Season 10, Episode 9: Don't forget to play (with guest Stacey Heale)

Dahlia joined by speaker, writer and fashion academic Stacey Heale to discuss identity, how our childhood dreams play out in our adult lives and navigating how we see ourselves and show the world who we are when we experience loss.Dahlia and Stacey discuss where Stacey's research starts and the role our physical surroundings can have in shaping who we are. They specifically explore how bedroom decor is linked to identity from childhood and how this involves into adulthood (and parenting).Stacey shares a very personal account of how becoming a carer and navigating grief shaped how she saw herself and how she used clothes as a demonstration of self expression to symbolise how she was feeling to those around her. The episode discusses the subject of cancer and loss.Stacey Heale is a writer, speaker, curator, fashion academic and campaigner who is inspiring radically honest discussions on the lived experience of women, focusing on the realities of difficult times and how to rebuild your life from the ground up. Stacey's role is Teaching fellow at Winchester School of Art. Her academic research centres around the use of creativity to process trauma and the concept of the teenage bedroom as a site for identity construction. Stacey's 2018 TED talk focused on post-traumatic growth and the power of social media during a personal crisis. In November 2016, her husband, Delays lead singer Greg Gilbert, was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer and died in 2021. In that time, she has campaigned for lowering the age of bowel cancer screening in the UK, research into treatments for stage IV cancer patients, access to unfunded drugs on the NHS and the financial rights of widows.