Page 40 - ABILITY Magazine -Cedric Yarbrough Issue

just had this overwhelming sense of panic, of butterflies, of not being able to look people in the face. I was starting conversations but not being able to finish them. And actu- ally, for a lot of the time, just standing with my mum holding her hand.
“Life’s a dangerous thing, none of us survive it right”
- Mark Rice Oxley
Tyrimos: What’s great about Mark’s story, as you can hear, is he so beautifully articulates how he was feeling, and I think many people do struggle to express how they’re feel- ing. That’s why a lot of people can relate to his story.
“You take a little bit of that wall away” - Alastair Campbell Oil on canvas with audio recording
Martirosyan: That’s wonderful.
Tyrimos: This one is Tory Allen Martin, a friend of mine. She’s a very good singer and producer. She deals with anxiety and speaks about lots of different things, but also with a particular focus on social media. Here’s a snippet from her audio:
Tory: About six years ago... I had the feeling like it was closing in on me, and everyone was looking at me. ...I remember I’d worn sh*t clothes, and I didn’t have any makeup on. ...I just suddenly felt like in the hall, everyone in there was judging me. I don’t think anyone was even look- ing at me, but that’s how I felt. I remember thinking, “I need to get out.” And I just went and sat on a bench. And the minute I got outside, and I got air, and I sort of sat in a place I wanted to be, the feeling eased a little bit.
Tyrimos: Like Tory, we all have those feelings of anxi- ety, even if it’s just a little seed in our brain. Again, as we were speaking about social media, which is such a great platform to promote mental health and disability awareness, we realized that it could also be quite detri- mental to one’s self-image if we constantly compare ourselves to others.
The paintings don’t work without the audio and vice versa. It was a new thing for me, and I’m really happy I did it. I think by the end of the exhibit you feel like you’ve gotten to know each person. I’ve had
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