Green Onions

The last one. Number 50!

The reason I chose 50 is part of my ongoing art project, #1in50. In the UK, that is the number of people living with bipolar disorder. It is a sterile, clinical statistic fitting neatly onto medical charts and mental health factsheets.

But statistics cannot capture what it actually feels like to live within those numbers. They do not show the weight of the lows, the exhaustion of the highs, or the quiet, daily work of finding balance. For me, that statistic is not data. It is my lived experience.

I recently launched #1in50: a decade-long commitment to map the reality of bipolar disorder through art. Over the next ten years, I will create 50 distinct art projects. One stitch, one texture, one word, and one physical object at a time, I am going to translate a lifelong diagnosis into something tangible.

Hence the 50 haikus! For number 50, I have chosen the amazing Green Onions by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. I wanted a truly unique final piece—and since this track has no lyrics (apart from one hey and one yeah!), it beautifully mirrors the distinct, individual differences that 1 in 50 of us share.

Green Onions

Smooth keys start to roll
Hammond organ breathes the blues
Ice clinks in the glass.

I have a Facebook Page dedicated to #1in50. Feel free to check it out and follow: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61594798043047