Meet Michelle Devon of Chicago

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Devon.

Hi Michelle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When it comes to the arts, I’ve been active in it for so many years now. I began as a artist who dabbled in both painting and sketching in my childhood. Though I continued with sketching & painting even throughout high school, gradually I moved into media. This was without any formal training but with keen interest in cinema or films.

Cinema became important for me in late teen-hood and early adulthood. Of course, when we’re young, we watch movies like most people. You can enjoy, love, or hate it. But as I got older and began to really see the potential of depth that film can showcase, it’s then I felt compelled to pursue my visions using this incredible medium.

Photography helped to open the door to that certainly. I learned, through it, to do my best in creating stories by creating proper composition within my frames. All of this, again, came by the heart and not with any formal training. I then took these principles and translated them into filmmaking. From then on, I began to realize, through the compliments I got from collaborators as well as others outside of film, I was on to something good.

But I consider myself a novice still. There’s still so much I don’t know about the world of film. Currently, I’m taking independent courses and watching videos on different ways on how to improve as a filmmaker.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It really has been an arduous process..to be honest. When I first came into filmmaking or media arts, I was so sure of my love for it. But I’ve been very naive. I truly wish I went through some kind of formal training for it. I feel that way, I’d have better terminology and methodology at hand. To put it simply, I’d feel so much more professional haha.

With how I’ve been doing things, it’s just been me accumulating knowledge either by research online or interactions with other talent in the area. They’ve been nothing but generous in being able to share with me their successes within the film world. I’m truly grateful for the people I met and the connections I’ve made.

But again, it’s been a bittersweet journey also because of personal circumstances that impacted my life. I grew up with poor mental health. I don’t put that lightly either, as I grew up with something called Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D) and others. Because of D.I.D, and with helpful realization from a mental health team I was seeing at the time, I live with something else called Depersonalization which we believe came from my time living with D.I.D.

Like D.I.D, Depersonalization is also a dissociative disorder. These plus a couple other mental illnesses I deal with are a result of a deeply traumatic experience I faced as a child involving sexual abuse. D.I.D, like others who have it, was my way of “saving” myself from that situation. But the sad thing is, I lived life in pieces literally as different personas or “alters” guided my body day to day. I can’t recall key memories including much of that of the abuse-although bits of memory from that have popped up throughout the years.

This is an odd thing to share with people that don’t understand but it’s a real thing. I ask that people reading be mindful and kind to sufferers of D.I.D everywhere. Trauma can destroy a person and there’s different things we will do to survive that won’t make sense to others. But it’s our way of coping sometimes. My advice to anyone in my situation is to hang on.

The good news is I’m way better now and no longer have D.I.D. But because of the experience, I manage a mental health website called A System of Love. Something I hope that will help so many people as the years go by.

Mental illness has definitely impacted my way of filmmaking. It’s definitely left me feeling deeply insecure about myself and movements as a filmmaker. But my promise is to be patient with myself and allow room for healing when I need it even over a film.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
For my day to day work, I’m a caregiver as of now! I’ve been doing it for about 6-7 years now. Some years I’ve been in and out of it, but I returned this year.

So far, it’s going great! I love my job plus adore my client. She is a wonderful and beautiful elderly lady in her 90s with such a sweet smile.

Caregiving is not an easy job though. It does require a lot of patience depending on the client or their needs. But it can be a rewarding experience as you learn a lot.

I’ve learned very much through my career or work for sure. You get a firsthand view of what happens to you when you age and how much care and love you will need. Love is very important. I’ve noticed with all my past clients, all they wanted was someone who was there and truly cared for them.

You’re so vulnerable at the ages I’ve cared of different clients! There’s so much you may need help with and my heart feels for their vulnerability and sensitivity. It doesn’t matter if you were a strong man or woman, you will need people around you who can support you as you become weaker with age. You also want to feel less alone. It’s been a beautiful privilege to provide support to the different elderly individuals who came my way. I’ve also made some truly wonderful friends in my work with either clients, caregivers, or family members.

One friend I don’t forget is the daughter of a man I cared for. He was such a wonderful and fun client. When he passed, the daughter and I remained close and she’s still my friend to this day. She’s very busy woman now, but I think about her. Another friend I made (who I need to call right away after completing this interview haha) is a friend who is in her 90’s! She called me one day during last holiday season and I couldn’t believe it. Years before that, I was thinking about her and it was a nice Christmas surprise. I was her caregiver one year and I loved my walks from home to her house and back during the Summer.

With caregiving, you do it all sometimes. You cook, clean, bathe or provide bathe assistance/support, and provide companionship. I even have done hospice care and that changed my life.

I witnessed my client die in front of me. It broke me, but I think about her final moments and hope that the cookie I wanted her to have days before death brought a lot of light to her. She was going through a tough time. She was in so much pain or torment mentally and physically. But I remember holding her hand and saying a prayer when it was just me and her body while the people from the morgue were on their way to pick her up. That entire experience was surreal to me. I wasn’t alone before all that, her hospice nurse will be forever be an angel in my heart. She was so supportive even before she had to go to other hospice clients the day of my client’s death.

As time goes on, I hope my services can really bring compassion to people. I’ve learned to be a lot more nurturing to people because of my job. With us as people, we truly deserve the sweetest love and care. I believe we are made to be cherished and I’ve seen the need for love grow with elderly clients who feel vulnerable. I have no problem providing this at all. It can be hard for the ones who resist it, but it goes a long way for the ones who are looking for it.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
When it comes to caregiving, that industry will be there forever haha! There’s always going to be room for that available whatever year. If anyone reading would like to become a caregiver or needs assistance for family, look and research into it. There’s also caregiving courses online that can help family members be prepared or provide education on how to become great caregivers.

When it comes to film, that too is going to be there for a long time. But it’s evolution will be interesting especially with introductions to A.I. in the age we’re in. I do see myself as a filmmaker for a long time. I don’t want to stop unless (I’m faith-based by the way) God told me too lol.

If life hits and I happen to find someone or become married with kids, etc, I still want to be that woman that still makes films. I even imagined writing with children around. I may be the mother that has my kids be in a movie, that is if they want to. I never want to put pressure on them to do what I do.

But my plan as a filmmaker is to hopefully create films that are very innovative. I appreciate that within classic cinema, there were all these movements that took place whether it was the French New Wave or German Expressionism, etc. There was so much movement for change in cinema upcoming then. We have far more advanced technology including (as I mentioned before) A.I. that can more than help us instigate all newer movements within cinema or the arts.

But we don’t know what to do with it except for to experiment with it. This is how it was when movies were introduced too. People didn’t know what to do with it besides play around with it and create their own little “films” or shorts. But then you had those that took this new thing at the time and transformed the game a little bit. These individuals went on to create whole genres, movements, and unique categories that really have defined what film or filmmaking is today.

I want to be in that race too myself as the years go on. That’s why I don’t want to stop. You never know how film will change as the years go on and the best thing I can do is learn as much as I can from the the new (and the old) and hopefully establish ideas that can bring something new to the table as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mdevongallery.weebly.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mdevongallery/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vfilmsusa/videos
• Other: https://vfilmsusa.weebly.com/

Image Credits
All photos taken and edited by myself (I’m also a photographer)