Time To Tell founder, Donna Jenson, is playwright and performer of the one woman show What She Knows: One Woman’s Way Through Incest to Joy, which has been demonstrating its transformative power since performances started in Spring 2008. Her courageous exploration of her past creates a safe space for her audience members to talk about their response to her work and this difficult subject in post performance dialogues.
Her book,
Healing My Life from Incest to Joy, focuses not on the details of the author’s abuse, but on the steps she took to build a life of meaning. It’s a detailed account of what helped Jenson, how and why she came to learn new tools for introspection, storytelling, and growth, and where any person could find them. Jenson doesn’t pretend to speak on behalf of all survivors, but she clearly speaks
to all survivors.
Both her book and playare a call to arms for other survivors, and their loved ones, and a reminder that violence within families is a public health and social justice issue that must be addressed with renewed urgency. In chronicling the physical and spiritual steps she took to reclaim her life and peel away the layers of damage done by incest, Jenson offers her audiences and readers a powerful narrative of one person’s healing journey. And though the subject matter is deeply serious, Jenson’s sense of humor is firmly intact, reminding us that joy is possible in the face of great pain.
In her book readings she helps audiences face the taboo subject of sexual exploitation with a dialogue partner from their community; creating a safe space, a space where all can stay open to the possibility of healing, for one’s self, for people we care about, for whole communities.
In her writing and mindfulness workshops she offers participants the opportunity to discover what they each have to say, express, write and share within a supportive group of people who have all experienced sexual abuse and assault.