My annual ode to getting older. It has a dark beginning but hang in there, it has a happy(ish) ending… I was in the midst of a sweaty throng of other rock fans jumping up and down to my fave live band feeling super fucking happy...
Life, Death & Stories: The Wisdom of our Elders
There is vast wisdom that can't be found in books and universities. It comes instead from doing the time. And the only ones who have it are our elders, who've walked the path ahead. And when we can slow down enough to listen, and drop our obsession with youth, they'll tell us stories. Here's one from my neighbour Ken...
Commute: The Magic Between Departure and Arrival
Today I slid my laptop into a beach bag with coffee money, wandered out the back gate to the beach, stopped to take a close-up of a flower still covered in dew, then walked along the beach to a little café to sip coffee and write... I reflected on how things change and how the word ‘commute’ has taken on a very different meaning for me...
Today You Would Have Been 90
As hard as it is for me to admit it, you made a great choice not sticking around for your 90th. There would have been lap blankets for sure, and people writing you off as an old person which you never were.
The Misadventure Continues...
It was getting dark and all the boys were wet and now two of them were off in the wilderness somewhere. It suddenly felt really stupid to have broken up the group. Isn't that rule #1 of any horror movie?
Enchantment: Teaching Grown Ups How to Play
The importance of play for childhood development is well documented, but I wonder when and why it stops being important for grown ups? Why do we get serious and forget about magic and simple moments? Kids have so much to teach us.
At Least the Wattle Keeps on Blooming
Mum sits the three of us down at the kitchen table and asks us if we’ve noticed that she and Dad have been arguing a lot. I’m eight, the oldest and the most outspoken. I ask as a joke if they’re going to get divorced. It seems like such a whacky possibility. Something that happens on TV, not in our house.
Four Things I Learned Hiking with my Seven-Year-Old
It felt great to be outside, surrounded by nature, breathing in the fresh air - rich with the perfume of eucalyptus. The rain had intensified the colours of the forest and little birds were flittering around us, enjoying the rejuvenating shower and the droplets that sparkled on the tips of leaves like diamonds.
Awakening of Love
Yes it felt warm and delicate and fuzzy to ‘awaken to love’… But it also felt pretty fucking rock and roll quite frankly.
It's Not Too Late
What would my 20-year-old self think of my almost 40-year-old self? She’d probably think, “Oh fuck, you still haven’t done any of that stuff? Now it’s way too late. You’re old. You missed the boat.” And I’d say, “Yeah, I know, I know, I’ve been thinking that too.”
Tomato & Onion Sandwiches
The shearing shed is a flurry of activity. The three sets of mechanical shears powered by the loud petrol engine buzz and clitter-clatter in competition with each other. As do the shearers who hold the shears, bent over their sheep – deep in the meditation of their craft.
We Teach Best What We Most Need To Learn
When I heard those words I dropped the bed sheet I was busy folding into a hospital corner, and stood up with a big stupid grin of enlightenment.
Today I’m Thinking About Death
A poem about life and death and time and things...
11 Writing Tips From A Passionate Love Affair
The relationship between writer and writing is like a passionate love affair. We love, we hate; we cry, we laugh; we’re on, we’re off. We ignore each other, obsess over each other; throw roses, throw plates. All in the silence and stillness of a solitary place.
Measuring Moments: The Antidote to Not-Enoughness
Do you ever wonder if you’ve changed much over the last 20 years? And by change I don’t mean more wrinkles. I mean wisdom, lessons learned, improvement - existential progress. How can you tell? How do you make a quantitative assessment of a qualitative phenomenon? This is how...
Close Encounters of the Human Kind
As I boarded and walked up the aisle, trying not to thump anyone in the head with my bag, I scanned the seat numbers until I found mine. There was a man sitting in the middle seat.
Somewhere Between Failed Bogan & Enlightened Yogi
Identity is a funny thing. We do things, say things, gather possessions, acquire skills, have opinions… So we can be somebody. Then, if we’re on ye olde spiritual journey, we set about trying to lose them, then pick up more in the process.
What You Gonna Do With The Simmer?
A few mornings past I woke up feeling like I was still caught in that land that hovers between sleep and waking... But the dude behind me brought this important information to my immediate attention with a loud honk on his horn... Road rage, how do you react?
I Got Wise: Four Things I learned at 40
Well, it seems that just maybe I did do some growing up in the last year, because this birthday I chilled the F out, and noticed that I knew some stuff that I didn’t know last year. I’ll spare you a list of 40, but here’s four: 1. Stop being so fucking hard on yourself...
Notes on Resolutions, Growing Up & Fun
Is there really any profound difference between 11.59 on the 31st December and one past midnight on 1st January? Is there such a thing as time and space? And just because everyone's doing it, does that mean we all have to be lemmings? ...Notes on new year resolutions, growing up and fun. :)