Drawing Alongside My Brother's Schizophrenia
by
How do you establish trust and meaningful connection with a sibling who suffers from schizophrenia? In an attempt to rekindle her relationship with her estranged brother Steve, Joan meets him at the Art Studios in Vancouver, where he takes part in art classes for individuals with a mental illness in a safe, supportive environment. This marks the beginning of a remarkable journey into the healing power of art.
One in five North Americans experiences a serious mental health crisis; DrawBridge: Drawing Alongside My Brother's Schizophrenia offers a path of hope for the afflicted and for their advocates. In memory of her brother, Joan has established the Stephen A. Corcoran Memorial Award at Emily Carr University of Art and Design to assist students coping with mental health issues.
An apologia is not an apology. It expresses no wrongdoing. Rather, it is an explanation, from the Greek expression "in defence of"--in this case, an attempt to sidestep societal censure around a chronic mental illness. A quick and loose sketch, done freehand for what was seen and left unseen, vis-a-vis drawing mediums, such as myself.
My brother Steve and I are about to connect some dots. We are middle-aged siblings. Middle age as a place in time was the Middle-earth that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about in 'The Hobbit', one of Steve's beloved folk tales--a place where humans lived and interacted. Middle age has brought us to a divide. Once the earthen divide is levelled, we draw closer...
READ MOREDot connection comes later, as Steve Jobs said: "YOu can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards...Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path. That will make all the difference.
Even though I'm looking backwards, I embark on my ramble with Steve in a present tense: a kind of tensor-bandage awareness. I invite the reader to wear its tautness with me: to be aware in our moments together. What difference that makes, you be the judge.
Some names have been changed to protect privacy. Some have been created to connect dots. Here come the dotty dots, the pixie pixels, the didgeridoodles.
Steve and I remain, faithfully yours.
COLLAPSEJanet Nicol on The British Columbia Review wrote:“Boxall’s narrative will move you and make you reflect on issues of love, intimacy and loss in your own family… This is a love story for adults, without any simple resolution or cheap redemption.”
Excerpted from full review:
"A memoir told in ten lyrical essays, Drawbridge: Drawing Alongside My Brother’s Schizophrenia is Joan Boxall’s moving tribute to her brother, Stephen Corcoran. In the early 2000s, Joan became co-trustee of Stephen following the death of their parents. So began her enlightening ten-year journey supporting a brother with a mental illness. Joan intersperses research, observations, and thoughts with her poetry, each essay framed within a theme of art — the powerful tool that provided a path for Joan and Stephen to connect. At the time of re-uniting, Stephen was living independently in a rented apartment on Vancouver’s southeast side and Joan lived with her husband on the North Shore. She attended a mental health symposium and learned, among many things, that she was assuming the role of family peer counsellor. Joan paints a picture of a brother who talked to himself, heard imaginary voices, and wheeled his possessions in a buggy along the street."
