Raw Gold

Raw Gold is a collection of poems written during the author's experience with schizophrenia.

It is the story of a woman in her mid-forties, who left home when her marriage ended. The book dwells on new relationships and her sadness at losing her husband and daughter.

It is mostly channeled work, the author taking 'dictation' from Ra, a spirit entity who took over her life for a period of time. Her spiritual experience also played a part in how she worked with clients in her Kinesiology practice, with her body being directed and moved in accordance with what was needed during the sessions.

It is a sometimes obscure, but interesting reflection on living life with schizophrenia. It may be of interest to readers who enjoy poetry or have curiosity around mental illness and spirituality.

Born in Subiaco and growing up in Bunbury, my first job was as junior typist with a firm of solicitors. I then worked in a bank, followed by the Department of Agriculture. I had always wanted to be an actor so I joined the Bunbury Repertory Company where I played in 'Charley's Aunt', 'Simon and Laura' and was 'Ado Annie' in 'Oklahoma' at the Bunbury Musical Comedy Group. I then lived for a year in Melbourne and joined the staff of the ABC. I played Jan in Alan Seymour's 'One Day of the Year' at the Arrow theatre. Back in Perth, I worked in the ABC before going to England to get married. I worked in a number of offices at the BBC in London and joined the Studio Amateur Dramatic Group where I acted in a number of radio plays and won Actress of the Year in 1968. I came back to Perth in 1968 and my daughter was born in 1969. I worked in Sound Effects at the Perth ABC until1980 and joined the Actors' Company where I played in 'Wings', 'Ring Around the Moon' and 'Uncle Vanya' and took a poetry program to a number of schools. I also played in a greenroom production of the National Theatre. As my acting career hadn't really taken off, I started writing theatre reviews for the Daily News, and then for a bi-monthly magazine called New Theatre Australia.By this time I had completed my BA degree in Creative Writing at Curtin University, which I did part-time, and I found that the frequent late nights were taking their toll. My marriage broke up in 1988 and I experienced schizophrenia the following year. It was lucky I had studied Touch for Health, (or Kinesiology as it is now called) as it helped me to understand my spiritual journey and has kept me in balance for the last thirty or so years.

Tracey describes herself as a 'jack of all trades'. For her writing she draws on life experiences working in a vast variety of professions, and her love of travel. Tracey has worked in the film industry, for a women's weekly magazine, as a lock-keeper at the famous St. Katherine's Dock in London, an outdoor activity instructor in Wales and a sailing instructor in the south of France; an 'apricot cutter' and barmaid in remote Australia (fun stories around those jobs!), and even as a waitress in a Hare Krishna restaurant. She's had a selection of more conventional jobs too, but for the last few years, has been writing and publishing children's personalised books at The Lemon Tree Book Company Ltd. Tracey now also assists start-ups, businesses and authors with copywriting, editing, proof-reading and book design - in fact 'All Things Writing!'