Content warning: Drink and drug use and paraphernalia

Lisa Selby and Elliot Murawski @bluebaglife

‘Shame is a sickness that keeps us unwell.’ – Elliot Murawski

When Elliot went to prison for almost three years, addicted to heroin, his life and the life of his partner Lisa changed forever. During his sentence, Lisa started the Instagram account ‘bluebaglife’ as a safe space to share their on-going experiences. The name ‘bluebaglife’ came about when Lisa noticed that the heroin Elliot was using would come wrapped in cut off pieces of blue plastic carrier bags, she used to find small pieces all around the flat they shared. Her mother had also been addicted to heroin and alcohol and passed away. Lisa took photographs of her mother’s chaotic house after her death, and began to write, she wanted to capture it all, in order to understand. Elliot began writing to Lisa for bluebaglife too, from his prison cell. The account quickly amassed a strong following of people fascinated by their stories, or with a shared experience.

Since Elliot’s release in April 2019, ‘bluebaglife’ has taken on a life of its own, it’s now a growing community for the voices of others to connect through sharing, learning, and educating through discussions. The couple are using their motivated network of supporters to aid their collective recovery and to help undo the shame associated with addiction and prison. They are currently working online, in schools, universities and in prisons across the UK.

‘This (social media) was a place where people would undo the shame in their lives, by speaking out, by listening, by accepting, by praising, by supporting. The supporters need supporting too, without judgments. It’s not us that need silencing; it’s the shame that needs silencing.’ – Lisa Selby

Lisa and Elliot will be delivering their talk together, giving both sides of the story. Lisa Selby and Elliot Murawski started telling their stories around their experiences of addiction, prison, recovery and love on 'bluebaglife’, their Instagram account. This account grew and began to offer the perspectives of people in prison, released from prison, as well as loved ones supporting, and all who experienced addiction in their lives.

Lisa Selby and Elliot Murawski started telling their stories around their experiences of addiction, prison, recovery and love on 'bluebaglife’, their Instagram account. This account grew and began to offer the perspectives of people in prison, released from prison, as well as loved ones supporting, and all who experienced addiction in their lives. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx