Interviews with Escapists (2011)
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Jo is energetic, vibrant and dynamic. She also describes herself as intuitive, a fruit-loop and unpredictable. She’s a lot of fun and really likes to have fun too. When I asked Jo to participate in this project, she jumped at the chance. And I was excited to interview her.
We sat on the couch at her place talking about work and each other, before we got stuck in to the questions. Jo has had a colourful life. She grew up with an alcoholic
father, has travelled the world, experienced depression, experimented with drugs and worked at Odyssey House. Jo has a really open minded view about escapism, she is very conscious about her own desires with escapism and has worked with people who have experienced a darker side of escapism.
The word escapism to Jo means “to live or to play. It can be selfish or be a sense of freedom. Also, depending on the situation, it is vital for survival. It’s a primal need, the element of having to escape to survive can be habitual and individual”.
Jo is a thinker, she always seems to be thinking out side of the box and she is very creative. She also day-dreams often, and says she use to get told off as a child because she was always staring in to space, not realising she was day-dreaming.
Alcohol is one form of escapism for Jo. This is something she has to watch as she grew up and an alcoholic father and she knows the downfalls of becoming addicted. She says “ I have a slight reckless thread that runs through me, people are unsure what I will be like”. When Jo went through a period of depression escapism was a big feature in her life. “In those times I don’t want to be here or around anyone. Escapism is a different shade of not wanting to be in that certain circumstance and not having the self love to get that the world is fine”.
Although Jo has experienced some dark times in her life, she is never one to make quick judgements about others. She is the kind of friend you would want around if you were experiencing though times in your own life. She is a free spirit, sympathetic and caring.