Irene Smith
Bio
Brought up in Tolaga Bay and it was some years later my love of embroidery and fabric work hit home. Belonging to a group of like-minded women has helped immensely and at the age of 75 yrs am still loving the work.
Description
Two small quilts
'Nature's Splendour runs amok' $150.00
'Nightmare for an insomniac' $200.00
Social - @irenesmith3610
Contact - rayirenes@gmail.com
Link to research
Guilt in a big way that we were safe but insomnia became very frequent for some time
Irene reflects on the quiet but heavy emotions that lingered after the cyclone. “Guilt in a big way that we were safe,” she writes, describing how survival itself became a weight to carry. This guilt was accompanied by ongoing insomnia, sleepless nights that stretched long after the winds and floods had passed.
The research report captures this same theme of emotional and psychological aftermath:
“Even those who were not directly impacted spoke of survivor’s guilt, and of carrying anxiety, sleeplessness, and unease in the weeks and months that followed.”
For many, safety brought relief — but also a deep sense of responsibility for those who had lost so much. The report notes that:
“People spoke of their hearts being restless, of their minds not settling, even when their homes were untouched.”
Irene’s piece makes visible this hidden layer of the disaster: the internal storms that continue long after the floodwaters recede. Her words remind us that resilience is not only about rebuilding houses and roads, but about tending to the unseen burdens carried in the body, mind, and spirit.
