colonial and post colonial history. For the “We Are Australian” travelling exhibition.
“Quarry”, 2000. Charcoal, photocopies, felt tip and lead pencil on draughting paper. Traces, marks, quotes and definitions, severed from their origins, create a palimpsest of detritus, misanthropic meanings and consequence. For Histories exhibition
Ely, B., 2002, Bluey and Curley Conduct the Children’s Choir. Bound drawings, photocopies and text. For Border Panic exhibition
B. Ely, Handout: PTSD Workshop, 2016
Parko Eleftherias, Athens Municipality Arts Center and Museum of Anti-dictatorial and Democratic Resistance, Vassilissis Sofias, Athens. 34 Exercises of Freedom: #23 Interior Effects as an Outcome of War by Bonita Ely
https://www.documenta14.de/en/artists/1001/bonita-ely
https://www.documenta14.de/en/calendar/1003/-23-interior-effects-as-an-outcome-of-war
STATE VIOLENCE / DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: The Inter-generational Affects of PTSD as an Outcome of War. Presenter: Dr Bonita Ely, Assoc. Professor, Faculty of Art & Design, UNSW, Sydney
(NB - artist, not psychologist).
A DEFINITION OF POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER:
PTSD typically leads to emotional numbing (and hence to relationship problems), recurrent nightmares, substance abuse (traditionally, alcoholism), and, most frighteningly, delusional outbursts of violence. (Goldstein, 2001)
THE INTER-GENERATIONAL AFFECTS OF PTSD
Environment Exposed to the often irrational and violent behaviours of suffers of PTSD, partners and children may be traumatised, particularly if the sufferer self medicates with alcohol, usually becoming physically and verbally violent.
Genetics Scientists have found PTSD may also be passed on epi-genetically - the brain of the sufferer is changed in ways that may be passed onto their children genetically.
(GOOGLE “PTSD epigenetics” for more information)
If we are affected either way – how can we process our emotions, thoughts, memories, be in control & at peace ???
PTSD
Is there a cure?
Following are positive actions that help ameliorate & control the effects of PTSD:
WITH THE ADVICE TO - DON’T TRY, JUST DO IT
1. CREATIVITY – SELF EXPRESSION: MAKING ART MAKES ART - POETRY, STORY TELLING, MUSIC, ART, DANCE - Don’t just think about it, do it, to help process your experiences, feelings, anxieties.
2. TEACH – PASS ON YOUR KNOWLEDGE, INSPIRE IN WHATEVER CONTEXT, as a parent, mentor, sibling, friend, teacher, scholar, boss, bystander etc.
3. NATURE Seek out the solace of nature’s claim beauty, movement & sounds.
4. HUMOUR friends mates family community – HAVE FUN. (Terrible puns are permitted.)
5. RELATIONSHIPS - Look out for ‘danger men’ & ‘danger women’ We tend to be attracted to, fall in love with, people who in some way conform to a pattern set by our parents:
Traumatised people may be attracted to relationships patterned on alcoholism as a compulsory prerequisite - or any old drug will do - leading to a cycle of failed, crazy or violent relationships
THE ALTERNATIVE -
Sincere, steady, sober, gentle, loving, kind people – often considered BORING!
ADVICE – keep the crazy people as friends, not partners
6. MUSIC DANCE FREEDOM
a/ Instead - Dance around the house to the Danger Men & Women’s music - Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin
[-: Rock ‘n’ roll :-D
b/ For a charge of energy, tune into the life force – For example: Listen to Prokofiev’s radical Piano Concerto #3
c/ Be free in your own company - ENJOY YOUR OWN COMPANY
7. INNER DIALOGUE
Shut down the inner voice that says you’re no good, you can’t succeed, you might as well give up, you are stupid.
I call mine ‘Aunty Mary’ after an aunt who was very judge-mental ……………
SHUT UP AUNTY MARY!!!
8. CONTROL
Recognise the triggers that set you off – my father used to go right off when he had to set up machinery – did it take him back to setting up & working the mechanisms of the machine gun?
When the flash of traumatic memory strikes – STOP …. AND
deep breath, breath, breath breath
9. SELF MEDICATION - PLEASE NOTE!!! ALCOHOL DOES NOT WORK
A drunk PTSD sufferer IS out of control - violent, irrational, abusive, terrifying, potentially attacking everyone with their verbal & physical rages, uncontrolled actions.
Give it up (I did in 1975)
Join Alcoholics Anonymous if giving up is a problem.
WHAT HELPS?
THIS HELPS: COURAGE
We are courageous if we do something, even though we are very afraid -
· Think
· Analyse
· Talk … Write – tell your story
Ref/ Magda Szubanski, Reckoning, 2016, Text Publishing.
THIS HELPS: MINDFULNESS –
a/ Lie down, relax from your toes to the top of your head (tension in the shoulders?)
b/ Turn your palms up to be receptive …
c/ Feel your body dissolve into limitless < < < < s p a c e > > > >
THIS HELPS: THE BODY – exercise it Yoga – Walk – Cycle – Swim - Jog – Gym – Whatever …
Your body is your vessel of sensation and feelings - not just a skin bag
THE BODY IS [a/an] :
It
Sublime
camouflage/disguise
machine
memory
muscles
whole
site
a means of production/biological destiny /survival kit
object
erogenous zones
provocation
simulacra
existence
weapon
shelter
food
act
medium
subjective
sensation
immortal
corpse
vessel
fiction
totality
fetish
flesh
abject
fortress
mutable
identity
shape
tool
temple
handbag
MEDITATION – HELPS A LOT
• Sit or lie down comfortably
• Softly close your eyes & relax
• Look into the third eye space with your eyes closed (touch it with your finger – just above the space between your eyebrows on your forehead). This will intensify your consciousness. Colours may emerge & swirl.
• Listen to the internal sounds of the body, the brain & the world
• If your mind wanders bring it back to the third eye space
• Breath slowly in & out, stopping between each breath
• THE OBJECTIVE - feel a transcendence
LAST WORD:
“[War] is a universe where doing the right thing is almost always simultaneously the wrong thing.”
Madga Szubanski, Reckoning