By Alexandra Deterte Everyone needs friends, no matter your age. They are your safety net and support bubble when things aren’t going your way. They are your counsellor and shrink. They are your partner-in-crime, your sidekick, your secret-keepers, your bodyguards and your family. And to me, they are everything. Recently, I went through a rather stressful and upsetting two years. In 2018, my husband was offered a job in London. We were in Wellington, New Zealand, and decided to jump on the amazing opportunity, so we started planning. The move was set for mid-March but on March 4th we received my rejected visa application, after which, we decided to apply again: paying the fees and once again beginning the three month wait. At the time that was OK. We thought we could do three months with lots of FaceTime and messages. It would be fine. June came and went and so did another rejection letter. We figured something was wrong and we contacted a lawyer for help, which is when we were told we would not be able to reapply until my husband had worked in the UK for a full financial year. The next fifteen months would end up being the hardest few months we have ever experienced. Lots of people know how hard and draining it can be to keep up appearances. On multiple occasions I was fighting back tears, fighting the urge to scream and give up hope but I knew that I couldn’t do that. I have two younger brothers and I like to think they look up to me as the positive, calm and annoyingly-like-mum, older sister. I wanted to follow my parents’ example. My parents have been in a similar situation for almost seven years and they never complain about being apart. Their work only allows them to see each other a couple of times a year; they never seem to be upset, or at least they don’t show it to anyone, but I did not have the same experience. On the inside I was falling, and falling fast. Then Covid-19 presented itself and changed our plans again. At least this time we were able to think about how it was outside of our control. All we could do was wait. He was so far away and I was having to sort out our third and final application attempt on my own (and with the help of our immigration lawyer of course). Yet, it was the help of two very important people in my life that helped me the most. They were there for me 24/7. They lived a forty minute drive away but that didn’t matter to them – they still showed up on my doorstep every Friday for dinner since my husband left. There were days when I didn’t feel like talking and they understood that, sometimes, just being there was enough. My friends, who I would like to refer to as L and D, were there for me through all the stressful correspondence from the lawyer and the accountant, through all the relationship doubt and worry and through all the times I couldn’t be bothered dealing with the visa anymore. They would be there to pick me up and to get me back on track. I have known L since the beginning of high school and we have been there for each other through high school drama and now real adult problems. We are grown up, but we grew up together. L and D had a baby boy just before my husband moved away and I threw myself at that little kid. Baby T was my smiley, cheeky and sweet little man who was always happy to see me and would always make me smile. Having such a strong connection with these three very important people, meant I was able to positively focus my energy and time on them. I could be creative again and decided to bring out some of the skills I haven’t used for quite a few years and learn some new ones too. I was able to start my sand painting and quilt making again. I attempted to make “fancy” cakes for their birthdays and while they didn’t always work out, I used Baby T as my reason to be creative; it helped me focus and relax. Knowing I was making something for him would allow me a moment to escape and be excited – it allowed me to create time for myself. Although Baby T was too young to know what I was doing, it still helped me focus on the small things and the people around me, which I could easily have lost sight of. Although being apart from my husband was very upsetting and stressful, the time that my friends dedicated to me, encouraged me to focus on time for myself. I was able to complete my studies, start a new job, and learn new skills. I formed new friendships and built on my closest ones. I was able to spend an amazing amount of time with my family, visit my youngest brother at his Uni and giggle with my second brother even more. My family is great. All the caring questions about how my husband was and how work was going (even though I rarely knew the answer myself but would always say “great”) was very considerate and supportive but there’s something a little special about having an extra bubble of support. The relationships I have with my family and best friends are very similar. They’re fun, supportive, challenging at times, but they’re always there. The only difference would be that I can speak to L and D about everything and anything. We went through High School together so there’s a lot she knows. I tell my mum pretty much everything already which I’m pretty sure she tells my Dad so it’s a two-birds-one-stone situation but there are times when I just need a truthful and honest opinion or a rant which
Author: beextraarts
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Better sleep in lockdown
