THE COUCH OF TRUTH: Episode Five “Having A Kid… Or Not: Two Stories About Being Okay” {official Thing}
TL;DR:
Hallo my loves. Greetings from deep lockdown in New Zealand. Life updates en route. BUT FOR NOW….the fifth – and final – episode of The Couch of Truth – “Having A Kid…Or Not: Two Stories About Being Okay.” – is up now on YouTube and Vimeo.
The episode is embedded at the top of this post, or you can see the FULL playlist, now containing all five episodes of the series, here on YouTube or here on Vimeo.
I love you. Thank you for being a patron so all of this can happen.
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This episode marks the end of The Couch Of Truth (y’know…..for now…… who knows what’ll happen once lockdowns ease, borders open, and I can find future couches.)
As I’ve said in previous posts, thank you all so, so much for watching, commenting, sharing, enjoying and – most importantly – for FUNDING this series and the behind-the-scenes folks (from Jenessa’s film and edit and sound crew through to all those on Team AFP) who worked so hard to create it. These videos, these conversations, they’re weird, and they’re important. Without this system of direct patronage, they simply… would not exist.
And if you want to get a warm fuzzy glow, you can read some of the comments on the previous Patreon posts, or on the YouTube videos, and see how these have been resonating with people.
The previous Patreon posts – which include backstory for the series, as well as words from each participant – are all here:
Episode One – Suicide & Mental Health: Three Stories
Episode Two – Miscarriage: Where Is The Hallmark Card?
Episode Three – Grief: And It’s Going To Hurt
Episode Four – Abortion: Three Stories
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LAST BUT NOT LEAST…..
And so, episode five. The final episode.
This one is probably one of the most joyful, and the most hopeful, of the series.
I said when I launched this – we didn’t go in with an agenda.
We just….let people spill.
And then we decided what to do with the footage.
These two stories so obviously reflected one another, and it was a healing act to marry them in the same episode.
And a reminder.
You never, ever know what anyone is going through.
Ever.
So be kind.
To everyone.
I hug you.
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I’m so grateful to both of these smart, funny women for sharing these stories with me, and opening their hearts.
Here are some quick words from them about where they’re at now…..
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Lisa
Where to begin, covid obviously sent us for a loop but my son (he’s 11 now) and i did well in lockdown initially, we’re homebodies and enjoy each other’s company.
Then my dear older sister, the strongest one of we three sisters, lost her battle with cancer.
We were, and are still, one year later, absolutely devastated. It sent me on a journey spiritually, mentally, and physically, I’ve found myself doing everything i can muster to heal and nurture all those aspects of myself.
My son took it hard and struggled through what has been his toughest year.
No contact with friends except online, no school except online, and even not seeing his grandparents on either side (they’re very close) took its toll on his mental health. I coached and listened and did my best to parent through the trauma that we’ve all been experiencing since covid first reared its head, and i think he’s through the worst of it now.
He’s an hilarious, kind, brilliant, thoughtful little man (not so little, over 5′ already! GIANT man child) and I’m so grateful he’s in my life and i didn’t manage to forget him on top of the car or something when he was a baby.
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Hope:
My update is that thanks, in large part to my interview with Amanda, I’ve continued to make my own boundaries and find my own role.
I’m involved in my community and finding my own path.
Vote India Walton for Mayor of Buffalo on November 2nd!
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The song featured in this episode is A Mother’s Confession – my 10 minute ode to motherhood
It was originally written in February 2016, and the demo was released as one of the first ever Things here on Patreon, and I published the demo recording along with annotated lyrics containing 108 (!) footnotes, because I thought that was necessary because I’m a weirdo…..and that was the kind of thing I had time to do when I had a 4 month old baby in a stroller instead of a 6 year old kid in the midst of a national lockdown. But I didn’t really have time. You get it.
The post with the footnotes is here, and it still is a pretty fun read if you want to go back to it.
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As for the Q&A WEBCAST we’ve been talking about – we’re still scheduling it behind the scenes, but look out for info heading your way soon….. it’s just taking a little while longer to organise given lockdown uncertainty 🙂
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CREDITS:
Cast:
Amanda Palmer
Lisa
Hope
Director / Producer:
Jenessa Joffe
Field Producer:
Lora Campbell
Director of Photography:
Nyssa Gluck
Camera Operators:
Chantal Garcia
Danielle Thorn
Location Sound:
Bridget Tang
Hair / Make-Up Artist:
Sahar Junejo
Production Assistants:
Lindsay Duncan
Sarah JM Kolberg
Editors:
Cindy Long
Caddie Hastings
Matt Marhefka
Penda Diakité
Re-Recording Mixer:
Greg Townley
Still Photography:
Allan Amato
Kyle Cassidy
Lindsay Duncan
Kahn & Selesnick
Stephanie Zakas
CONCERT FOOTAGE
Director: Jesse DeFlorio
Director of Photography: Seth Iliff
Production & Lighting Designer: Lauren Sego
Special Thanks:
Jordan Verzar
Hayley Rosenblum
Michael McComiskey
Alex Knight
……
LOVE TO YOU ALL.
more soon.
xx
AFP
——THE NEVER-ENDING AS ALWAYS———
1. if you are a patron and new to my work, don’t forget your patronage allows you access to ALL of my patreon releases to date. HERE is the link to download my latest big solo record, “There Will Be No Intermission”, and HERE is a link to download the PDF of the art/essay book that goes with it.
2. if you’re a patron reading this post via an email notification, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol. that’s always nice for me to see, so i know who’s reading.
3. see All the Things (over 150 of them) i’ve made so far on patreon:
http://amandapalmer.net/things
4. JOIN THE SHADOWBOX COMMUNITY FORUM, find your people, and discuss everything: https://forum.theshadowbox.net/
5. new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff (at least up until a few years ago, this desperately needs updating) on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/
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