In life, it is perhaps naïve to believe that you will always have someone to support you.
Uplifting you when you’re emotionally down, helping you realise goals and all sorts.
Unfortunately, these kinds of steadfast allies don’t always exist even, sadly, within our own immediate family network. So with the portrayal of Hailey, the carer for our Janice struggling with Dementia and friend to autistic factory worker Lucas, I wanted to stretch the creative boundaries a little bit with, not only representing the hardworking, sleep-depriving care sector of this world, but give some colour to the canvas of the potential hobbies that a carer might indulge in outside of that work.
This isn’t to say that care isn’t creative. In many situations, it is extremely creative by necessity.
People have diverse needs and anyone seeking to empower vulnerable individuals have to adapt to these needs. I know this as an autistic man although I think the words ‘vulnerability’ and ‘needs’ are best seen through an identity-affirming lens as opposed to a pathological view.
But whilst care offers group and individual opportunities for creative moments, I wanted Hailey to engage in her craft for her own benefit. Not to ‘cope’ with the more objectively demanding tasks of care (and that’s my wording as someone who isn’t a carer) but as another shade of her self-expression.
I don’t divulge in Ripples how often Hailey paints or has painted in the past but her pieces are symbolically integral to the overall story you are able to read…and beyond.
As someone whose partner was a carer, I witnessed authentically how care can affect sleep patterns, diet and such so I do feel that I understand on at least some level how particular care settings can work and, in contrast, how impractical this hypothetical balancing act may seem but again, creative boundaries get stretched for layered storytelling!
Hailey serves as a reminder that despite not being blood to either Janice or Lucas, her role as reflected in Ripples makes you believe she is. Hailey’s character is representative of that person who may not be connected by bloodline but is no less an essential component of anyone’s life, empowering those around her at every opportunity, every interaction possible whilst staying to herself.
Art is what Hailey cares deeply about and, in part, enables her to care for others.
I’ll be exploring the characterisation of Hailey further in other ways such as on Youtube via the Perspective Pieces, which take a part of the full story Ripples and show it in a different light, so watch out for that.
If you want to see what I mean, check these out by starting at Lucas’ Perspective and let me know how you feel in the comments!
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.