From instructions on how to survive tragedy, to parallels between two Scottish and Inuit communities, to a bear named Jesus, the five stories in How to Lose Everything span nations, languages, and perspectives on heartache. Stream episodes of How to Lose Everything now on CBC Gem in English, Cree, Anishinaabemowin, Ktunaxa, and Inuktitut.
There was a pause over the phone and a compassionate exhale before the journalist said to me, "I hope one day you don't have to write about yourself."
I felt unexpectedly shy in the moment — like they could see just how much hurt I was really carrying — but I also The interview was about my fourth album as a singer songwriter — my "break up album" Long Time Leaving. The songs on my previous albums had delved into painful subjects like having cancer as a kid, my leg being amputated above the knee, abortion, and the deaths of my two sons. After that, divorce felt like an ordinary heartache to explore, but it was still about personal loss.
For series creator Christa Couture, telling her story became an invitation for others to tell their own
Sharing my losses through song was how I expressed myself, and how I could understand and process my experiences. It's a powerful practice to share your story over and over, night after night, to a new room of folks who haven't heard it before. You get to keep honing your story until it makes the most sense — and when it comes to grief, sense can be hard to make.
Grief can be exile. Through performing my songs, I felt seen and heard in a way I deeply needed for comfort. I felt my stories reflected in others' compassion, I felt remembered and validated, and I felt my sons, in particular, might be remembered, too. I'm so grateful for the physical and emotional release of music during those years, and for all those kind witnesses who joined me. Performing saved me.
After four albums about loss, I wrote my memoir How to Lose Everything to explore experiences I'd been singing about in detail. Near the end of the editing process, I was tasked with switching the first chapter from present tense to past tense. This was a powerful exercise: changing each "is" to a "was" meant I had to stand rooted in the present. I began to feel that maybe I had told my stories enough times. Finally, those heartbreaks were stories and not active, present pain.
But then what? Who was I, without those stories?One last project remained of How to Lose Everything — a short animated film of the final passage of the book, "The Field Guide," which gives the reader advice on how to survive heartache. The narration ends with an invitation: tell me about what you lost — the person, place, potential – and I will remember for you. After so many people had received my story, I wanted to offer the same.
That idea grew.
What if I asked other writers to respond explicitly to that question? What if one film about loss became five? What if I made work that didn't draw from personal experiences, but supported other storytellers' journeys through heartache? Was I ready for something like this? Would I like the experience of switching gears or letting go?
Yes, I was ready. And I loved it. In fact, the experience of creating this new work ended up deeply inspiring me.When asking writers Archer Pechawis, Smokii Sumac, Tara Williamson and Taqralik Partridge what came to mind when watching my film "Field Guide," their own stories of heartache emerged. My one story grew into a collection of five scripts that I knew I would produce. I asked director, writer, producer, actor, singer (she's all that and more!) Michelle St. John to produce with me. She said yes, and the idea kept growing.
We invited animators and artists Terril Calder, Chief Lady Bird, bekky O'Neil, Meky Ottawa and Megan Kyak-Monteith to animate those writers' pieces. We brought in composers Cris Derksen, G.R. Gritt, Melody McKiver, and Inge Thomson. The collection and collaboration grew to be something even more beautiful than I could have planned.The opportunity to be able to lift up others' stories fuelled all three years it took to complete this inimitable, intricate project. The pace of creating animation is not for a producer faint of heart! But the medium suited these stories of loss so perfectly – like animation, grief moves slowly, too.
لمدة عشرين عامًا ، كنت أكتب الأغاني بمفردي - شركتي الوحيدة هي البيانو أو الجيتار. كتبت مذكراتي وحدي على جهاز الكمبيوتر الخاص بي ، مع فنجان قهوة. لمدة عشرين عامًا ، كان أن أكون وحدي للإبداع هو ما احتاجه كفنان. ولكن حدثت نقطة تحول قوية وتحرر في تحويل How to Lose Everything إلى سلسلة مع كل هؤلاء الفنانين الرائعين. لقد تحقق هذا الأمل الذي كان الصحفي بالنسبة لي منذ سنوات.
الآن ، يمكنني أن أتخيل. شاهد "How to Lose Everything: A Field Guide" على CBC Gem باللغتين: الكري والإنجليزية.
How to Lose Everything يتم بث المسلسل الآن على CBC Gem. بينما كانت الحلقة التي كتبت "A Field Guide" هي الدعوة ، كانت الحلقات الأربع التالية هي الاستجابة. شاهد "A Bear Named Jesus" على قناة CBC Gem باللغتين: Cree والإنجليزية.
في فيلم "A Bear Named Jesus" ، وهو فيلم من إنتاج Terril Calder ، قابلنا آرتشر Pechawis. في جنازة آرتشر عمتي غلاديس ، سمع نقرة على النافذة - إنه دب اسمه يسوع ، جاء من أجل أم آرتشر. "A Bear Named Jesus" عبارة عن قصة رمزية للتدخل الديني ، مع نظرة مؤلمة ولكن روح الدعابة على الغربة والحداد على فقدان شخص ما زال على قيد الحياة. شاهد "Heart Like a Powwow" على CBC Gem in: Aninshnaawbemowin والإنجليزية.
ابتكرت رئيسة الفنانة ليدي بيرد الرسوم التوضيحية للشاعر والموسيقي تارا ويليامسون "قلب مثل الأسرى واو" ، والتي تستكشف أعماق الحزن من منظور أنيشيناابي للحب والأسرة. يتم استدعاء المشاهدين ليشهدوا الروح أثناء تحولهم إلى الشكل المادي بينما يجسدون الحب الذي يسبق الحزن وينذر به حتماً. شاهد "هناك تسلسلات هرمية للحزن" على CBC Gem في: Ktunaxa والإنجليزية.
في "هناك تسلسلات هرمية للحزن" ، من إخراج ميكي أوتاوا وتحريكه رقميًا ، يعكس سموكي سوماك حكمة وقوة الأمهات الثكلى ، حيث يواجه حزن الاستيقاظ على عالم متغير - ولكن أيضًا براحة ترك الناس والذكريات والعواطف مثل الهدايا لمن تركوا وراءهم. شاهد "Grape Soda in the Parking Lot" على CBC Gem باللغتين: Inuktitut والإنجليزية.
وفي فيلم "Grape Soda in the Parking Lot" ، الذي تم توجيهه وتحريكه في اللوحات الزيتية الباستيل التي رسمتها ميغان كياك مونتيث ، يسأل تقراليك بارتريدج ماذا لو أن كل لغة فُقدت أمام اللغة الإنجليزية - كل كلمة وكل مقطع لفظي - نشأت من الأرض في الزهور؟ تتكشف الغيلية الاسكتلندية لجدة تقرليك و Inuktitut من والدها في ذكريات عائلتها والألم والحب.