Over the summer I have been enacting and philosophising about ‘A Creative Transformation’ in different cities around Europe (e.g. Leuven, Sicily, Jersey). This has involved talking at big conferences about madness and mad philosophy, doing creative work in art galleries, seeking and meeting communities of people who have lived experience of an acquired brain injury or a neurological condition, and people who experience madness – for instance, a mental illness such as psychosis or schizophrenia. I hear loud reverberations from mad voices, responding to overbearing laws from sane, ableised norms. I hear distrust and dismay from their voices, who are disdained. There is much work to do here, for a more tolerant, accepting and creative (not coercive) society, where all minds and all bodies play their part. Mad people and mad philosophy have energy and vivacity. What I am not hearing (enough) are the voices of people who have experienced an acquired brain injury or a neurological condition. Are we mad? If we are, is that a slur, or an unnecessary categorisation, or a compliment? It is complicated. Issues from brain injury, such as cognitive impairments, aphasia or another disability, may prevent these utterances from taking place, may prevent people being heard or having sufficient exposure. ‘A Creative Transformation’ gives more people with brain injury the opportunity to express themselves, tell their stories, and be heard. We want to shout our stories from the roof tops. We want to connect our stories together and we want to change the world (in our own, smallways). We are all cherished individuals. Connected together, we build our community and we are unstoppable.

I find myself writing a little passionately as thought this were a(nother) manifesto. Great things are coming for ‘A Creative Transformation’. Follow updates at https://acreativetransformation.org

For now, here are some photographs from my recent escapades across Europe…