Episode 1: Messy With Mindfulness

This is Paige AKA @ibd_paigey

Paige, featured in this month's edition of Messy With Mindfulness, has a life long condition called Crohn's Disease. She also has a stoma bag which has helped regulate her condition.

Paige smiles brightly while covered in clay, she is In front of a white splattered backdrop. Her hair is covered in clay and she is showing her stoma and scar.

People living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) spread awareness across the globe on the 19th May - World IBD Day. We thought this would be a great opportunity to shed some light on the condition.

IBD is split into two types of condition - Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease.

IBD is an auto-immune disease, meaning the immune system attacks itself, leaving sufferers of the condition defenceless against viruses that able bodied people may be able to recover from within a couple of days/weeks. One of the main parts of the body affected by IBD is the intestinal tracht.

IBD sufferers often struggle eating/drinking due to ulcerated and inflamed intestines. Crohn's disease, affects the whole digestive system - from the mouth, stomach, small intestine and large intestine.

We caught up with Paige to share her experiences of her life and how she found her time with us at the ClayLife HQ.

"I've always been creative and have grown up within artistic backgrounds. As someone with an incurable illness, life has been exceptionally difficult. I've nearly died more times than i've lived. Every day is a battle, as a child, hospital was my home."

"My experience with creativity comes from forms of art therapy or using an art-form to understand and express how i really feel in a world where everybody thinks i look 'fine' when i'm not.

I grew up spending my time in playrooms whilst i wait for surgery, seeing musicians come into the wards with their instruments... They even had clown doctors who came round peoples beds juggling and making balloons."

Paige smiles faced toward a white backdrop, she is flicking clay at it holding a ceramic bowl.

We asked Paige about her experience being seriously ill and how she has overcome her symptoms and experiences.

"Honestly, I couldn't have survived without creativity. I don't think I'll ever truly 'overcome' what i have been through, however, i have learned that art is my lifeline in times of distress."

When speaking with Paige, we wanted to hear her experiences about her photography shoot with ClayLife and if she enjoyed the experience with us.

"I never imagined just how freeing this session would be with ClayLife.

I came in with an idea to show my stoma, through wearing nude underwear, and It was welcomed with open arms by the team."

Paige stands with a red bucket, in front of a clay splattered white backdrop. She widely smiles looking to her right.

"Playing with random bits of wet clay in made me feel so weird at first, it's something you're not really invited to do.. I felt scared to make a mess!

It's interesting, because you're doing exactly what we (as adults) are trained not to do anymore. Life often feels like you can't mess up, i guess thats why it's so hard living with an auto immune disease. I physically can't conform to societies standards, even if i wanted to... I've tried hard to fit in but daily life is always a huge struggle."

"Being able to throw a load of clay at a wall and make a mess was just so theraputic! By the end of the session, after trying so hard to not get any in my hair, an epiphany moment came into my head and next thing i knew my hair was COVERED in clay!"

*****

A special thanks to Paige for joining our project and for being our very first model of a series we hope you enjoy as much as we do.

If you would lie to get to know Paige more, she owns a online diary on instagram @ibd_paigey

Be sure to give her a follow and show your support.

Stay tuned for more amazing stories, messiness and joy!

If you have a story you would like to share with us, join in on this project and get ✨MESSY WITH MINDFULNESS ✨

Photographer: Alyssa Timpanaro - https://www.alyssatimpanaro.com/