Shannon
“Put simply, being a woman is the most powerful thing about me. It is what I am most proud of. Despite everything against me (which I will note is considerably less than what trans-women, women of colour and Indigenous women are faced with) I can find power in a societal position that has fought so hard to rise from oppression.”
Five years ago, Shannon jumped on a plane and moved overseas from Australia to Canada. She lived on a ski hill for 18 months, where she met lifelong friends and made unforgettable memories. The mountains changed everything, including her. This experience shaped her into who she is today. Now she is back in Australia, but has moved across the country to pursue post-graduate academic study to advance her literary career. Shannon is a passionate writer and a creative empath with a remarkable ability to consider and care for the experiences of others and also herself. She is someone who has directly experienced the power of asking for help, taking a leap and pursuing your dreams. Meet Shannon. This is her story.
P: Please introduce yourself
S: I’m Shannon — a twenty-five-year-old writer from Perth, Western Australia. I am currently living in Melbourne, Australia while I complete my Master’s degree in Writing and Publishing.
P: Describe or define yourself in your own words
S: I really struggle to answer this question. And I’m still not sure how to answer it to be completely honest. I guess that I define myself as a woman who is hardworking, passionate, deeply emotional, and is not afraid to share her opinion. Ultimately, I am still a serious work in progress.
P: What is your favourite thing about yourself?
S: I think that my capacity to care for others is something that I am proud of. I care deeply about the people in my life, and I try my best to demonstrate that whenever I can. I think for anyone that has experienced childhood trauma or has dealt with mental health issues, that it can often feel like the easy option is not to care. Because some traumas can make us feel like caring only leads to more pain. I am proud of myself that I wake up every day and still decide to care about myself, and about the people around me.
P: Tell us a story. Have you had an experience that’s defined you or made you stronger?
S: When I was twenty I moved to Canada on my own to do a working holiday at Panorama Mountain Resort in BC. Looking back, I’m not sure what gave me the confidence to do that, but I am so grateful that I did. I met some of the most amazing people who I feel extremely blessed to know and love. I fell in love with the mountain that I got to live on for eighteen months. It was a place that brought me friendship that truly was like family. I am incredibly attached to the people that I met, lived with, and loved there. I often say that I would be scared to meet the version of myself that didn’t go and live in Canada. I truly think I am a very different person because of it. It fundamentally changed me forever.
P: What is one piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
S: See a therapist sooner. I think a lot of us learn to self sooth (which is super important) but ultimately, I needed more help. Seeing a professional about my mental health is something I am so grateful to have done. Understanding why you do the things that you do, and why other people do the things that they do is really powerful knowledge. I still have my bad days (and sometimes weeks) but without the tools I learnt from therapy I think it would be in a much scarier place mentally.
P: What does being a woman mean to you?
S: There is so much to a woman’s experience. And I am extremely grateful for the work of all the fierce women who I have come from and those who I now walk alongside. Being a woman is a sacred thing that I try not to take for granted.
Put simply, being a woman is the most powerful thing about me. It is what I am most proud of. Despite everything against me (which I will note is considerably less than what trans-women, women of colour and Indigenous women are faced with) I can find power in a societal position that has fought so hard to rise from oppression.
P: Who is one woman that inspires you? What would you say if they were here now?
S: There are far too many to name. I suppose my greatest inspirations come from female writers. My writing has taken a lot of inspiration from Hélène Cixous, and in particular her quote (translated from French to English) that reads ‘woman must write woman… woman must write her self: must write about women and bring women to writing, from which they have been driven away as violently as from their bodies’. Female writers like Hélène remind me that women’s stories are worth telling, and that our lives are worth being lived. I would thank her for inspiring me to tell my stories and to nurture those of other women.
Oh, and Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor. I’d thank her for releasing music at just the right moments in my life. I really fucking love Lorde.