What the #@$%* was My Mom Thinking?!

I'm on the right. My sister, Karin, the actress, is hamming it up on the left. No, we weren't conjoined twins (only Photoshop'd that way). We aren't even twins, just cruelly forced to dress that way on many occasions. We had a great Aunt who loved to sew. Maybe she was a compulsive sewer and couldn't stop at one outfit, I don't know. My mother forced us to wear the many identical sets of dresses my great aunt made and it was torture. I'm surprised my sister and I get along so well today. And especially surprised that I don't need years of therapy to deal with any kind of identity crisis.

Karin is visiting BC right now. My plans of bringing Type A structure and organization to my life have been temporarily put on hold. Because when someone comes here on vacation, I go on vacation. Even though much of my life is like a vacation, I have an amazing talent to be able to go on vacation from vacation. What can I say, it's a gift I possess. We actually haven't done anything or gone anywhere, we just drink fancy coffees and sit around.

My sister brought up a memory we'd both like to forget. I was probably 9 or 10 and she 11 or 12 when we ganged up on my best friend, bullied her and made her cry. Bullying wasn't typical of me during childhood. I was pathologically shy and always on the verge of being bullied at any moment, but then there was usually someone who looked like more of a victim than me, and so I was used only as an alternate, when the other victims weren't around, either having spontaneous nosebleeds or at accordion lessons.

But during THAT day, Karin, psychologically tortured my best friend and I acted as an accomplice. We told her she could never go home. Karin, with her natural acting ability, had my friend convinced and so frightened she tried to escape and then Karin sat on her. This I didn't remember, the sitting on my friend. Today, Karin feels a lot of remorse for this. Luckily my friend, even after being sat on by members of my family, is still a very close friend of mine. She phoned yesterday, and we talked (and yes, laughed) about that day, (she has strong memories of the incident as well) .

As an artist, this made me think about how much of our lives, our childhood and memories we put in our art and how when we do this authentically, it makes for richer art. Karin has just been been nominated for a Dora award (comparable to the Tony awards for theatre in Toronto) for her performance in the play, Breakfast, a play she co-created with the group The Independent Aunties. In one major scene, she sits on someone and yes, it was inspired by that childhood memory. But in the play, the outcome is positive, maybe that's her Atonement for bullying my friend.

As for my art, well, I'm on vacation. But on Etsy, I've noticed some creepy twin art, like this and this. And now I resume my vacation. See you soon!