Julie Devaney – My Leaky Body
I have a friend named Julie Devaney.
Julie talks to people about her body, which literally leaks.
Really.
Julie shares her experiences dealing with her leaky body to help her audiences
gain insight into experience of illness
and the impact of sometimes not-so-positive encounters with our health care system.
My Leaky Body is a theatrical story-telling performance by Julie Devaney based on her experiences spending five years in and out of hospitals, propped up on operating tables and in bed in pain for weeks and sometimes months at a time. Pretty cool, huh?
Last week, I received an exciting message from Julie.
My Leaky Body the book will be published in 2011
by Key Porter Books!!!
Yay! Hurray Julie!
As I was thinking about her success at creatively illuminating critical issues in our health care system, my mind soared dreamily into the future.
I suspect that a few years from now, I’ll be writing something similar to the following reflection in my journal:
“MacLean’s Magazine. I NEVER read it because the print is so small and I kinda feel a little stupid reading it (I’ll admit it, I’m a little outta touch with a lot of pretty important issues). But today was different. Today I DEVOURED that pretentious magazine. It was the LEAKY BODY issue!
Can you believe that that I USED TO TEACH Nia to JULIE DEVANEY! JULIE DEVANEY!
THE Julie Devaney who created a powerful consciousness raising career out of her own health crisis? Out of all the Nia classes she could have attended, SHE CHOSE MINE (only after Samantha semi-retired)! I remember when Julie wore these really funky skirts to class; she danced so gracefully in them. I never had the courage to be as free as her in those skirts. Oh, yeah, she also had this awesome yellow streak in her hair. And then it was white. Cool.
THE Julie Devaney who created a powerful consciousness raising career out of her own health crisis? Out of all the Nia classes she could have attended, SHE CHOSE MINE (only after Samantha semi-retired)! I remember when Julie wore these really funky skirts to class; she danced so gracefully in them. I never had the courage to be as free as her in those skirts. Oh, yeah, she also had this awesome yellow streak in her hair. And then it was white. Cool.
The greatest thing was that MacLean’s profiled Julie as the model for using a personal hell to create change. They described her as a ‘luminous and scholarly edu-actress who took a bite out of patient silence and complacency’. Not only did Julie educate scores of health care professionals about the patient expereince, but she was also the driving force behind getting Disability Studies added to the high school curriculum.
And you know what? That girl really knows how to shake her booty too!”
