Dark Bright Doors
by Jill Jones
Wakefield Press
Jill Jones is an award winning Australian poet and one of the two brilliant minds responsible for the country’s first comprehensive anthology of lesbian and gay poetry, Out Of The Box.
Dark Bright Doors is a book seemingly populated with identity, with a central voice, yet at its core it is unsettled and unnerved. It tetters on the edge of things with a sensual energy.
Stripped back and at times even laid bare of any punctuation, Jones’ work is like a gathering storm: it may seem distant, but it is resplendent in that constraint and force, a poetry concerned with the pure distillation of ideas and intent through effortless rhythms and a wry sense of humour, the kind that comes with reflection.
Jones’ superb use of stark, calculated lines is apparent throughout, but particularly in poems like High Wind At Kekrengu where ‘surf / talking infinities’ see ‘gulls riding / what’s left of the air’, the subtly of her work lying in the way her thoughts shift and lilt.
This is a dark commanding work. It has an authority wrapped up with cynicism and inspiration. At times listless, Dark Bright Doors seemingly tremors with possibilities, glimmering at the edges of beautiful thoughts and weathered philosophies, making the dark unknown heart of the self all that more beguiling, if only for an instant.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Coming Out, Coming Home
by Michael LaSala
Footprint Books
‘After an explosion, a cloud of smoke engulfs the area in a dark, tense silence, and, until it clears, nobody knows how the landscape will be changed.’ This is how Michael LaSala describes the impact on a family when a young person reveals their homosexuality. As a gay man, family therapist and scholar, LaSala sees the positive or negative power the family unit can have. His book looks at the adjustments families have to make and the experiences of parents and their children in the coming-out process. In the past, people in a family tended to distance themselves rather than discuss the issues, but now awareness of sexuality is developing earlier and society is more accepting. Traditionally, friends or ‘the family of choice’ rather than the actual family provided support but the average age of respondents in LaSala’s study is 17 years.
Adolescence is a time of upheaval anyway and LaSala believes that parents need to take a more supportive role when it comes to supporting their offspring in coming out. His research outlines the impact of the coming-out process on parents and maintains that parents might watch the Ellen DeGeneres Show on television, but that does not necessarily mean that they would be happy if their daughter was a lesbian or their son was gay. Using case studies, he outlines the stages parents go through – from having inklings to blame; from denial and avoidance to acceptance and renewal. The young people also describe their lack of knowledge of what their parents are going through as well as their own negative self-talk. Both parents and young people describe tactics that have worked, and ones that haven’t. Essential reading for anyone involved in a counselling position and even parents who are having difficulties with helping their children to come out.
Lezly Herbert
The Shadow Effect
by Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford and Marianne Williamson
Harper Collins
Mind/body pioneer Deepak Chopra has written more than 55 books, international spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson has published 10 books and Debbie Ford is a pioneer in incorporating the study and integration of the concept of the human shadow into psychological and spiritual practices. All three teachers profess that although we have been conditioned to fear our shadow sides, it is this place we need to explore to unlock our strengths, our happiness and abilities to live out our dreams. Carl Jung called the shadow side a ‘sparring partner’ – the opponent within that exposes our flaws, and Chopra outlines how to weaken the ego’s hold and move beyond idealised self images.
The Shadow Effect test is at the end of the book, but maybe this should be completed before reading the words of wisdom on the subject. It gives you an indication of whether your shadow side is paralysing you, whether it is lurking in the background taking a lot of energy to control or whether you are free (for now) from many of the internal beliefs that give rise to destructive behaviours. Debbie Ford points out that the mechanism that drives you to conceal your darkness is the same mechanism that has you hide your light, and what you’re hiding from can actually give you what you’ve been trying hard to achieve. Marianne Williamson takes a more spiritual approach to empowerment and discusses the concept of ‘collective shadows’. Three world-renowned authors combine their experiences and expertise to show you how to have more love, more peace and more satisfaction in your life.
Lezly Herbert
