a very long and 'big wet' weekend: facing eco-anxiety

Still photo from the fabulous 2012 eco-movie, Beasts of the Southern Wild, currently with several Oscar nominations, including youngest-ever best actress nominee, Quvenzhane Wallis, pictured, aged 6 when she made the movie. The words, in case you can't read them, are: 'When it all goes quiet behind my eyes, I see everything that made me flying around in invisible pieces. I see that I'm a little piece of a big, big universe'. Which should mean something to the particle physicists, at least.

Our long Australia Day weekend started by participating in Benarrawa Community Association's Invasion Day event on the banks of Oxley Creek, Graceville. This was an introduction to the local group for us, and brought an awareness of the Indigenous population who lived in this area. It put a very different perspective on Australia Day, which tends to bring out Australian flags, unpleasant jingoistic behaviour, excessive drinking, with the result that it is the busiest day of the year for Accident and Emergency Departments.

Meanwhile, the rain, which began with a steady drizzle, became increasingly intense, and by the middle of Sunday, it was unrelenting, becoming a fierce storm with wild winds, which continued for much of the night. This was the frightening impact of ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald, which had tracked Southwards from North Queensland, dumping huge amounts of rain in its path.

Queensland Floods 2011

I cannot remember a similar storm, in the 24 years I have lived in Brisbane. Given that Australians have experienced several catastrophic 'natural' (or should that be 'man-made'?) disasters this year already, including bush fires earlier in January, and extensive flooding, as a result of this event, I imagine we won't have to wait that long to experience something similar again. In particular, this storm came just two years after the devastating floods of December 2010-January 2011, and although the effects were less in most cases, it certainly has generated a great deal of fear and anxiety.

The after effects, for us, really are minor. Some small trees down, and part of the next door neighbour's roof (corrugated iron) flew into our verandah, which was scary at the time. And the following day I got stung by wasps, when we tried to lift up a huge cactus, knocked over in the wind, disturbing the wasp's nest within. The weirdest part was being, temporarily, at the mercy of the elements, and having to cancel any plans which involved going outside.

Meanwhile, I have been experimenting with Intermittent Fasting, which I wrote about in my last post, and am on my third Fast day so far. I'll report more in the future, but it is going really well. Hunger, it seems, is good for us in small doses, giving the body time to renew and repair.

more later.

the grammar of happiness and eat, fast, live longer!

frangipani in my backyard


 drawing a day: yourself. multicoloured pencil crayon

This drawing is the first in the 'drawing a day series', it is 'draw a picture of yourself'.  I enjoyed using the multicoloured pencil (that I also gave to everyone I work with for christmas). I do look severe/serious here! But for a quick drawing I quite like it.

From Inside the Russian Doll: Looking Out.
collage, pen and pastel drawing

 I did this a day or two earlier, but they seem to go well together - something about the eyes perhaps?

This is going to be a quick post, as I need to eventually look at my assignment, and I am very good at distracting myself (so far, I have vacuumed the house, gone shopping, got my haircut, put on and hung out washing, read other people's blogs, written this one - you get the idea).

I wanted to mention the Grammar of Happiness,shown on ABC on Monday night, about the Brazilian Pirah tribe, which has no past or future tense in their language. This is interesting from a linguistic point of view, which is the angle of the film, but also from a psychological perspective, since living in the present seems to be so important to our well-being and, you guessed right, happiness.And language is deeply implicated in psychological well-being. In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, the relationship is analysed in detail via Relational Frame Theory. Interesting.

In addition, I came across another book/documentary, Eat, Fast, Live Longer, mentioned in the Guardian by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, of River Cottage fame, who is currently trying to lose weight using the 5/2 approach. This involves fasting for 2 days out of 7, and eating normally the rest of the time. The idea being that this does not get boring like most diets. Although not clinically tested, it seems to work for a lot of people, and reduces their risk of a number of chronic health problems as well, for good scientific reasons outlined in the book (by Michael Moseley and Mimi Spencer). Moseley is a doctor, and the presenter of the original Horizon program, shown in 2012 in UK, I don't think it has been on here yet (or I must have missed it).

