Custom fields on profile

Hi guys,

i'm trying to show the output of a custom field into one of the template overrides i've created (templates/my-template/html/com_easysocial/stream/default.php)

what i want to do is to show the custom filed with unique key: "TEXTAREA" above the status field, so when i add
<?php echo $user->getFieldValue( 'TEXTAREA' ); ?> above <?php if (!empty($story)) { echo $story->html(); } ?> or anywhere in that file, on front-end i get just white screen. Any idea what might be the problem?

Also, is it possible to make the custom field editable by the user directly on front-end? I have text-area which is something like user's biography, so i want the user to be able to edit the field right away, without clicking on "Edit Profile".

Thanks