By Josie Montano

THE BUBBLE by Josie Montano & Matt Ottley

The bubble takes Aditi on a journey. An odyssey to free herself from sadness. She travels to different dimensions of colour and different places of nature. Each colour representing different emotions and feelings. The colours are very subtle in the illustrations but each landscape has a specific colour, a key message and key words assigned to them.

This is a book about self-exploration and the journey through depression into resolution.

I believe a younger audience will be taken along the journey via the poetry in prose writing style, and by the depth of subject matter and use of colour in Matt’s illustrations.

For older readers each spread is about a crucial step along the road to healing but not expressed in a prescriptive way.

The subject matter of the book is potentially dark but the illustrations are full of wonder and light. Each illustration is a journey for the reader within itself. Each illustration has layers of subtext that when viewed in conjunction with written text makes the readings of the book enlightening.

CHARACTER:

One character – young girl named Aditi (Hindu name meaning free & unbounded). I chose this name as it’s meaning complimented the result that Aditi wanted, to feel -free and unbounded by the negative emotions that had overwhelmed her.

TOPIC:

u        The underlying theme is depression.  Depression is becoming a widely acknowledged illness, up to one in four suffer from depression at some stage in their lives. Depression in children is on the increase. www.michaelcarr-gregg.com

u         ‘The Bubble’ is exactly that, a protective coating that people with depression put them in to help them cope on a day to day basis.   

u        Through Aditi’s journey, she comes across the strategies useful to help overcome depression via the colours of emotion, affirmations, self-belief, self-love, support, positive self-talk and mirror work.

u        Colours we wear, see and surround ourselves in inspire and influence our moods, feelings and emotions.

ORIGINAL CONCEPT:

The original idea was born in 1974 and was also titled ‘The Bubble’, written, illustrated, designed and self published by myself at the age of ten. The original story was the basis of the current picture book. Similar idea where a young girl is blowing bubbles with her class, but one very very big bubble enveloped the girl and she was stuck inside a bubble that would not burst. The bubble took the girl on an adventure to the moon where she was able to open a door and step out of the bubble. She lived in a cave on the moon for a while before astronauts rescued her. But it wasn’t until thirty years later that I revisited this concept and realised it may be a wonderful way of sharing the topic of depression and some of the strategies to help.

 

BEHIND THE TEXT TO EACH ILLUSTRATION

Aditi usually loves blowing bubbles. Why couldn’t she see the usual colourful diamond beads that graced the air and sparkled in the sun?

Aditi is blowing bubbles. But today the bubbles are different, or is it her perception, is it her who’s different?

Why did tears cascade with no reason? Why did the bubbles seem so lifeless today?

Although in reality the sun is shining, and tiny rainbows sparkle on the bubbles, she doesn’t notice. She only sees sadness and feels emptiness. She blows bubbles and watches as they drift away having lost all interest and passion for life.

Why had her fun burst like a balloon? Even the soapy water felt like it was about to swamp her.

She is so overwhelmed by her sadness that she has no understanding of the initial trigger. She cannot grasp or make sense of why she is feeling this way.

One bubble refused to burst. It floated, bobbed, flittered and danced its way towards Aditi and gently touched the bridge of her nose, landing with a nervous quiver.

One bubble refuses to burst and makes it way to Aditi’s nose – the catalyst to her journey.

Aditi stared into the bubble. It looked empty, hollow, abandoned.

She wonders what’s inside this bubble, it looks empty, just like how she is feeling inside. Photos of her family. Have they turned their back on her? Or is this how she perceives it? Has she rejected their support? Or is this how alone and isolated she feels?

She squeezed her eyes shut. When Aditi opened them again, the world had turned eerie.

She is enveloped by the bubble and is trapped inside and cannot get out. She is on the inside looking out. She has a protective coating to protect her from the outside world.

Her heartbeat echoed around her. Where was the bubble taking her?

Her journey inside the bubble begins, will she discover a world other than the one she has been living?

Aditi was taken across a wasteland of extraordinary sadness and solitude.

Landscape - Desert

Key message: FAMILY - Feeling a lack of support and understanding from her family, they have their backs to her.

Focus Colour – Red (the photo album)

Key words: physical, anger, energy, desire for security, survival, inability to trust, groundedness.

Over an expanse of sunken images, impressions of someone she couldn’t quite recognise.

Landscape - Frozen Lake

Key message: Images of herself, self-perception. Her reflection is mirrored on and under the lake, images of herself trapped.

Focus Colour – Orange (sunset)

Key words: conflict with the mental, frustration, mistrust, and relating.

Through deep gorges echoing with familiar voices.

Landscape - Canyons

Key message: Voices that are her own affirming voice, whispering positive talk to herself.

Focus colour – yellow (canyons)

Key words: not knowing but understanding, imagination, warmth, personal will.

Drifted into a tall place canopied with serenity

Landscape – Rainforest

Key message: Photographs of her family (they have started to turn, she is warming to them), reminding her of how she loves and misses them. She has also discovered a photo of herself and is smiling.

Focus colour – green (rainforest)

Key words: Immunity to the world, balance, comforting, fresh, peace, love, wholeness, tolerance, forgiveness, validation of self, self-esteem

Under a vast expanse of belonging, of a deep knowing.

Landscape - Under the Sea

Key Message: The healing process has begun. There is laughter and fun as she plays with the sea creatures, allowing some of them to enter her space (bubble).

Focus colour – blue

Key words: communication, expression, sensitivity, and speech.

Around an atmosphere of cocooning dreams.

Landscape - Outer Space

Key Message: Dream processing scene: future, healing, fears changes, growth work. A Time of evolving.

Focus colour – Indigo

Key words: calm, serenity, releasing fears, understanding, intuition, cognition.

Delivered into a place of renewed awakenings.

Landscape – original place full of Butterflies

Key Message: She awakens from her sleep surrounded by butterflies. She has emerged from the cocoon of sadness. No bubble.

Focus colour – Violet

Key words: Old to new, sacredness, new day, softness, and acceptance, overcome self limitations, wisdom, inspiration.

The final image – no text

Aditi now in a new personal space and an emotionally healthy place, blowing bubbles, seven of them float off and join up to form the rainbow on the horizon.     

Josie Montano © June 2004