PT
I’m kind of glad that the conversation is happening again. When I was talking to you last week, I was kind of sitting on the surface a little bit because I was processing those things in real time.
How did you reclaim yourself as a woman given that we didn’t grow up in an environment where that was modeled to us?
PB
Firstly I had to understand that I was a woman, particularly because mainstream feminism kind of only upholds white women as women and then within even brown and black communities, the darker your melanin, the less ‘woman’ you are, right? So it was about rejecting not really euro centric beauty ideals because, that never really affected me, but it was more on a cultural level, understanding and seeing how our Amma, our aunties were treated very differently to white women and how a lot of that had been internalized as well. Unpacking all of that and understanding that I am worthy of care and rest and love and the gentleness and softness that society is quick to hand to white women but restricts from us. Particularly as the oldest child of an oldest, female child, seeing how that really affected Amma post war and then with her own issues of domestic violence at home. And how that infiltrated into our upbringing. Seeing how that impacted her and impacted the way she lived as a ‘woman’ and deciding that was not what I wanted for me. It was not what I wanted for my own kids, especially my female child. I thought if I want this for her then I really need to model it for myself. So that was kind of being self compassionate and practicing awareness of how I felt in situations.
There’s a lot to say about what we call culture, culture. Really it’s often just intergenerational trauma that has become culture. Understanding my culture and understanding yes, there are many good things about collectivism and communities. There’s also a lot of toxic aspects. Going back to what the good things are, and getting rid of the not so great things.
PT
You mentioned that you don’t want to model this notion of abandoning yourself to your female child. How do you find that you’re able to balance self care and be in community and these spaces that aren’t always fully non toxic?
PB
For me, it has been a lot to do with finding my community and chosen family. Because my biological family has been really toxic and dysfunctional and damaging. So, as you know, the oldest girl on both sides, there was not a lot of respect for my agency and my autonomy. For my body, my voice and my ideas, right? I had to advocate for myself at a really young age. That was labeled as difficult and mouthy, in Tamil ‘polathu vai’ (loud mouth). All those things that people were quick to point out, as problematic, without actually examining what the root cause is. I’ve dealt with that, my earliest memory of that is the age of 3. Realizing more recently, probably in the last ten years, that my biological family is not interested in my wellbeing and while that is really difficult to accept and is uncomfortable to verbalise, if they hear this they will get up in arms. But at the end of the day, that’s not really my responsibility, their reaction and feelings are not my responsibility. My responsibility is caring for myself, for me and for the next generation. And for me that is about cutting intergenerational trauma. So balancing self care and my relationship with my family first. Because, I have had to cut a lot of ties with them, because the toxicity level is quite high. There was no compromise. I had to say that I wasn’t going to continue engaging. That doesn’t just go for my biological family, it goes for other relationships as well. I don’t think we are called to be martyrs or indebted to people for whatever reason. Or to live our lives driven by fear. I certainly had seen that in my own world growing up. So it becomes about finding community and loved ones who are really able to see you for who you are and love you for whatever that looks like, understanding your boundaries and your limits and not try to push you through them.
PT
So much of the way we’re modeled love is in such a self sacrificial way and I really question if that is love or trauma bonding. When you’re in it, it’s such a strong, toxic energy. And when you step outside and see it for what it is, it’s uncomfortable and you really need to make the decision to do things differently so that you’re not furthering the pathways that are literally imprinted into your brain.
PB
It would be so easy for me to be in community with all these people, right? I could just bite my tongue. But what would that do for me, it would cause me more stress and anxiety and frustration and I don’t want to live my life like that. I want to be free of that stuff. There’s so much to say in my own experience about toxic theology and spirituality. Like, Bible verses have been weaponised, right? So much of our understanding of serving community, for women especially, is really just being doormats. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We are not called to be doormats. We are called to be treated with dignity and care and love and gentleness and generosity. If anyone ever feels like they need to be a doormat based on their spirituality, or based on Christianity, you’ve got it all wrong and you’re allowing people to take advantage of you, and you’re allowing yourself to be abused. And as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence, I don’t want that for me anymore. And I don’t want that for my kids, so why would I want that for me now. I don’t want that for anyone I care about. So if I don’t want it for them why would I want it for me?
There’s this verse in the Bible that’s one of the two greatest commandments: love yourself like you love others. Well how can you love others if you don’t love yourself. How can you love yourself if you don’t know who you are. So I think it all comes back to reclaiming who you are and really comes back to knowing yourself. Sitting with the uncomfortable truths about you as a person. About the trauma you’ve endured but also the trauma you inflicted. And that’s uncomfortable and people don’t like talking about that. It’s the oppression that you face but also the privilege you hold. People don’t want to talk about the privilege that they own as well. So I think it’s all of those things, and that’s a lot, and it takes time. But it certainly does give you a little perspective and understanding on how to care for yourself.