Anyway, it sounds interesting, I think I may give it a try...if I can cope with the carbo lows, hunger pangs, and keep exercising.

now for that assignment...


more later

Another heatwave: going back to work, keeping it smaller

 tiny house: pencil drawing

I like this because it is small. Its a small drawing of a smaller piece of china. in the form of a small house. It sort of looks like a face, as well. To me, at least...

Its been hard to go back to work, apart from the air-conditioning. I think I am still in a heat-induced veil of vagueness. Left my purse at work, on the first day back...I am in no hurry to get back into top gear, though. I want to keep things smaller, for as long as possible, before they get impossibly BIGGER!

I was just reminded of this the other day:

I am always looking for a new creative challenge...perhaps I wont do it everyday though, just in my own time. That way it might not get BIGGER!

And I will post any drawings I do.

And now for something new:

 Garden of Enlightenment at Chenrezig

Garden of Enlightenment at Chenrezig

Chenrezig is a Tibetan Buddhist retreat centre at Eudlo,  in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.  I went there for the first time the other day: although I had heard a lot about it, I had never actually been. It was a nice, relaxing visit, on a hot, hot day (another one!). 

This part of the garden is on the roof of a shrine building, and consists of a number of stupas, which represent the Buddha's mind, and whose symbolism is explained in the link. The four corners at the base represent Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity, which seems like a good basis for life, or even, Doing what Matters. I am certainly not a Buddhist, but there is something very universal about these values, which probably explains the growing appeal of Buddhism in the West.

I have received my first politics assignment back, and here is the link to the blog I had to post. 

more later.

The power of Denial, while Australia burns

 

Photo from The Age by Glenn Campbell

This Age article by opinion columnist Bruce Guthrie came with the above photo, and the title: 'Too damn hot: falling out of love with a sunburnt country', which is a good summary of how I am feeling about summer right now.

I have come to the conclusion that we cannot avoid it any longer - and yes, we are aware of the paradoxical nature of the decision - but for our sanity, we have to get an air-conditioner, at least for one room, so we have somewhere to escape to on superhot days, like today and yesterday (about 35 Celsius). (I know what you may be thinking, first world problem, but still...)

To escape the heat, I have been taking my son for lots of extra driving practice, and on Friday I tried going to the public library for a few hours, to write my politics assignment. (And by the way, I just submitted the assignment! Phew...)

I discovered that all Brisbane Libraries have free WiFi, which was great. And its a different experience working in a public space, which I quite enjoyed. However, its not always practical, say if you have to carry heaps of books around (luckily, this assignment just relied on online information).

The Queensland floods hit Brisbane exactly two years ago, and  it was quite strange, cycling along the river today,  thinking how it had looked then. Thankfully we headed out earlier than usual, at around 6.30am, to avoid the heat. And to contemplate the extremes in this climate of ours, over a skinny cap on Grey Street.

Meanwhile, Tasmania, usually derided by mainland Australians for being too cold and wet, has been burning, with some bushfires still alight after 10 days near the Tasman Peninsula. And Northern New South Wales (just South of Brisbane) has had many bushfires started by lightning overnight.

I called this post 'the power of denial', to comment on the fact that many people still seem complacently sceptical about climate change. This despite broken records, and expert advice. The photo in the Guardian article is possibly of the fire on Bribie Island: we drove through the smoke from this fire on Thursday, coming home from a day at the Sunshine Coast. Some of the public comments, which I have started tuning in to due to the assignment (ok, it wasn't anything to do with the climate, but still...) reflect an amazing level of denial, in my opinion. Scary. Precisely why we develop Denial, to protect us from fear, and other unpleasant emotions.

This cartoon is related to my assignment, and will probably only make sense to Australians. The woman in the cartoon is the Government Minister responsible for significantly reducing benefits to single parents last week. She foolishly said in response that she could live on $35 a day (I know it says $38 in the cartoon - a mistake). Hence the cartoon, which is too long for the page, if its big enough to read. Apologies.

I have to add this link, which  shows that John Howard was our most profligate prime minister in recent years, after all.  And the LNP keeps banging on about Labor's overspending...Hilarious.