BETTER SLEEP IN LOCKDOWN – WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, START SLEEPING – WORK HARD SLEEP HARD By David Cato The worst thing about the current pandemic is also the best thing about it – we’re all going through it. Across the world, online, in the papers, and on social media, the economic and social effects of our current situation are impossible to avoid. Not a second goes by without someone reading a news story, watching a documentary, or hearing someone’s recent experience and going, “holy crap, me too!” None of us are alone in this, even if we sometimes feel that way, and that’s why we can share in detail our own journeys, like my struggles with sleep, energy, health, and time management; I know that at least some of you out there will read these words and think to yourselves, “yep. Me too. I can relate.” I’ll admit it. I’ve always taken sleep for granted. Never really bothered to think that much about it. Ironically, during my time at university, lectures about sleep by a certain lecturer (who will remain unnamed) were a favourite nap time for many students. Curious. But it’s so easy anyway right? I’ve been doing it for decades. I spend over 30% of my time alive doing it, more than enough to qualify me as an expert in any other task or activity. It took me a long time to fully recognise the impact poor sleep was having on me. It took a global pandemic. The lethargy, the mind fog, the lack of any real drive to move, to act, to do things. I’d just adjusted to feeling this way over time and accepted these things as a sort of “new norm”. And it’s not like I can plead the excuse of ignorance here, after all, throughout my highs and lows and various mental health challenges over the years, I’d gained a general understanding of good sleep as an important contributor to a properly functioning mind, and good overall health. But knowing isn’t enough, implementation is key. I’ve heard the lesson a million times, we all have. Teachers, parents, pop-sci articles; all saying “Sleep is important. Have an early night.” Yet somehow, somehow, I still had to wake up from a few consecutive nights of good sleep, look back at my previous week’s self, and think “wow. What a difference!” for the lesson to fully sink in this time. Once I’d relearned how to force myself to bed on time, placed the phone out of reach and had a few good nights’ worth of sleep, it’s like my eyes were fully opened and my higher executive functions were accessible to me once again. Suddenly I’m planning, problem solving, remembering list items, acting decisively and with purpose. Over the previous few months, I’d almost forgotten what it was like to have energy. Mobilising myself to get up at a reasonable hour to do the very basics; hygiene and grooming, cooking, cleaning, shopping, tidying, is so much harder when I’m not (physically, as well as mentally) running at 100% capacity. The lesson here? We all have to recharge each night, properly, in order to perform (at a base level) for a full day. And all of those things, each small in it’s own way, collectively join to form the backbone of my basic daily life. With a clean eating space, a full fridge, and an organised and uncluttered living space (contributing to an equally uncluttered mind, I’ve found), the next tier of responsibilities and requirements are suddenly achievable! They no longer appear as the daunting, insurmountable cluster of mind-numbing tasks that I’d been so desperate to avoid. Maintaining relationships with loved ones (scheduling regular phone calls mostly), socialising with friends (digitally, of course), exercising and stretching my body, and paying attention to my diet and nutrition, all become so obvious to me. It’s as though once you have the underlying things sorted out, the next series of important tasks that rely on them are suddenly right in front of you, like the obvious next step to take. It’s extremely difficult to go from doing none of these things well to all of them in one go, but, taking things one step, one day, one task at a time, it all becomes possible. Progress, not perfection. And then, with all these aspects of ordinary life being worked on and maintained as a matter of daily or weekly routine, I find I have the mental bandwidth to take on new tasks too. I can seek employment, develop and maintain a professional image, cultivate a (limited) online presence. I realise I have the additional mental resources available to learn new skills, balance a workload, even withstand the soul crushing black hole of constant rejection that job hunting has become, and balance a positive hobby or two, like drawing sunflowers. Badly (I’m working on it). Essentially, a key discovery for me has been that, sleep is the primary foundation upon which all higher functions and abilities must be supported. No one has everything handled perfectly, and there’s only so much we can do to improve at any one time. But if you feel like you aren’t quite firing on all cylinders lately, haven’t got access to the full suite of mental and physical abilities you usually have at your disposal, or feel low in energy and mood without any more obvious causes, I can’t recommend pushing your sleep a few notches higher on your list of priorities enough. It’s been a game changer for me. Multiple times. Hopefully it’ll stick this time. This blog was written by the wonderful David Cato. A graduate in Psychology and Criminiology, David is a huge advocate for mental health awareness. David is also one of our fabulous Outreach & Development volunteers. Read more about David in our second Meet the Team blog.
