Claire Donald

Oh, my God.

It was like devastating.

So I truly have so much like empathy for –

kids that have to do that yeah and it definitely affected her she felt like she was always watching rather than belonging and like we were saying earlier it is crucial because Joan's identity from the start was built on observation rather than participation she was never like I need to be the center of attention and

which also cannot relate.

What's that like?

So when she was young, her mom gave her her first notebook when she was five years old with a suggestion that Joan stop whining and learn to amuse herself by writing down her thoughts.

I thought it was going to be something really sweet of like, my darling girl, you have a brilliant mind.

She was like, shut up.

Sit down and shut up.

Literally, she was like, you're bored?

Then like, write out your thoughts and feelings.

I can't help you.

I mean, I don't blame any parent.

Well, especially this is a time where children are to be seen, not heard.

It's like no iPads yet.

No.

Like what's a girl to do?

Well, God and like the creativity that can come from that, which is exactly what we see with Joan.

So she gets her first notebook and her first ever entry is an account of a woman who believes herself to be freezing to death in the Arctic night, only to wake up and realize she has stumbled onto the Sahara Desert where she will die before lunch.