I have been trying to answer the question “why are we here and what is this even about?” for thirty-plus years. This questioning uniquely qualifies my approach to creating work that is an ever-evolving exploration of what it is to be human.
This topic pairs naturally with puppets; the drive to believably animate a puppet reveals truths about being alive. In the spoken word-Esque puppet performance “How to build a life,” I examine the various parts of “Self” and express learned truths about how to build a life. The poem is a metaphorical journey through my lived experience, reflection on the deconstruction of religious conditioning, truths learned through a career in social work and how these things lead me to basic truths about being human. The message of the work is a mix of my own story and the ways I have witnessed intersections of greater themes present in society: the complexity of “helping” other people via religion or care systems, the opioid epidemic, policing, mental health support, and accessible affordable housing. “How to build a life” encapsulates a deep reflection of my own identity and what basic truths I may have to offer the world as an artist
One of the goals of this work is to demonstrate accessibility in creative expression. With that intention, my work is created with multimedia (papier Mache, foam, fabric, paint), recyclable and found objects.
How to Build a life- A Puppet Poetry Slam by Lacey Grey
If you were to ask me how to build a life I would first tell you
it’s all planned out, divinely spoken into existence and it has SO MUCH to do with a carpenter who lived 2000 years ago
But then the world might provide you with a snapshot of reality that doesn't quite line up with the ideals of the hipster preachers. You'll find that telling people they are loved by god doesn't stop their parents from being dead, doesn't fill bellies, doesn't protect the innocent.
You might question the validity of when they told you it was better to be called than to be qualified.
So then I might say lean into being qualified. Wear your boots out on concrete floors and felt hearts pinned to the shift of your sleeve. Learn to recognize the ones who need your help. Give. Give. Give. It will make such a difference I swear to god.
But then the cops in cowboy hats might tell you that the dream isn't worth the chase- Which doesn't hurt as bad as what they think about mentally ill fathers.
You might see the lady with the bleach-blonde hair and the backpack on the corner and wonder why the 10-year plan didn't include her.
So if you were to ask me how to build a life. I would tell you I mostly have no idea. It might have something to do with puppets...or painting or putting ALL the words down on paper.
I would tell you that I think it begins with understanding there are so many parts of you.
There is a part of you who represents the very start when your heart was most open and your only jobs were to grow and chase the sun. This part holds memories. The part of you that still asks why things work the way they do and the part of you that loves to play.
There is an elevated part of you. Tapped into your own exact wisdom. The balance of start dust and space trash. This part of you understands some idea of a bigger picture and pushes you onward.
The tending to of these parts threads itself through everything.
There might be times when your mind feels like a hyperactive monkey, Chattering away and spinning spinning like a record. It’s part of your job to give that monkey butterflies in its stomach. To do things for the sake of the joy it makes you feel, for the way it brings you into the moment. Do these things outside of institution, outside of grind and hustle, outside of any perceived critical gaze. Come back to where the doing of the thing makes you feel alive.
And do it. Feel Alive. Feel it in your cells. Sign the lease and take up residence inside those very bones. You might be told this robe of flesh is there to be tamed and dealt with. You might be tempted to spend all your time in the attic with the spinning monkey, to forget that you are a team with this part of yourself. It has so much guidance to offer if you honour what it has to say.
5 things you see
4 things you hear
3 things you feel
2 deep breathes
1 taste on the top of the tongue and you are home again.
It’s important to recognize who haunts the home and who is a true bedfellow. Emotions have a confusing way of trying to tell you who you are. But you are the witness to any storms that rage inside you, you are the one who feels the tingling presence of afternoon light, but you are not the wind, you are not the sun. Remember to come up for air.
So if you were to ask me how to build a life, I'd say
you'll probably figure it out.