Dear About Time,

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My name is Shea and I am currently just over 5 years into a 22 year sentence for murder. This is my first (and hopefully last) time coming to prison, and even after half a decade behind bars, I’m still coming to terms with all of the various consequences of the fact.

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I was never really one for goal setting or following a plan like most of us I guess… but my main priority now is trying to get parole before I hit 50, and while I still have a chance to spend some quality time with my mum. Sometimes I think she’s had a harder time dealing with me being locked up than I have, which is quite sad really.

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I’ve learnt a lot about myself throughout this experience as well as a great deal about other people, and society in general. My personality has ironically softened (to a degree), as I’ve grown to respect humility over arrogance, and opened my mind to better accept the flaws and failings of others, as I have felt from others in return.

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Over a decade until I’m coming up on my top/bottom end dates and yet I still have to field questions like “what are you going to do for work?” at CMRC reviews. As drones and AI enter the mainstream daily news cycle, I have to ask myself the very same question… what good is a traffic management certification when we’re firmly in the era of autonomously piloted quadcopter taxi services, ordered off a wristwatch?

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As Free-To-Air television starts to resemble a death rattle, with streaming services strangling the already glacial pace of new/decent entertainment and information available without an internet connection,

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I can feel myself becoming even more disconnected culturally from the world that I will one day be expected to reintegrate into successfully. Alone and isolated.

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I am thankful for any and all social and creative outlets, such as About Time, involved in the creation and distribution of your newspaper. They provide a link or window to another place, an opening for personal expression and a greater sense of community for those who choose to make use of the opportunities.

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Writing a book review for a peer newsletter that might only be read by a hundred or so inmates at one prison may not change the world, but having someone stop you in the yard to tell you that they were impressed with your writing is valuable and reinvigorating.

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None of us can change the past, or discount the events that brought us to prison; I will forever struggle with the reality of what I have done, and the knock-on effects for all those connected to either party thereafter. However, each and every day we are all presented with choices, great and small, that can have either a positive or beneficial outcome for ourselves and others. You just have to be open and mindful of that reality so you can make something worthwhile of your future.

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Don’t beat yourself up when you fail, simply seek to recommit yourself to a fresh start.

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The only failure is resigning yourself to defeat, and allowing set-backs to become an excuse to stop trying.

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I hope that anyone reading this allows themselves the gift of self forgiveness, and its role as a catalyst for positive progression in times of hardship.

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With genuine compassion and solidarity,

Shea