Pam Abela: 'I do absolutely love to listen to the BeeGees hitting those falsetto notes'

As a curator for therapeutic spaces, Pam Abela seeks to bring together her background in art practice and nursing. She negotiates a vocabulary of creative language from workshops, site-relevant art, performances, and metaphorical narrative to enhance the supportive environment. Pam acts as an arts and cultural agent in health, and works to promote wellbeing through creativity from an illness perspective.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Usually switch off my alarm, check my mobile, pretend I can go back to sleep for another 10 minutes and maybe rehash my dreams.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Do not be afraid and focus on NOW. By being aware of all the conditioning dumped on me and letting go of these false self-limiting premises, I know how to be creative out of this authentic experience of life.

What do you never leave the house without?

I wish to say my common sense, but probably my house keys are a more adequate answer although they do go hand in hand.

Pick three words that describe yourself

Empathic, fun-loving and creative.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Giving birth to three super amazing beings (Sophie, Adam and Gabriel) and myself as a work in progress… I’m currently on v7(0.4) latest update.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

I do absolutely love to listen to the BeeGees hitting those falsetto notes.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

Life has though me that I am here to simply live it, experience it without an agenda and not to attach too much to it.

Property and cars aside what’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever bought?

Art work for sure.

What is one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

That I do not need to prove anything to anyone and neither to myself. I do not need an excuse to exist or to give value to my existence. I just have to focus on what I love doing and to never ever repress myself out of fear or a sense of duty.

Who’s your inspiration?

Nature, passionate people who create out of love for what they do well, friends who shine, beautiful projects and my family who support and inspire me.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Forgiving and forgetting.

If you weren’t a [limited being] what would you be doing?

I would be preserving our local Maltese traditions, crafts, language, culture, natural landscape, towns and villages, sea, water table and soil quality whilst bringing in new aesthetically designed contemporary buildings ‘on stilts’ so we do not lose ground space, creating parks (such as one on Manoel Island). I would also be building underground roads for transport, creating pedestrianised village/town cores, opening theatres and cultural centres for the elderly, reshaping the whole educational system, bringing the arts into healthcare provision, clamping down on plastic containers and starting a refill system in big supermarkets… I should better stop.

Do you believe in God?   

Yes, I do, but my definition of God is very ALL inclusive.

If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would it be?

Jesus for sure.

What’s your worst habit?

Self-sabotage.

What are you like when you’re drunk?

Less fun because I’m like in the clouds more than ever. So, my sisters have developed a strict no alcohol policy for me.

Who would you have play you in a film?

Wes Anderson.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Arrogance, it brings out the worst in me.

What music would you have played at your funeral?

Bohemian Rhapsody which is my favourite ever composed music.

What is your most treasured material possession?

My grandmother’s antique bracelet.

What is your earliest memory?

Playing (or just self-engrossed) in my mother’s bedroom by her dressing table feeling like I am an eternally wise and ancient being. I must have been about two-years-old.

When did you last cry, and why?

A couple of days ago as I focused on an inner area of grief within me and I just cried.

Who would you most like to meet?

Well, I like to meet my partner the most and I would like to keep meeting him.

What’s your favourite food?

My mother’s tuna and spinach pie (which I cannot take anymore as I have become intolerant to gluten).

Who’s your favourite person on social media right now?

Problem is I don’t follow social media that much. So, I don’t really have a favourite.

If you could travel in time, where would you go?

I would go to Egypt.   

What book are you reading right now?

Quantum Body by Deepak Chopra.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

I would like to fly.   

What’s one thing you want to do before you die?

Nothing really. I don’t need to do anything.   

What music are you listening to at the moment?

I like to listen to soul music from Aretha Franklin to Ella Fritzgerald and Sam Cooke when I’m chilling.

In the shower or when you’re working out, what do you sing/listen to?

Depeche Mode are my go-to all-time favourites.