Social experiment time! Your innermost *anonymous* Coda thoughts, a LIVE event posted to the internet, and potential social change. All it takes is one little note from you, mailed to: CODAfessions, PO Box 12274, Austin TX 78711. #CODAfessions
TRANSCRIPT
Hey, are at least one of your parents Deaf? Well then you’re a Coda, just like me! All my life, I have *not* been involved in the Coda community - in fact, I’ve avoided being identified as a Coda. There are different aspects of my identity, my intersectionality - things like being a male, being straight, being a Coda - but admittedly, I’ve been sweeping the Coda part of my identity under the rug.
Recently, I went to the Coda conference in England, getting a front-row seat to the conversations that happen at that conference; I’ve also been involved with Coda Facebook groups and have enjoyed seeing all the comments they post there, some of which I identify with. Other comments were things that had never occurred to me before - the good, the bad, the ugly - all of it has encouraged me and helped me build a fuller sense of my identity.
Since then, I’ve taken some of the comments that I saw during the conference and on Facebook postings to heart, sharing them with others, like my family - my mother, father, brother and sister-in-law, all of whom are deaf - which has led to fantastic conversations! I’ve shared these thoughts with non-Codas, whether hearing or Deaf, friends that I hang out with, and it’s been enlightening. As a result, I’ve found my relationships growing healthier, more meaningful, even with non-Codas!
Now, if sharing those Coda feelings and thoughts, these struggles and triumphs - the good, the bad, the ugly - with my non-Coda friends and family has helped me develop more meaningful relationships with them, I wonder… what if we took those same feelings, thoughts and expressions out into the open, let them see the light of day so that the community at large could see them? What would happen then? That’s what this announcement is about, a social experiment. Here’s what I call it … "CODAfessions" [ sign: CODA secret express ]
First, I want to say that this is not affiliated with CODA International; it’s my personal social experiment, though I can’t do it alone. I need your help. Here’s what you can do: Take your innermost Coda-related thoughts and feelings, write ‘em down and mail them to this address. However, DO NOT include any identifying elements - your name or return address. This is 100% anonymous.
You might be wondering what you could write down to share. Well, the sky’s the limit! Anything having to do with your Coda experience: Your relationship to your Deaf family members or the Deaf community; the hearing non-Coda community; even your relationships with other Codas. Good, bad, ugly, let’s put it all out there!
And here’s the kicker: If I get 30 or more of these mailed to me, I’ll host a LIVE EVENT here in Austin, TX. During that event, some Codas will take the stage, sharing their experiences and stories BUT the highlight of the event will be your Codafessions, which will be put in a container. Anyone from the audience, including Deaf, hearing, non-Codas, will be invited to pick up a Codafession at random and sign it to the audience while someone else reads it aloud. Your Codafession will be shared in the open so that the audience can get its full impact. No judgements. No discussions. Just your Codafession allowed to be in the light of day, allowed to breathe, allowed to just BE.
More than that, I’ll film that Codafessions event and post it on the internet so that you can watch it, too! Who knows, you might just see *your* Codafession in the show! After the show, will people continue to discuss these thoughts with their family and hearing non-Coda friends? We’ll have to see. How would this affect the community at large? THAT is what I’m most interested in. Personally, I think it would foster healthier, better, more meaningful relationships, but we’ll see!
So mail in your Codafessions, bring ‘em on because once I get thirty of them, I’m gonna host us a show and we’ll see the effect on our community. I look forward to seeing YOUR Codafessions!