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Look north for winter wellness
An article about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) If the sun is needed for life to exist, then that explains why so many of us currently struggle to even get out of bed in the morning. Winter brings us many things: fluttering snowflakes, carol singers, and the warming scent of cocoa. It also limits our sun exposure so much that they had to give the soul-crushing negative impact its own name. Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, occurs when winter hits and the sun only lights the UK sky for as little as six hours per day. If you work in an office, you’ll know this means travelling there and back in dreary darkness, during a season that feels more like a never-ending night. When the gloom of SAD descends, symptoms include depression, low energy and a lack of creativity. But the glow at the end of the tunnel may actually be a northern light. Arctic sections of Finland, Norway, Greenland and other freezing Polar territories have literally no sunlight – at all – for up to three months in winter. Due to their geographical position, this also means a corresponding season of uninterrupted daylight in the summer (I can’t recommend visiting the Lapland region in July – when you can sunbathe at 3am – highly enough!). The culture in these far-north lands is largely a response to extreme solar shifts. Inhabitants fortify themselves against the lights going out, with traditions and a hardy mindset we can all learn from. In Scandinavia, people live with some of the darkest, longest winters, yet are consistently ranked as the happiest people in the world. Scientist Kari Leibowitz, of Stamford University, moved to the Norwegian town of Tromsø, 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, to study this. She described the mindset as: “People view winter as something to be enjoyed, not something to be endured.” In what seems like an inversion of the way most of us view the year, a dark winter can actually be the happiest of all seasons. The coldest months are when Scandinavia dazzles, with the vibrant aurora borealis colouring the sky above silent, stretching snowscapes. And while that may not sound anything like the drab December scene outside your front door, there are seasonal Scandi secrets you can adopt to stave off the winter blues. Embrace the dying light by becoming as “outdoorsy” as possible. While northern folk get active with long-distance skiing and sleds pulled by huskies, you can hop on your bike for a brisk ride round your local park. It’s all about getting the most out of the precious light. And once the sun goes down, those in proximity to the pole have more creative ideas. “Hygge” (pronounced “Hoo-ga”) is a Danish or Norwegian word for an ideal mood of cosiness, comfort and contentment, created by a snug atmosphere when sheltering from sub-zero weather. There’s no direct English translation, as we don’t have the same extreme blackouts to fight back against, but Brits can channel it to shut out the darkest UK days. Knitted, chunky throw blankets and candles should adorn your living space, to achieve this nourishing atmosphere of wellness. Add oversized sweaters, thick socks and a flickering fireplace and hygge will be achieved. Yes, there are those with winters much harsher than ours, so it makes sense to borrow their soul-warming answers. Then, when you emerge in spring, you’ll be stronger for surviving the season and ready for a rebirth of creativity. This post was written by Declan Harte. Declan is a journalist and author, and is driven by his passion for creating a safe and healthy platform for those with mental health conditions and disabilities. In his spare time, Declan is a wonderfully committed volunteer on Be Extra’s Marketing Team.
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Meet the team: part 2!
The closer we creep to the end of 2020, the busier we get. We’re hoping to launch a whole host of new projects to spice up 2021 in effort to make this next decade a productive one. Yet, our social media teams are not islands. We recognised that we needed support too. We needed organised individuals to help us coordinate our projects and guide them towards their release. These teammates are here to provide insight and assistance in creating the safe and healthy space that we want Be Extra to provide for our community. With talents and experience of their own, we are thrilled to have new team players on board and we want you to be as excited about having them as part of our team as we are. We want you to know all of our teammates so that we can be as open as possible to provide the best network of support that we can for each other. So, this week, we want to introduce to you our Arts Administration Team, our Outreach and Development Team and our Wellbeing Officer. Outreach and Development: David Born in South London to Caribbean parents, David was raised a Christian and has synaesthesia (the colour grapheme). He loves sports, reading and superhero movies but don’t ask him to eat a yellow skittle – he’s not a fan of those! After facing his own battles with wellbeing and previously studying Psychology and Criminology at University, David has become a strong advocate for mental health, so his assistance with the Be Extra team is massively appreciated. Mary History-graduate and twin Mary is from Cambridge and is one of Be Extra’s longest running volunteers. Prior to lockdown, Mary began learning salsa dancing and hopes to dance her way out of lockdown and back into classes. When Mary’s not reading fantasy novels or sipping on different cups of tea, she’s exercising her vocals for her new folk-music A Cappella group. Her practice is clearly working because she’s hitting all the high notes with the Be Extra team! Hollie Hollie has a BA in History of Art from the University of Manchester and interns at Whitworth Art gallery. Her background in working with multiple communities in curating community-led projects means that she is fully equipped to cater to the needs of many in our arts community. Her collaborative nature and ability to reach out to different networks of people are highly valued and appreciated as part of our team. Arts Administrators: Rachel Avid cook and Tangled fan, Rachel is from Kent and has worked in West End Theatre for nearly five years as an usher and supervisor. She also has experience in working as a performing arts teacher to kids but don’t let her Disney aura fool you, however. Rachel loves the dark side of telly too with shows like American Horror Story and Dead To Me as some of her favourites. Rachel dreams of living in New Zealand and using its dramatic landscape for beautiful walks. Minjing Minjing is our in-house powerhouse – a freelance