PT
I was talking to you about a week ago about how I felt like my nervous system was so dysregulated because of all the chaos that was happening in the world. Coming from the environment that we have means we have more sensitivities when it comes to our bodies, our capacity in general. How do you find ways to self-regulate throughout the day? What’s an easy way for you to feel grounded?
PB
This is a really interesting question because with me and I’m sure a lot of people, we’re often not self aware of what’s happening in our bodies and to them. Because we live in this manic state all the time. There’s no time to decompress and have down time. Particularly as a parent of three very energetic kids. Two are on the spectrum, one who has ADHD. And then myself, it’s a lot. I’m not just managing my own nervous system but also asking ‘how can I care for you in this process?’ and ‘how can I teach you how to self regulate?’. The good thing is that because I’ve learned how to help them, I’ve applied some of that to myself. Particularly as someone who has the tendency to be quite anxious, I’ve got complex PTSD. So trying to function in a world that is always throwing things at you is tricky and depends on your circumstance.
I think it needs to be said that self care and self regulation really is a privilege. It should be a right but it’s a privilege to take time out to care for yourself. This conversation itself is a very middle class conversation. Amma as a working class refugee woman didn’t have time to have these conversations. I think it’s important to acknowledge that.
Things like exercising. I’m finding cold air and being in the cold can be helpful. I do pranayama and yoga and asana practice. I’m very new to being dedicated to it, more recently. I definitely think self regulation is also checking in with your community and seeing how they are going as well. I think there’s much to say about the interconnectedness of self care and community care. I’m quite a creative person, I write and I draw. When I say creative I mean, my grounding comes from doing creative things. Writing, drawing, dancing is a fun one. With kids in the living room. It starts with being aware of what’s happening in your body. Understanding when it’s stressed, and asking why your body is reacting the way it is. And trying to support it. Cos you’ve only got one, right?
PT
Yeah, and we are like you said privileged and fortunate enough to be able to articulate what is happening in our bodies and recognise when we feel like we are dysregulated which is, for many a constant state. Or a state that is quenched through addiction or a coping mechanism. It’s also really interesting to think about the environment we grew up in, addiction is something that could be easily gravitated to given the conditions. Sometimes I wonder if spirituality, toxic spirituality is an addiction.
PB
Totally, because you’re filling the void, right? You’re trying to heal a wound that needs healing and it’s never really done the right way. It all stems from trauma. I remember growing up and having migraine headaches consistently. Appa would take me to get MRIs and scans or get glasses, but there was never a definitive diagnosis. It’s only in the last two years that I’ve realized, because I’ve experienced it again as an adult, that a lot of that has had to do with being in a complete state of trauma. Going from one burn out cycle to the next. Living in a traumatic environment that causes burn out. Moving from that experience to another burn out cycle and never having time regulate. The last two years I’ve been on stress leave and it’s been the first time I’ve been able to stop and ask why is this happening to my body, what is happening to my body. And it’s been the first time that I can get back to myself. It has been a privilege to be able to take time off under work cover. Which is a huge taboo, there’s a lot of stigma attached to taking stress leave under work compensation. But I can’t recommend it enough. Particularly if you’ve had a psychological injury at work. To take the time off to recover from it. Take the time to heal and get your therapy paid for. Take advantage of a system that’s not there to take care of you at the end of the day.
is an eela thamizh antidisciplinary artist, writer and educator who lives and works on unceded Darug land. The daughter of refugees from the island known as Sri Lanka, she has worked with young people in South West and Western Sydney for 15 years presenting decolonial and antiracist perspectives. Her educator role goes beyond the classroom, seeing her work in the arts, cultural and community spaces for various youth organisations , Blacktown Arts Centre, Darlinghurst Theatre Company and Sydney Story Factory. Priyanka’s own writing chronicles the intersections of her identity, as well as her observations of Western Sydney life, through poetry, prose and creative non-fiction. She is inspired by the words of Oodgeroo Noonucal, Toni Morrison, Lauryn Hill and Mathangi Arulpragasm. Her debut anthology, mozhi (Girls on Key, 2021) is a meditation on the tensions of language, loss and life as the displaced and the displacer. Priyanka is the founder of , a grass-roots collective dedicated to unpacking internalised White supremacy, building cross-community solidarity and resisting and dismantling White heteropatriarchy, to bring about individual, intergenerational and collective healing.