Learning to listen

Learning to listen

”A campfire wouldn’t be as exciting if it were silent.’’ Diane Ackerman A Natural History of the Senses   Did you hear that? It’s April slamming the door. May is a gentler word. A gentler month. A month of possibilities. Days of Maybes. The rain slips down...
Anzac Day & working to include everyone

Anzac Day & working to include everyone

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.”  Laurence Binyon 1914 Anzac Day is very emotive for many Australians and I imagine New...
How sketching teaches us to see the world differently

How sketching teaches us to see the world differently

”Kindred Spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.’’ L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables. I spent early Saturday evening with a billabong of animals. And artist Sam Cranstoun, twice finalist...
Philosopher Alain de Botton in Brisbane

Philosopher Alain de Botton in Brisbane

 ”You don’t know Australia. Australia was invented for you by the news.’’ Alain de Botton, author of Religion for Atheists, speaking in Brisbane.   How many people do you know who can laugh about a death threat? Alain de Botton, philosopher and author...
The importance of names, or, getting to know urban wildlife

The importance of names, or, getting to know urban wildlife

”Naming things gives you some familiarity with it so it’s not just always strange and odd.’’ Associate Professor Darryl Jones, Griffith University You can learn about a lot more than turkeys from the turkey man. Ok. He’s not just the turkey man. He’s Associate...
Caught between places: on home and belonging

Caught between places: on home and belonging

”Each displacement serves as a reminder of those homes where one does not dwell at present.’’  Susan Ossman, Moving Matters: Paths of Serial Migration   Emails from overseas tend to come in the morning. Draped in a gown of sleep I make a pot of green tea...
It’s not Down Under, it’s Upside-Down Under

It’s not Down Under, it’s Upside-Down Under

”Every moment now made one sweat profusely, and once wet one’s clothes stayed wet for a long time.’’ Nevil Shute, In the Wet   There is a reason they call Australia ”Down Under”. Down under the equator everything is different, even school. You...
Building a relationship with nature, or the naming of things

Building a relationship with nature, or the naming of things

  Click Click. My chiropractor works away at my stiff neck. ”You know, you shouldn’t feel bad. A lot of Australians don’t know the names of trees or plants,’’ she says. ”Left arm forward, please.’’I lift my left arm. Hmmm. My head is stuffed face down...
Listening for the voice of belonging

Listening for the voice of belonging

”How can you understand the planet without walking upon it, sampling its marvels one by one, and then floating high above it, to see it all in a single eye-gulp?’’ Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses On the 737 northbound from Sydney to Brisbane I...
Walking with Nana in the Blue Mountains

Walking with Nana in the Blue Mountains

“But in every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” John Muir Steep Trails   On my last day at Varuna in the Blue Mountains, I am up before the cockatoos. I have been working on an essay about my Nana who died last year. She was a big supporter...
Can I make myself belong, or do I have to find it?

Can I make myself belong, or do I have to find it?

This is an experiment, a study. It’s not grandiose. It’s not done with flow charts and decades of data. There is no power point presentation. Do I hear a sigh of relief? Before you get too relaxed, let me tell you it is all about me. And you. I launched this website,...
‘Straya Day

‘Straya Day

I’m at war with the journalist inside me. Facts only, it shouts. No opinions, no personal anecdotes. But that’s the interesting stuff, I whisper back. Besides, no one is objective. How lucky am I to entertain the luxury of an internal philosophical war? Not like Aziza...