On a brighter note, I have read a couple of books recently that I wanted to briefly mention. I just finished the Art of Hearing Heartbeats, by Jan Philipp Sendker, a mystery about a man who grows up in Burma, and becomes a US lawyer, and then disappears, one day after his daughter graduates from law school. She goes to Burma to find him, and learns about his early life. Amazing. And I am now reading Shiver by Nikki Gemmel, a novel about a female journalist who goes to a trip to the Antarctic. Its nice to read about the cold, at least, and Gemmel is a good writer.

Keep cool - I am almost glad to be going back to work on Tuesday, just for the air-con in the car and the office... 

more later




.

Finishing what I started - and digressing a bit...

 Botanical Gardens - sculpture

In this post, I am going to try and finish the review - the one that I never quite got around to completing before - (and maybe, for future reference, I need to reduce the number of points to focus on at a time, for these projects I set myself to be more manageable).

1. The first one of the remaining five, is Therapy. Now, don't laugh, but I can't exactly remember what I meant by therapy (!).  I am going to guess that it is about ongoing professional development. Since identifying these goals/values two years ago. I have embarked on a Masters of Social Work, which is half complete, so in a sense, I have this one covered. I have also attended and presented at Acceptance and Commitment Therapy conferences, and organised an Art Therapy conference, as well. Life Long Learning, as they (we?) say at QUT. I really enjoy learning new things, although I sometimes have difficulty putting new knowledge into practice. 

 

home away from home - 

community bike repair station at South Bank Parklands

I love this!

2. Home, is the second value, and what better time to be writing about it, on my holidays at home...all good that is, until we have an extremely hot day. Which tomorrow is predicted to be, in several states, but fortunately not for South East Queensland. Tasmania's bushland has been burning out of control this week, and it is two years since Queensland, including Brisbane, was extensively flooded. This makes me appreciate Home. Oh, and the shower is leaking, so a plumber is coming tomorrow. But usually, I love being at home, its one of my favourite places. 

 

Botanical growth

3. Emotional growth - trying to write (and make art) here about emotions is interesting. I am fairly cautious about writing about others, but I consider myself fair game. I am pretty open about my anxiety, which is the private (hidden) emotion that I struggle with most - often around 3am. I believe that meditation is making me calmer overall, however. Which is the main reason I keep doing it. Having just witnessed my dog having a near panic attack at the vet this arvo, I truly appreciate the value of CALM.

                                                                            speechless
 
4. Communication. Funnily enough, one of my social work assignments is to write, in a public blog, on a topic of current economic policy...this is actually a bit terrifying, as the comments from other bloggers are often brutal. I think I am going to write about the single parent pension being cut to parents with children over 8, which was implemented on 1st January. Instead, they will get New Start, which will take them below the poverty line. This apparently is an 'Incentive to work'. And the Minister, Jenny Macklin, said she could live on $35 a day. And lots of people now want her to prove it.

One of the things I enjoyed learning about this year was Non-Violent Communication. This is one of those 'hard to put into practice' examples. And especially on a public blog!

5. Spirituality - the last of the thirteen - and the one I struggle most with. I think it is somehow too intangible for me. Whereas mindfulness, I can handle. Having said that, I saw the movie Samsara the other night: quite a splendid visual feast, and with Spiritual Themes. Quite amazing. I think it had a vaguely Buddhist underlying theme - with Tibetan monks, a prayer wheel, a sand mandala, and the title, Samsara, which means the 'ever turning wheel of life' in Sanskrit. It seemed to emphasise impermanence, or change, to me, which I guess is a variation of the same thing. It is also slightly unnerving, especially some scenes in Chinese (I presume) factories, prisons and on rubbish dumps. And the Ghanian man, who is buried in a coffin shaped like a gun. Seriously.

Well, I think I have done my baker's dozen, and without a digression. I thought I should call the blog, 'Doing what matters - and the odd digression' - and perhaps I will. My next task is to whittle down the 13 into a manageable number, say three.

And to spend less time on ancestry.com (but I did trace a direct line of 22 generations, back to Robert the Bruce, aka Braveheart, yay!).

And to start my assignment.

more later. 

Why less is more: upcycling frugality

the latest journal - made yesterday

Bear with me here, I do get to the point eventually...

