Jordan looks like any other girl except there is something about her presence that is a little off. She stands in a room full of dolls. There are moments when she talks to herself, giving herself affirmations and the energy to just push forward. She tells the audience her story of survival even though she doesn't see herself as a survivor. It is difficult for most people to understand the challenges of someone who has been through what Jordan has been through, as a woman who has survived an abduction. The situation was mentally and physically crippling. Jordan shares with us the coping mechanisms taught by her therapist that have gotten her where she is today. Speaking in front of group of strangers, hoping that something that she says will make a difference in their lives as well as bring balance and sanity back to hers. However, Jordan is not the only person present. The more she gets into her story the more she can't handle the pressure of sharing with the audience the things that she endured while in captivity. To balance that strain Jordan created other personalities to assist her in carrying the weight of the life she was forced to live. Some of these people are nice, some of them are funny and some of them you're just trying to be helpful. The one thing that we learn from Jordan’s story is the amount of physical and mental pain that one can endure before finally saying enough is enough. A beautiful story of struggle told through the eyes and a woman who is truly a survivor. Through her and her massive collection of dolls that give her the voice to tell the story we learn what it really means to come out and fight your way back to balance on the other side of tragedy.
Through Dolls
Hello, first I want to thank all of you for coming. I mean, I want to thank you for listening to me speak today about what my therapist says makes me a survivor. (Smiles) I have never looked at myself as a survivor but rather as a fighter and as a good person. Because you should all know that sometimes good people do bad things…or bad things happen to good people…or both I guess. (Nervous. Under her breath) I hope they see me as a good person. I hope they see me as a good person. (Looking up at the audience, embarrassed) Sorry, sometimes I have to talk to myself. Remind myself of things. Build myself up to keep going with the little, and the big things in life. It's called a coping mechanism. Most people see me, and they think that I am normal, (Laughs) that's not to say that I'm not normal but it's just to say that to look at me you would never know how difficult it is for me to (fear building) stand here in front of you and not want to run or cry or even in my earlier days bang my head into a wall. (Awkward moment) Quite literally. (She moves her hair back to show a scar) Seventeen stiches…hell of a wall. (Beat) So, I have ways to cope and now I take deep breaths and I count and as you can see, I'm a collector. (She turns and references the wall behind her, it is massive) A collector of the most beautiful things in the world that had the power to save my life. (She picks up one of the dolls and looks at it with fascination.) Dolls.