After first spending a magical week in community together in Mexico nearly a decade ago, sister/co-host Kerry has taken multiple classes and workshops from writer and filmmaker/producer Kerra Bolton such as - Writing with Your Ancestors: Infusing Memoir with Family History and Say It Plain. “It’s very hard in writing and what I’ve noticed among writing students is that a lot of times when they are afraid to be vulnerable, they will write about something instead of writing through it...I get it, when I was writing about learning how to swim in my forties, which ended up becoming my first film: “Return of the Black Madonna,” it was hard to be vulnerable. And so, I had to really write through it and not just write about a subject,: says the adventurous Kerra about an experience like going from first putting your face into a pot of water to eventually finding buoyancy in the ocean. Kerry first met Kerra at a writing workshop in San Miguel de Allende, far from any body of water, back in 2017 and they have stayed in touch ever since, following each other’s life stories as time has gone on. This week on Outlook, for Kerry’s now annual International Women’s Day episode, she speaks with her friend and kindred spirit about their time together in San Miguel as Kerry shares an unforgettable offer Kerra made near the end of that week; one female supporting the other in the midst of some first time independent world travel jitters. Concerning themes of race, trauma, and legacy, Bolton has been published in places ranging from online community Sweatpants & Coffee to CNn. She has worked on projects such as the documentary Detroit Rising which explores restorative justice in Detroit schools, communities, and nonprofit settings. These two friends discuss finding joy, metaphors around black and white and night and day along with white fragility and the running from the feeling of any discomfort in standing up for a better, more equitable world. They talk through when to speak (up and/or out) in social media spaces or on their own platforms, for example, and when to sit in silence with ourselves as women. focusing on personal growth or embodiment practices. Also, they could and do spend a bunch of time around cultural critique of the treatment of women such as Beyonce and Taylor Swift in the country music genre, the differences in how some female artists are given breaks and chances in belonging in certain creative spaces more than others. During March’s Women’s History Month, these two cover women in pop culture, bond over having similar spelled/sounding names, and they also share their literary love of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery who once said: "When I lose anything in this life I like to think I may find it in the next. After all, everything in the universe goes in circles - day and night, the seasons, the roll of the planets around the sun. Everything comes back to its starting point and begins again." Both Kerra and Kerry, like Anne of Green Gables pals," remain kindred spirits with their shared love of this iconic literary character, like Anne Shirley, one fictional and two real life writers utilising writing for self expression, and through work as advocates in the differing work they do from their little corners of the world, until they can one day meet IRL once more. In the meantime, check out Kerra’s How I Made A Film Without Film School newsletter over on Substack: https://waterinmybones.substack.com Or go to her website: https://kerrabolton.com
