A Question
In 2016 I asked myself this question. At the time I was in Sweden studying a course in software engineering and management. By 2018 I was preparing to leave Istanbul and meet an old friend in Tehran. A couple months before while living in Eskisehir, Turkey I’d was shot in the head. A hooded man followed me and assaulted me shooting me in the head and slashing me with a glass beer bottle.
There wasn’t any reason for someone to attack me. The attack happened when I was walking beside a canal dark canal at night in Eskisehir, Turkey. In my eyes it was an opportunistic assault. The gun was fired point blank into my head but didn’t kill me. The bullet directed downwards and lodged itself in my jaw so I survived. The event changed me. It changed my reason for science. I started with the question ‘how could I heal after trauma?’. I began applying my human behavioural neuroscience and molecular cell biology knowledge.
A Bus to Tehran
The x-ray with the bullet in my head. Among a background of Iranian brick tile patterns.
Our journey started from Hamedan. From Hamedan we rode up to the Ganjnameh Ancient Inscriptions then to Morad Tea House. From the tea house we descended the ski road at lighting speed into the valley. Spring mountain scenery passing us in a blur. I took that moment to breath in the beauty of nature and felt an exciting fear with my friend. The adrenaline of racing down the mountains on bicycles in spring with a good friend. The wheels on our bikes were turning and helping to unravel the trauma.
Inviting Beauty Into Public Spaces
The architecture of Iran after the shooting inspired me with profound feelings. I realised it was both the mind we were healing and our environment. The two were inseparable. It was a therapy sitting in quiet places looking at repetitive art designs. Being surrounded by art patterns and natural elements. And there wasn’t any expectation to be anything. That allowed me to go deeper into reflection with myself. In a small garden courtyard in the bazaar of Arak. Under the archways of Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square mosques. Playful sparrows darting across the square up into the air and diving back down. The buildings in the environment invited me to reflect. And that helped me reprocess the trauma into something that inspired me. I didn’t need to fear, and I didn’t need to seek revenge. I found something out about myself. That I wanted to leave something behind for future generations. Something artistic and transformational like these Persian artists had done. Public spaces inviting us with safety and inspiring us with beauty.
Creating Public Spaces Safe and Inclusive
At a personal level I connected with an inspiring experience but, how could I bring this into the lives of others? Like those Persian artists and architects had done ! This inquiry wasn’t without conflicts. And for a long time I struggled. At Southern Cross University, Lismore I felt an emotional breakthrough. I was relived when reading there was a global initiative to make public spaces safer. This was sustainable Development Goal 11.7. It aims to make public spaces safe and inclusive.
Since finishing university I’ve continued with this pursuit of knowledge. On how to use science to transition our public spaces into places that reduce violence. Like the artists of Iran I want make something beautiful for others. I want to create beautiful and safe public spaces to reprocess our traumas. This way society has a better chance at re-finding itself with less fear and revenge. Instead, it has the chance to find itself with more empowered solutions that help us become a less violent society.