copywriter, writing tutor and start-up entrepreneur based in London. Having studied MA Creative Producing and BA Arts Management, she has a wealth of experience in project coordination, events management and theatre production. When she’s not busy with the performing arts, Minjing loves taking the time to host dinner parties and cook for friends. If you need her at all, just follow the sound of her shower-singing. Pianpian After completing a BA in Musicology, Pianpian worked as a teacher and Musical Project Officer in Shanghai last year before moving to the UK. Pianpian is in constant pursuit of passion: her love for the performing arts has also seen her study Art Museum and Gallery Studies at the University of Leicester; and she enjoys exploring the wider world, its cultures and art forms. Her love for life is somewhat contradicted by her obsession with zombie movies but if the apocalypse ever came to fruition, I’m sure Pianpian’s skill at the cello would soothe their sub-human anger. Chloe Full-time-Samoyed-puppy-mum, Chloe, is Essex born but Cardiff based. Currently undergoing a Masters in Music Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Chloe has also studied Neuroscience with Psychology at an Undergraduate level, so working with the team at Be Extra proves to be a solid intersection for her previous experience. Patrick Interested in fine art, Patrick volunteers at the Box Museum in Plymouth and has studied French Literature in Oxford. His love for the arts began in primary school where he sang and played the cello but his love for pasta began in the kitchen. Patrick has found that the support network that the arts community provides has strengthened him in times of struggle and hopes to return the favour to others. He’s also a keen quidditch player and Christmas fanatic and hopes to bring some of his magic to the team at Be Extra! Alexandra Tennis-club-champ, Alexandra has recently moved to the UK from New Zealand but was born and bred in Tasmania, Australia. A person of order and routine, Alexandra finds that organising her time and routine at home helps to keep her memory in check. It’s her concise planning and time management that we love! Her fervent hate for fake fruit flavourings rules her palette and broken promises from her parents regarding chocolate to break her nail-biting habit still haunts her to this day… But her nails have never looked better. Jeanette Jeanette is a gamer with a preference for MMOs like Warcraft; her art often tends to revolve around this part of her world. A cosplay fanatic, Jeanette spends a lot of her time fawning over characters and illustrations on Twitter. However, if you are looking for her, and she’s not gaming or creating art, she’s best found wandering around big, European cities indulging herself with anything strawberry-flavoured. Jade Jade is a freelance illustrator from the West Midlands, who has had an exhibition at
The pandemic has had many of us turning to new and familiar past times, as we consider what to do with all the time that we have spare- the time that we’d usually spend going out, seeing friends or travelling. While it sometimes seems that we’re just filling the gaps until the madness is all over, I wonder if there is anything we can learn from these changes. I myself have turned to reading. I was a massive bookworm as a teenager and my University degree mostly revolved around literature, so reading novels wasn’t exactly new to me. However, it was an activity that I’d lost since leaving University because I had been tied down by a fresh career and by the need to be sociable with friends and go out as much as possible. But there I was in Spring 2020: off work, bored and looking to make the most of my tiny but sunny garden. Being cooped up inside wasn’t something that I enjoyed, and I couldn’t always amass the energy to go walking all day. On my book shelf I saw I had Du Maurier’s Rebecca and the latter half of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair to complete- books I’d been given for previous birthdays and Christmases but had tossed aside during my busy life. Sitting tranquilly outside and enjoying the quiet felt very unfamiliar; but once I got used to it, it gave me a feeling of peace and harmony that I had been lacking. I wondered how many other people must be sat silently reading like me or regaining a hobby that they’d lost before lockdown. I wondered if reading fiction was only a temporary sanctuary; but I hoped that it would continue past the pandemic. The whirlwind suspense of Rebecca and the comical and satirical tone of Vanity Fair’s narrator were great sources of distraction to me and I felt transported somewhere else. But it was when I read Gale’s work that I realised that reading fiction in a pandemic isn’t a mere evasion. Take Nothing with You is about a young cellist entering the music world and discovering himself through his artistic experiences. I am a cellist myself and used to play in all kinds of ensembles, so this book brought back a lot of memories for me. Reading about the orchestra residentials, master classes and instrument shopping made me think of many moments in my past that I’d enjoyed but forgotten over the years. At first, I felt a sad kind of nostalgia but then it made me consider what was important to me, what really made me happy and what I wanted to get out of life once the pandemic was over. As the weather takes a turn, you may find me wrapped up by the fire reading a Christmas novel as I try to get my myself in the mood for the festive season. I am hoping to broaden my horizons beyond the novel and take a look at some poetry or theatre. There remains a heap of discarded books in my bedroom and, now that I am glad to have regained a lost hobby, I look forward to opening these up. I used to think of literature as a creative depiction of the outside world and a revelation of who people really are and how they behave. At the start of lockdown, I saw it as a means of escape. At present, I understand literature to be an opportunity for self-reflection. I suppose not just literature, but the act of reading itself and as artists, I think it is a pleasure to discover books that make us think about our experiences within the arts. The interlocutor of Rebecca finishes the novel by telling us that she will learn from her negative experiences as a shy young person to become a more confident and resilient person. Like many of us, I had a difficult 2020 and, when I think about this book, it gives me a feeling of hope. Patrick studied French at Oxford, having graduated last year, and is a big supporter of the Arts. He is a keen cellist, theatre goer, and volunteers at a museum in his spare time. He is one of our amazing team of volunteers, working as an Arts Administrator and PA to the CTO .
