WELCOME
TO ZIP IT
2013
A DAY IN
THE LIFE OF
A ZIPPER
A message from our founder
Tania Burstin
7:15AM
7:55AM
9:30AM
Wake up deliberately later than
usual so don’t actually have to talk to
housemate before he leaves for work.
7:30am: Turn alarm off on phone,
check email and Facebook. Resist
strong urge to press Like or comment
on friends Facebook posts. Make
breakfast, amuse self with fridge
magnet communication.
Magnets kick the Post-It’s ass.
As I am teaching three BodyBalance
classes today, I have pre-purchased
three Talk Time Passes, entitling me
to three hours of talking at a total
cost of $30. Effectively, I am paying
to work… To think I sat at a cafe
for an hour and a half yesterday
with a girlfriend chatting about life,
relationships and men! That’s half the
amount of time I have to do ANY
talking at all today.
First stop, my parents house.
Purpose? To use their printer to print
off a Zip It card to be worn proudly
for the duration of my silence.
Better to make a noise than to stay
quiet, right? Not too sure if wearing
a card on my chest defeats the
purpose of Zipping It or not…
I’m not one to usually yell, “Look at
my chest!” but today, hey why not?!
10AM
Bought a coffee from my local cafe,
thank God for a notepad and being
a cafe regular. I think I ‘talked’ more
to the baristas than I ever have.
“ start to get a sense of how
I
people with mental illness must
feel about speaking out and
reaching for help – silence
has become a prison”
12:55PM
I miss talking to the bus driver,
saying hello and thank you.
Damn you Smartrider and
the impersonality you allow
commuters!
2:15PM
The lady in my old CBD lunchtime
haunt was sympathetic when
I simultaneously mouthed and
pointed at which sushi rolls I
wanted. I didn’t have the heart to
explain that I actually had a voice,
and that my silence was voluntary.
6:15PM
Mum brings the car over so I can
use it to drive to my next class, my
own is temporarily broken. Usually
we natter away like a pair of bluerinse grannies, but today there is
silence, she says that she won’t talk
to me… NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I start to get a sense of how people
with mental illness must feel about
speaking out and reaching for help
– silence has become a prison.