On Healing: Writing and the Art of Forgiveness

with Jo Vannicola, Emmy-Award Winning Actor and LGBTQ2S+ Activist

Jo Vannicola is an Emmy award-winning actor, writer, and advocate. They are the founding chair of the LGBTQ2S+ committee at ACTRA Toronto, and sit on the sexual assault ad-hoc committee for women and gender-diverse people in film and television. Jo is also the author of also just penned an award-winning memoir All We Knew but Couldn’t Say describing a lifelong journey growing up in a home with physical violence, sexual abuse and a mother who was a pedophile.  

In this episode, we go deep into what healing is all about: what the practice of forgiveness can release us from, but also the limits of forgiveness. We discuss how systems of abuse thrive on our silences, and how truth-speaking—or finding the story that is ours to tell—can ultimately set us free. 

For more on the theme of healing, read the story “Rebel Body” in my upcoming book Bones of Belonging — now available for purchase.