You can survive life’s harsh twists and turns. This has happened to eleven people, whose pictures testify to hope in the Minun tarinani exhibition in Rauma.
There is always hope.
That is the main idea in the Raumalla avatutsa exhibition, where a poem is also written about the bright spots of each survivor.
Let the stories speak.
Life goes on first in small moments
You can never completely get over something like that.
– Even with such things, you have to learn to live little by little. First moment by moment, then an even longer period at a time.
Let’s go back in time eight years. Kopra went with her husband to visit the post office on Monday, October 2014.
They didn’t even get there when they got a distraught Facetime call from their daughter who stayed at home.
– The Facetime call was the last time I saw Mintu alive.
The parents returned and tried to save their child before the fire department arrived. It was later discovered that the fire had started in the electrical cabinet near the front door. The daughter was trapped when she couldn’t get out of the front door of the house.
You don’t even need words for comfort
From the time after the accident, Minna Kopra has difficulty remembering things in a logical order.
– We moved in with my parents with Mintu’s little sisters. The firstborn had already moved to study.
People’s help was invaluable. Even strangers. The belief that people care about their neighbor was strengthened.
– It’s great that we don’t avoid the grieving family, but dare to face them. You wouldn’t even need to formulate those words, says Minna Kopra.
His medicine for recovery has been his own family – spouse and children – as well as friends and his own parents.
– Now we can already remember Minttu happily. What would he have done in this situation? He still accompanies our family every day, even though it’s been almost eight years since the fire.
Crying will come, but it will no longer lead to deep wounds.
Hope has been found.
You can get off the medication
Then Laulajainen decided that enough is enough. He has been without medication for almost two years. Weaning took a year and a half. It wasn’t easy.
Why did you want to stop your medication?
– The problems of long-term use worsen due to aging and years of use. Side symptoms start to accumulate, he says.
They can be compulsive movements, impairment of cognitive functions and memory disorders. Something had to be done. According to Laulajainen, the problem was that he did not receive proper instructions. A therapist helped him quit, but the instructions from the doctors didn’t work.
– At first the withdrawal symptoms were too bad. I failed, he admits.
The spectrum of withdrawal symptoms described by Laulajainen sounds creepy. In addition to headaches and insomnia, tinnitus, electric shocks, palpitations, muscle aches and panic attacks came along.
– The terror attacks were a permanent state of being that lasted for days.
You can get and give peer support
In the end, Teemu Laulajainen got help from somewhere other than representatives of traditional medicine, from the internet.
I found people in the same situation online who advised me how to stop the medication. Gradually and even more slowly than the doctor advised.
– Finding peer support was incredibly great.
The list of background help for a singer is long: nature walks, dating, exercise, art and a healthy life.
– And the knowledge that others have also survived. Now I myself can encourage others to make this happen. Today I even sleep without medication.
I’d rather ask for help than insist
How do you say survival? That’s what Heidi Lehtonen thought about, who has written poems for the portraits of the people depicted in the exhibition. In particular, he has learned from people’s stories that life management is by no means strict.
When does survival end, where does it begin?
– For example, the color palette of work ability has many more nuances than black and white.
He himself recognizes fatigue in stressful life situations.
The poems also brought up the question of how tenaciously one should persevere when problems could be helped in time. Sometimes you can admit that you are weak, the support provided by professionals can be invaluable. Sisu can be a threat instead of an opportunity.
There is no shame in asking for help. It brings hope.