by Teddy Coughlin

My project, which is titled “Inspired by Gratitude,” is about connecting and collaborating with other artists with Cystic Fibrosis via social media, to bring music and art together and tell our story. Finding and getting to know a little about both Dylan Mortimer and Katie Malik, I have learned we share a lot of the same hopes and feelings about having Cystic Fibrosis and creating our art/music. We are grateful for being able to easily breathe, hold air and rest calmly, to have more days and the opportunity to practice and make art/ music and discover our potentials. For my presentation, I will show slides of Dylan Mortimer’s art, explain a bit about Cystic Fibrosis; our fears and hopes and how being grateful lets us embrace our art to tell our story. I will also perform a duet (with the help of technology) of “How Great Thou Art” with Soprano Katie Malik, and perform two solos; one art song and one sacred. Cystic Fibrosis is not well known to those who don’t have Cystic Fibrosis, and except for the frequent coughing it is a silent disease. Like a lot of diseases, living with Cystic Fibrosis is isolating; people with Cystic Fibrosis need to be very careful not to be around people with colds or large crowds, and we cannot be near other people with CF because we can easily catch each other's bacteria. Like everyone, events being cancelled, everything being closed and the fear of catching and spreading COVID-19 has changed how I do things in my life. I now use technology to connect with friends, school, work and chorus. However, the feelings of being isolated and worry about getting sick are not new to me, they are just more intense now. I also feel I have a lot in common with everyone else, and I have joined an online chorus in the UK, and I’ve made some interesting connections. This project is important to me, because I have connected with others like me and created something that represents my message in an authentic way. Hopefully, this project spreads awareness about CF, what it is like to live with it and be grateful for what is possible.