You don’t need me to tell you that the period we are living in right now is pretty unusual. No matter what industry you’re coming from or the job that you do (whether it’s creative or not), the job market is a stressful place to be wading through. Throughout lockdown, I have been working as a freelance writer and content creator. I’m very lucky in that, although I am a creative freelancer, I work as a writer – so the cancellations that have impacted countless other creative industries have not restricted my work. However, I do have some sense of the difficulties that lockdown has imposed on my age group generally, and any other individuals who are working in the same field as me. It is my hope that this piece will resonate with other freelancers out there, who might be facing the same stresses and challenges as I have been. Just as a little bit of background info for you, I graduated back in 2019. I technically still class myself as a post-grad (don’t think I’ll be able to get away with saying that for much longer though). I got a job as an in-house writer for a creative agency, and I was there for almost a year before I moved back home to write on a freelance basis. This, completely coincidentally, came hand in hand with the start of lockdown. So, during the pandemic, I’ve been building my freelancing career. The surreal thing about freelancing during the lockdown is the fact that, not to be too unprofessional in admitting this, but you’re essentially sat typing away in your joggers all day. In some senses, that’s the brilliant thing about it. Plus, I love to be kept busy (but I can’t sew, so I’m not really made for lockdown’s conventional hobbies). For me, it’s been great to be able to throw myself into my work during this period. On a day-to-day basis, I find the job’s successes, new contracts coming in and receiving praise from employers to all be fantastic plus points of the job. I’m incredibly lucky to be in a position where I can pick and choose the types of work that I take on, and I’m so grateful to be able to say that I truly love what I do. However, the negative side of working completely on your own is the isolation of it all. Sometimes, you can be left with the unnerving feeling that your work doesn’t really exist. It’s a hard sensation to explain. But, with a lot of the ‘ghost writing’ projects that I do, you essentially write a thing, send it off and then never see it again. Working on a screen all day, then sending quickly-written work to people that you’ve never met and then it’s gone forever – it’s rather surreal at times. If you are self-employed, self-motivation, organization and self-management are always tricky matters. But (at the risk of sounding like I’m sitting on my high horse), these skills can be especially tricky to master if the work that you’re doing is creative. You’re bound to have an off day here and there, and sometimes, there’s nothing that you can do about that. When you’re working on creative pieces, an off spell might mean that the work that you do on that entire day is pretty rubbish. And that’s part and parcel of the deal. But over lockdown (where, let’s face it, we’ve got nothing else going on), that can really get to you. It’s all too easy to start really beating yourself up about your skills. One of the other most common problems with working as a creative freelancer is being underpaid. All too often, potential clients undervalue our skill set, because it’s seen to be something that ‘anyone can do’. There are so, so many writers out there, and businesses looking for someone to hire know that. I worked with an American client for about a month, and they were paying me $6 per 500 words of my writing, and I would write as much as 20,000 words for them a week. It was hard being paid very little for a lot of work, and then churning out so many words can leave you feeling very demoralising at times. This can certainly lead to self-confidence knocks. With hindsight on my side, if I could go back and tell myself one thing, it would be that it is so important to stick to a fair rate and that, if it means losing the odd job here and there, so be it. In order to break this cycle of underpayments, we need to respect each other as a creative community and stick to our rates, so that no one else is being inadvertently undercut, or forced to drop their rates to compete with ours. I want to end by absolutely stressing that, all things considered, working as a creative is incredibly rewarding. Being able to write all day long is the most wonderful, fullfilling job. As with any creative career, managing your mental health is a routine that you need to spend a bit of time learning to perfect. It is a skill in-and-of-itself, and one that it is absolutely imperative that we take seriously. The support that BE-EXTRA provides as a community has been invaluable to me. Time and time again, Katherine has pulled me out of a little rut, or provided me with fantastic advice (particualry guidance r.e. Twitter!). I cannot overstate the importance of feeling as though you’re part of a creative community. Independent work can feel so isolating at times, and it’s been fantastic to feel as though I am within of a hub of like-minded creatives, going through exactly the same things. Overall, if you take one thing from me and my little ramble, it would be that one of the main areas of growth that you will face when you start out on a self-governed creative career is working to bolster
