After a three-night run of Breastless; Revisioned at the end of August, I was whisked off to the Rocky Mountains and then through the Coastals to the Pacific shores. Solid rock, glacial streams and lakes to ground into, then the refreshing ocean air, plus great company, literally brought me back down to earth after a high-energy week. I am incredibly lucky to call this place home.
Now back at my desk, I am reflecting on the creativity that filled August, from final rewrites (I mean it this time!), online rehearsals with a chosen and cherished audience, all the while watching art flow from the pen of my artistic collaborator, in time to put it all up on stage for public view. It was exciting/nerve-wracking, and hugely rewarding.
Three very different audiences confirmed what I have always hoped: “life-changing to witness”, “opens eyes and hearts”, “sparks meaningful conversation”, “will change the world”, “so funny!”: reviews captured in the lobby afterwards as we lingered to process and connect. It was an enriching experience to be able to mingle and chat each night and truly feel how impactful the story is, in a variety of ways.
Breastless has become so much more than a breast cancer story. The overarching theme has expanded to that of being raised female within a patriarchal culture. And the silence that largely remains about its day-to-day impacts.
It was a male member of the audience who wrote, “My eyes have been opened like never before to a woman’s perspective and experience - not just through cancer, but…just life. I will take (and need!) a while to process all of this - which I am very interested to do.”
I hope to be seen as calling men in, not only calling them out — I am more interested in conversation than shaming or blaming. As we know (and the women I know are blue in the face from saying), it is not "men" that we fight, but the toxic patriarchal culture that dominates and robs us all of our true selves.
I try to illuminate via personal story that within this all-pervading culture lies our current medical system, paradigm of education, politics, and so much more, that could be so much better.
I want to show how our culture has given men more liberty, and how an integration of skillsets, spanning the broad human experience, would harness the power of humans, not wield power over and dominate them. And more specifically, how the caring professions might return to caring for body, mind and heart.
Because of the large rewrite that I undertook this summer, I have now removed the original Breastless script from here on Substack. The commentaries all remain, and much more is to come. Thank you to everyone who read and engaged in that monthly reveal.
What’s Next?
In October, I am offering a series of 6 group writing sessions, based on the poems and themes within Breastless, where we can pick up our pens together, gather our thoughts and share. More on that soon, and I hope to appeal to a broad range of people, not solely those with a breast cancer history.
Having said that, at the end of Breastless, I quote Audre Lorde as saying, "If we are to translate the silence surrounding breast cancer into language and action against this scourge, then the first step is that women with mastectomies must become visible to each other".
I am hatching plans for 2026 to gather a community of "Mastectomy Mavens" to connect, write, and share together so we can raise our variety of voices. Not everyone feels the same way as I do, rightfully, and I hope to learn about all the colours of this amputation/augmentation experience.
Let’s Write Together! will continue monthly, where we gather to write together. It has become a treasured fixture in my calendar. Do come and join us! This month’s is this Sunday. Details here:
Zoom Link is being sent out to Paid Subscribers tomorrow.
Be well, write often!
EmmaJ
And loved your post this week!
It’s so exciting to see the dreams coming to fruition! Congratulations dear Emma!