Sharing my story has been incredibly therapeutic

For this year’s Time To Talk Day we spoke to photographer, Paul Misso, about how creativity can be a way of communicating our feelings. He joined Southdown’s Recovery College, and now co-facilitates a photography course at the College.

Sharing my story has been incredibly therapeutic.

It’s calmed me down. It’s allowed me to feel good about myself. It’s made me feel useful.

I’m a clergy abuse survivor. The abuse occurred when I was at boarding school during my adolescence. Delving into my recovery over the last 18 months has got me to a place where I’m beginning to know myself, like myself, and feel I have a place.

I’m 81. I can now look at myself with compassion. I’m human. I can stop punishing myself, beating myself up. I’ve got a story to tell that could be inspirational.

Talking helps! I’m having significant conversations on a regular basis because I go to therapy and Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA). Connection is important to me and community is important to me. Building community starts through talking and having the courage to say, “Do you want to have coffee?”

After speaking publicly at a Southdown event, I’ve realised I want to talk more. I’m not frightened of making a fool of myself. I know I can do this.

I’ve had men specifically say ‘thank you’ to me for giving them permission to speak. As men, we don’t often talk about feelings, particularly in British culture.

Being a mixed heritage brown man in Britain has affected me probably more than I realise. Racism and othering is endemic. We need to talk about it. We need to understand and empathise. And we need to listen.

Everyone has a story and every story is valuable.

I’m a photographer and I’ll be co-facilitating a Visual Biography Workshop at the Recovery College in Brighton and Hove. Every participant will be given a blank book with the pages cut in half so they can make an autobiography with images on top and words on the bottom, creating their own relationship between words and visuals. It’s about getting your story out there, for you.

There’s a massive connection between creativity and wellbeing. The arts are about our soul. Every time I didn’t have a camera in my life, things went downhill. With a camera, life always got better.

Photography gives me purpose, no question. It’s a passion, a challenge, a gratification, a validation, a way of seeing the world. It’s communication beyond words. It’s magic!

Creativity has helped my recovery. When I express myself creatively, my self-esteem grows. It helps me externalise my thoughts and experiences with symbolism. I’m trying to translate the human experience into an image that lasts. Images impact us in a way we don’t quite realise.

Creativity can be brilliant if you don’t feel ready to talk. It can communicate feelings. Reach out with some form of creativity. It could be anything. What we make can sometimes speak louder than we can.