The countdown to the end of 2020 begins. It’s safe to say that all of us eagerly await its end, but it’s important not to forget the positives of this whirlwind of a year. Here at Be Extra, our silver lining has been our new teammates. Driven, talented, and caring, they all share our beliefs of providing for the arts communities and nurturing each other’s wellbeing. Current pandemic aside, we know that the arts industry puts high stressors on its individuals and demands a considerable amount of self-sacrifice. We share your concerns, and we want to help. Over the past couple of months, we’ve been dedicating as much time as possible conceptualising new ideas and events to cover as much ground over wellbeing as we can. We are creating new online courses, sharing Wellbeing Live weekly, and providing a digital community for you to feel safe and supported. So, we thought that we would take the time to get to know our new recruits a little better so that you can too. Over the next couple of weeks we’re going to introduce each member of Be Extra to you; share their quirks and their experience. We want you to know the team who wants to support you and share in your experiences. So, let’s start by meeting our Social Media and Marketing team. Marketing and PR Katie-Jayne Originally from the Forest of Dean, Katie-Jayne loves cooking and her speciality is cheesecakes, but don’t ask her to include fruit – she only likes fruit in her smoothies. Katie-Jayne volunteers at a cat rescue centre in her spare time and is a sucker for a good crime documentary. After placing third in the UK for the Pitch at the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s excellence awards, Katie-Jayne is a one-to-watch in the world of Marketing. Nicole Bridgend-born and Bristol-based, Nicole’s background in the arts began with drawing. After spending three years in Spain, Nicole moved back to the UK to study a Masters in Curating to marry her love of sharing and celebrating creativity with storytelling and engaging audiences. She has swum in the Dead Sea but rest-assured, Nicole’s career is alive and kicking and we’re ecstatic to be working with her. Charlotte Hoping to embark on a career in PR, Charlotte is a massive believer in using creativity to release bouts of stress. After struggling with her mental wellbeing during her teenage years, poetry, painting and meditation are her weapons of choice in combating stress. When Charlotte’s not engrossed in her studies, she’s a magnet for animals: walking neighbourhood dogs, stroking cats and helping injured pigeons. Her ambition and nurturing attitude is why she’s a great addition to our team. Natasha A rugby fanatic and self-coined cake-connoisseur, Natasha is a classic Swansea girl with a dash of sass and a strong desire to support the wellbeing of others. With her working experience built in customer service, Natasha recognises the importance of the individual and how art helps to explore and assist a healthy mental wellbeing. Outreach Chloe Cardiff born and bred; Chloe has a BA in Drama from the University of South Wales. Her main interests are in physical theatre, avant-garde and screen acting; and when she’s not at poetry slam, Chloe is probably practicing her yoga or trying out new instruments. Her love of which, you might say, came from her uncanny ability to play the recorder with her nose! Fun fact: she was offered a spot on the French ping-pong team. We’re just happy that she chose to bat for the Be Extra team. Michael Having studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Michael lives in Cardiff and works as a Freelance Orchestral Musician, traipsing around the UK on his two-webbed-toes. Recently, he’s been trying to teach himself the piano, but he also loves cycling and football and his cat (who tries to sabotage his team meetings by knocking over his internet router). We’re truly grateful to have his committed work ethic on the team. Design and Content Hannah With an MA in Ceramics and currently undergoing a PCET teacher training course, Hannah is from Cardiff and works part-time as a gardener. She’s interested in painting, pole gymnastics and spicing up her meals with chilli, and ideally hopes to set up her own pottery company. This proud plant mama and her nurturing nature is crucial in creating the right environment to promote wellbeing! Alice Kent resident Alice is mesmerised by the process of creating. With a previous job as a visual merchandiser, Alice is all about styling, curating and constructing. Crafty Alice’s favourite activities include what she likes to describe as “abstract mess” including painting old furniture, making handmade cards and commissioned artwork. We think her hands-on approach is vital in making Be Extra the best it can be! Jordan South Walian, Jordan, is an artist otherwise known as MsBlackInk online. Using organic materials and Pagan influences she has created her own online art company that displays her connection to the natural world. With the help from her two pet Asiatic toads, Pacman and Tabitha, Jordan loves to tie-dye her clothes to match her colourful make-up. Her bright vivacity for life is evident in her work ethic and we’re so excited to have it reflected in our work. Declan Declan is a journalist by trade but occasionally dabbles in creative writing and likes to use his skills to help charities wherever he can. He grew up in the North of Ireland, studied and worked in Scotland, and now lives in Wales. Alongside traipsing up and down the breadth of the UK, he’s also been to the Arctic Circle twice! We’re just thrilled he discovered us on his wanderings: driven by his passion for creating a safe and healthy platform for mental health and disabilities, he’s a great addition to any team. Rachel Ex-competitive Welsh sea rower, Rachel, likes painting and drawing and hopes to go back to university at some point to pursue a masters in
