Finding a Voice (17 page)

I never set out to write a book dealing with ‘issues’; usually when I begin to write it’s because imaginary people in my head won’t stop talking to me – but I don’t really know them when I start to tell their stories. So I didn’t know what this story was about when I started to write it. I just knew that Jo was unhappy and that I wanted her to get happy. Chris came along after and, to be honest, he was a bit of a surprise.

Though Jo and Chris, and the story they told me, were what compelled me to write the book, there are some definite themes in
Finding a Voice
. You might be interested to find out how I know about some of these themes and why I think they are important. I’ll try to answer.

Even though I didn’t have any of the challenges Jo faced in her home, I was a kid who never fit – at least that’s how I felt. Like Jo, I spent a lot of lunch hours alone, wishing with all of my might that I could figure out how to be ‘normal’. I was shy and awkward and odd. Guess what? I’m still odd. I still don’t like small talk all that much. I can be an introvert at times. But I’m okay with that. I don’t even want to be normal any more. And the truth is, I’m not sure there
is
a normal. Certainly my closest friends are not normal – but I would say we are all interesting!

If you feel at all like Jo does (and I did), please believe me when I say: IT WILL GET BETTER. Really, it will.
I’m not sure exactly how, or exactly when, but hang in there.

And if you aren’t like Jo, and you’re surrounded by friends and happy as a lark every day at school, will you look out for the Jos and Kims of the world, please? You might find that you like them if you give them a chance.

Though Chris is fictional, his story was inspired by a real-life event.

When I was nineteen I took a summer job working as a group leader at a camp for kids with disabilities. One of my first groups of campers included a boy who had no use of his arms or legs and couldn’t talk. Not much information was given to us about him. I assumed he couldn’t understand much.

Each morning there was a breakfast buffet, with lots of choices, but every morning I chose pancakes for this boy, because I thought they would be easiest to swallow and who doesn’t like pancakes? Every morning he kept kicking me – until I figured out that he didn’t like pancakes. I’ve now worked with children and adults with various challenges for twenty-five years – and I’ve tried never to forget that lesson. DON’T ASSUME. It turns out the boy ran a shop in the hospital where he lived. He was better at math than I’ll ever be. He usually used a communication device, but he didn’t
have it with him at camp as it was being repaired.

Everyone has a story that you can’t possibly appreciate and understand unless you take the time to know them. DON’T ASSUME. Get to know someone different from you. You might find you have more in common than you think.

Like Jo’s mum, most of the people with mental illness I have supported have been interesting, complicated people. Mental illness is an area that has always fascinated me, probably because people’s experiences are more often different than they are the same. For some people, like Jo’s mum, there is something amiss that medication may help alleviate, but IT’S COMPLICATED. In one way or another life is COMPLICATED for everyone isn’t it? The most important thing is to accept people for who they are.

I guess you could say I grew up in a traditional family. I had a mum and a dad and two sisters (still do). We all lived together. Normal right?

Now my family includes my partner, my daughter and my stepdaughter who lives on another continent with her mum. I know kids with one parent, no parents, two parents of the
same gender. Normal right?

As a grownup (well as grown up as I’m going to get, which isn’t that grown up) I seem to have a lot of conversations about family. As different as families are, everyone experiences good and bad within their own. Whatever your experience, there is someone out there who relates. THERE IS NO NORMAL, but underneath it all we all care about a lot of the same things.

These themes are ones that have woven their way through my life and so it isn’t surprising that they emerged in
Finding a Voice
. As the saying goes, ‘write what you know’ and I guess I did just that.

You can find me at
kimhood.com.

KIM HOOD grew up in British Columbia, Canada. After earning degrees in psychology, history and education, she wandered through a few countries before making the west coast of Ireland home.

Her eclectic work experience in education, therapy and community services has presented endless opportunity to observe a world of interesting characters. She has always had a passion for trying to understand life from the perspective of those on the fringes of society.

Finding A Voice
is Kim’s first novel.