REDFERN: An interfaith service of reflection for adult survivors of complex trauma was held on Sunday November 3, outside the Park Café on Chalmers Street. The service, registered with Blue Knot Foundation as a Blue Knot Day event, included prayers, symbolic gestures and statements of support from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hari Krishna, Baha’i and atheist representatives.
Following a smoking ceremony led by Uncle Max Eulo, Gumbaynggirr-Wiradjuri musician Tim Gray offered an acknowledgement of country by way of an original song called “Barraminya” (a Wiradjuri word meaning “recovery”). Cr Linda Scott poured water into a large glass bowl, symbolising tears of pain and grief.
The Sydney Baha’i Temple Choir offered a very moving prayer in response to writer Alana Valentine’s account of testimonies collected in the process of writing her play, Swimming Upstream (2012).
Ms Valentine concluded: “I’d always thought that childhood trauma was like a crack in a vase, or a stain on a vase, or a hole in a vase that leaked pain in endless hot tears. But what I learned is that childhood trauma is not a hole in the vase, it is the vase dropped on the ground, shattered into pieces.
“And the job of the adult whose child has been dropped on the ground is to try and find a way to glue the pieces back together and make the vase try to hold water, or the life to hold meaning. And I learned that it is possible for a damaged vase, a glued-together and repaired vase to hold immense beauty, even more beauty sometimes than a perfect vase with no visible damage.”
The message of Blue Knot Day is that even in the face of distant justice and painful waiting, recovery is possible. Blue Knot Foundation tells us that it is possible in relationship, because positive relationships of good care and appropriate support can make a real difference.
As the rain fell softly, a story of recovery was shared by Scarlett Rose Franks, who spoke of exiled emotions, resilience, slow progress towards healing, and the invaluable support of community. Her extraordinary words were warmly received.
The With One Voice Redfern community choir brought the service to a joyful and hopeful close. Their rendition of Neil Murray’s “My Island Home” – an evocation of safety and belonging – enticed many of those present to stand and dance.
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www.blueknot.org.au
Blue Knot Helpline 1300 657 380.