Trigger warning: sensitive content discussing suicide. Return to news & features here. The creator of both the artwork and text in this post has asked to remain anonymous. “I’ve struggled with my mental heath for a lot of my life, and it got really bad when I went to uni. I started to struggle with suicidal thoughts as well as the other symptoms of anxiety and depression and felt completely alone. For me, one of the hardest things was feeling like I wasn’t actually worthy of help – I thought about how lucky I was so have an amazing family, fabulous friends, and was able to study my favourite subject (music) at a fancy university. It made me feel like my mental health struggles weren’t valid and that I shouldn’t go to get help and take someone else’s place- anyone who’s tried to access mental health services will know the ludicrously long wait time to get seen. When I finally got the courage to apply, the years of hiding my feelings and putting on a happy face meant that I wasn’t taken seriously, and GPs thought I was just sad from moving across the country (which, regardless, depression from a particular event is also entirely valid). It wasn’t until my first suicide attempt in third year that I was referred for CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and put on medication (in my case we landed on sertraline after a period of trial and error with other meds). I attempted suicide again about two years later during my master’s, after ‘failing’ an extra-curricular project that I’d spent months on. What really got me about this was that I felt like I’d wasted other people’s time and had nothing to show for it. My mind spiralled and I ended up thinking that everyone else would be better off without me and if I couldn’t succeed at this project, how am I going to market myself and build a successful career as an opera singer? The difficulty of building a career in the arts is a constant source of worry for me. There is no security, no guarantee of ‘success’, and for me, I find it hard to separate my own self-worth from what I produce. If I fail at an audition, I feel completely worthless and that I will never succeed at any audition, entirely ignoring any other factors that could have played into the panel’s choices. I started the year hopeful and ready to blast off CVs to companies around the UK for auditions, something I still did, only to receive either no responses, or companies apologising that they’re not holding auditions for the foreseeable because of the pandemic. For me, I’ve had to work incredibly hard on blurring the lines between what I deem to be a failure and what I think a success is to try and make my supposed ‘losses’ hit less hard. As I said earlier, I’m incredibly fortunate to have a wonderful support network in my partner, friends, and family, but there are also loads of other resources and support you can access. Here are some links I’ve found useful or have heard about from others that are helpful to them:” https://www.papyrus-uk.org/hopelineuk/• https://www.supportline.org.uk/problems/suicide/• https://youngminds.org.uk/…/feelings…/suicidal-feelings/• https://www.themix.org.uk/get…/speak-to-our-team/email-us• https://www.samaritans.org/• https://www.thecalmzone.net/
The first time I was naked in public, it was April. The sky was clear and blue, but there was a crisp wind. Everything stood on end. I was living in Linz, the town on the Danube where Bruckner was born. I lived close to the river, where there was an old steamer from the GDR that had turned into a bar that sold cake and beer and where people went to swing dance on Thursdays. Just along from the boat was a technology museum covered in LED lights that glowed a different colour each night, and on the opposite bank was a thousand-seater concert hall. When I had told one of my colleagues in Vienna that I was moving to Linz, she made a face. In the 80s, it was a large industrial town known for its smog and its steel. Since then, it has built up a reputation as a place of art, culture and work. Now, it bustles with music and colour. It is also home to a beautiful bathing lake. Only a couple of miles from the centre, and reachable by a riverside path, it is an enjoyable place for a quick afternoon swim. What’s more, it has a large, leafy nudist section. My flatmate suggested we go, and I agreed. I am not sure what I expected. Certainly for it not to be so normal. It was cool and green, less busy than the crowded areas on the opposite side of the lake. Two men were playing ping pong. I could hear the sonorous pop of the ball as it bounced and bounced across the table. One man walked past energetically, clad only in a pair of running trainers. We found a space and sat down. Off came the shorts, the tops, the underwear. I looked surreptitiously around. Nobody was interested. A woman sat, cross legged reading a book. A man lay in a camping hammock, his hat over his face, leg lolling out of the side. A family of four was busying itself blowing up an enormous inflatable mattress and unpacking a picnic basket. The water was shockingly cold. It rippled over me and I plunged my head down. I felt my curls unfurl and float strangely around my head. I swam down to the bottom and back up again. I could feel water on every inch of my skin, cool and lovely. Free from the restraints of a swimming costume, my breasts felt light. Being naked in public is a lot like performing or sharing a piece of art or writing. We even use the same words to describe it. When we share something emotional, we talk about being laid bare, exposed. To walk out on stage, to publish a piece of work, to show an artwork, is to take a leap. It is to take off our clothes and reveal all. It is to make ourselves vulnerable to criticism – negative and