Gloria Gaynor's 1978 camp classic I Will Survive has taken on new meaning for Lismore flood survivor Brigitte Churchill, better known in the LGBTIQ+ community as Liplash.
The record-breaking disaster on February 28 last year left Ms Churchill homeless and reeling from the sheer scale of the destruction.
It was a similar story for many across the Northern Rivers region.
"We were fighting for our lives, each one of us, and couldn't therefore be there for others," she said.
"The actual water separated us and you couldn't travel to a friend's house to check on them. That was very traumatic."
Reflecting on the experience in the lead-up to the one year anniversary, Ms Churchill said she was able to find solace and healing in the region's LGBTIQ+ community.
"I believe the LGBTIQ community is particularly good at supporting each other, understanding each other," she said.
"Perhaps because of minority, perhaps because of struggle, perhaps because of proving our worth."
Lismore resident River Moore, who is also part of the LGBTIQ+ community, was travelling to Melbourne when the flood struck.
"I was on the phone to my friends who were in their attics waiting to be rescued," they said.
"[You were] having to go to sleep at night, not knowing if your loved ones were going to be alive when you woke up in the morning."
Mx Moore shared a similar sentiment about the inherent qualities in the queer community, acknowledging the nuances across sub-groups and individuals.
"I think in some ways, the queer community actually had an advantage in that we were already very ... connected [and] caring," they said.
"It isn't necessarily unique for the queer community but when you've already had to face so much adversity, you do then have in-built skills that transfer to something like a big natural disaster."
Healing through the arts
Paul Walker has worked in community arts for several years and recognised the need for creative recovery projects in the flood-ravaged Northern Rivers region.
He said there was a lot of research showing the benefits of using creativity to work through trauma.
"It felt like people were yearning for something other than cleaning their house," he said.
Mr Walker successfully applied for seed funding to develop a series of eight free creative workshops.
He said the name of the workshops was a no-brainer.
"I Will Survive is a camp classic ... and it just seemed appropriate," he said.
"[It's] a call for us to say that we will get through this."
Each day-long workshop was led by a local practising artist and had a different focus — from dance to poetry, video production and painting, to photography and sound.
They also included social workers to help participants manage any trauma.
Mr Walker said it was inspiring to watch people's demeanours change as they connected through the workshops and embraced different kinds of creativity.
"Here in the Northern Rivers, and particularly in Lismore, there is a really strong queer community," he said.
"And this flood event has strengthened that support within our queer community.
"It has been like this regular heartbeat that has this regular kind of rhythm that's keeping us moving through."
A 'safe space' to cry
Ms Churchill said the workshops were a place she could bring her "confused emotions and feelings" every Saturday.
"It's been a very safe space to cry, to lament, to be upset," she said.
"And it's outside of every other thing in my life."
For Mx Moore, the workshops provided a platform for reciprocal support.
"To connect and be able to share stories and hear stories and to get to be a part of co-creating something with people has been incredible for my mental health," they said.
One of the themes to emerge from the artworks, Mr Walker said, was the idea of transformation rather than resilience in the aftermath of a disaster.
"To recover is to go back to where we were, where we're going to keep getting flooded and keep having to be resilient to deal with that," he said.
"[Whereas] transformation is that idea that we've had something that's affected us, it may have knocked us back ... but from that event we can transform into our next version."
The artworks and performances were brought together for an immersive showcase, which Mr Walker hoped can be developed further alongside more workshops.