positive. But to be naked in public – to perform – is also to be free and unapologetic. By unapologetic, I do not mean to be callous and careless. I simply mean that we should not shrink from sharing our art with others. We should not sit, our legs drawn up to cover our nipples with our buttocks clenched. I heard an episode of The Guilty Feminist once, where the weekly challenge was not to apologise. It wasn’t about failing to be polite when walking into somebody in the street or stepping on a stranger’s toe in a lift. It simply meant not apologising in emails, not apologising for not having the time to do something right away, not apologising for self-promotion. For me, and perhaps for many people, it is an uncomfortable thought, because I like saying sorry. It trips out on my tongue like a magic key that will fix a potentially difficult conversation. The first visit to the nudist area was not the last. It became a habit. I would cycle down from my building along the riverside path to the place where the fence is tall around the lake and a sign warns unwary visitors about the nakedness within. Every time, I would take off my clothes and walk to the lake and dive underwater. Every time, I felt unapologetic. I felt no awkwardness, there was no uncomfortable wriggling in a swimsuit that did not quite fit. It was natural and comfortable. Of course, it was not a performance. I am not an exhibitionist – at least not that kind. But it always left me with a sense of exhilaration. Afterwards, I was always reluctant to replace my clothes and return to my bike. Lately, as I stay at home unable to visit the place where I lived for a short while, and the friends that I made there, I have been thinking a lot about not saying sorry. It is a way of life we should all try to live by. One that is slightly less drastic than full-blown nudism. So, over the past weeks, I have been on a mission to be unapologetic. I have not used ‘sorry’ as a crutch in emails. I haven’t put off the awkwardness of sending invoices, and I have stopped myself apologising for asking to be paid the right amount. I have not apologised in situations where I knew I had no reason to. And something extraordinary has happened. I feel more confident. I get clearer, swifter replies. Not only that, I feel more creative. I have read more, written more. And, by only saying sorry when I mean it, I somehow feel I’ve recaptured the feeling of Linz and the lull of the chilly sunshine, and the loll of the man’s leg in his hammock. This blog is a guest piece written by Ilona Bushell. Ilona is a writer, translator, and producer. She was the winner of the 2019 Rothery German Prize for highest BA classification for her undergraduate degree from King’s College London. Ilona is
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More about us – BE EXTRA is a new and exciting organisation, creating a positive and inspiring space online to promote the wellbeing of those within the arts, through collaborations with fellow creatives and accessible online courses. The founder and Creative Managing Director, Katherine Rees, started with the vision of an Opera company to benefit the wellbeing of audience members through participation – this vision developed to wellbeing for creatives from all arts industries as well as those engaging in the arts.. The passion for supporting other artists’ wellbeing remained fundamental, so BE EXTRA adapted to the times to create the organisation we know today. A need for resources… Through our research we soon discovered an absence in resources to help creatives navigate through this extremely tough time and aid their mental health. We decided to fill this gap with high quality content that will benefit those in the arts specifically. So far, 20 like-minded passionate volunteers from all over the UK have joined the team to create this wonderful project and help as many people as possible. Our Facebook posts and live videos engage at least 6,000 people a week and we are currently developing beneficial mental health and wellbeing courses accessible to everyone. All content will soon be available on our website: www.be-extra.co.uk. The 2020 problem Although a difficult time for everyone, the struggles highlighted and exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic were the driving force behind BE EXTRA. It was the change in circumstances for so many affected by the pandemic that highlighted the insufficient resources for creatives and their mental health, this is the pool of people we aim to create our much needed content for. This is an extremely exciting time for BE EXTRA, we are currently collaborating and creating new resources to be available by the end of the year, talking at various mental health festivals and continuously growing. We love collaborating with other social businesses and combining resources, expanding our outreach and achieving more as a company whilst benefiting a social cause. Social businesses are incredibly important in creating communities and we believe in sharing the message to invest and support each other, create relationships with new companies and think big even when it seems impossible. What else? In addition to our work with artists, we also offer corporate courses for organisations looking to expand their wellbeing offerings for employees – these cover a variety of topics and areas, and allow people to explore wellbeing through the arts when they may not engage creatively on a day-to-day basis. We always welcome any interest to join us, if you’d like to enquire or collaborate with us at BE EXTRA, contact us at [email protected]. Hope you enjoyed hearing more about us! Author | Alice SwainEditor | Lizzy Hardman More about us…