Back again...with vacuum cleaner unrepaired. It seems only the first problem was fixed, which is that the cord would not retract, as 6 clothes pegs (yes, 6!) were stuck inside the cord reel. Which is due to a Godfreys person telling me, some time ago, to use clothes pegs to stop the cord retracting, which it does, at will, until the cord is only 6 cms long. So the original problem, of retracting-at-will cord (are you following this?), is unfixed. Incidentally, the repairman told me, that they have to charge a deposit in advance now, as people often don't bother to return to collect their fixed vacuum cleaners. they go and buy a new one instead. And this is related to frugality. Sometimes you have to spend money, to save money. And repairing stuff, rather than buying new stuff, is a good example.

Some electrical equipment seems designed to last a short time. My I-phone lasted only a couple of years (now I have an android, probably no better). I would never buy another Brother sewing machine. Yes, it was cheap, but it stopped working properly, and the repairman told me they are expensive to fix, as the mechanics are hard to access, and it takes time to take them apart. So I now use my mother's old sewing machine, a Pfaff, which works really well. Its clunky, heavy and noisy, but it looks retro, and its great!

I don't usually mention brand names, but it seems appropriate here. Anyway, frugality is a personal value, and is something I try to live by. Sometimes it does involve spending money. I am getting organic vege boxes from Food Connect, as they have food sourced from local farmers only. So whilst this costs more than buying from Aldi, it is better for the environment (saves transport costs, as well as not using pesticides), and for local farmers. And possibly better for our health - still not sure on this one. Of course, I am still growing some veges, but not enough! And some things at Aldi are hard to resist, like $2 boxes of blueberries...but frugality I think also applies to non-monetary things.

I used to believe in, or at least, practice, retail therapy. But now, thanks to trying to 'do what matters', I avoid shopping centres as much as possible. They depress me, and I feel happier for not being in them. I am glad my younger son's high school (BSHS) is not near a mall, as my older son's was (Carindale). Loitering with dissent; not a good pastime for the youf of today.

 recycling: print collage

Frugality also involves reusing, and upcycling, where possible.  The journal in the top photo, above, is made from paper I recycled from my 'stash', and a remnant of fabric from Spotlight. The paper includes old architectural drawings from our reno, (how appropriate) and some old artworks, as well as daggy bits of paper that were 'leftovers'. Its very satisfying to make something new out of these scraps. The collage, above, similarly, is from a collection of old prints, that I was given at a workshop last year. And is in my current journal, which was a gift from a student I had on placement with me, who taught me how to make journals in the first place. Thanks, Tabs!

And on the topic of leftovers, I also try to waste as little food as possible. This means looking in the fridge, and freezer, before looking in a recipe book. Having leftovers for lunch. Recycling meals (sometimes they need a bit of a disguise, or upcycle, to avoid boredom). Not buying coffee, unless I am actually going out for coffee. And if all else fails, chooks are good recycling engines. 

I bought S a book on Zen and the art of raising chickens for christmas. He seems to like it. Yes, I still buy stuff. Books of all kinds (craft, fiction, anthologies, non-fiction on various topics, including upcycling!) are a particular weakness. I also regularly use all the libraries (public and academic) I have access to. I only bought one social work text book last year. And I looked at several! 

I also still buy clothes, which is harder to justify. Probably an indulgence. But I buy less often, and more carefully, like trying to get organic cotton garments. 

I also love op shops: I have one on site at work, which is particularly useful. If we need something for therapy supplies, the op shop can usually source it within the day. 

bike sign, from under the expressway, Brisbane city

Leisure, also, can be a frugality challenge. I have clients who believe they have to take their children to theme parks, to have 'quality time' together.  This is sad, although I must admit, I do miss doing child-centred things, now the boys are older. I like walking in the rainforest, going to the beach, and being at home. Creating, whether it be making art, gardening or sewing. Going to independent cinemas, which don't upsell the popcorn, which I don't eat anyway. Up-Cycling along the river (I couldn't resist that, sorry), on Sunday mornings. Going for a drive (in our diesel-fuelled car). Writing this blog. Cooking our own meals. 

Being happy with less.

We are going on another drive. Unavoidable, when learning to drive.

more later.

'too far, too much, too quickly': happy chaotic new year

'too far, too much, too quickly': my image for the new year

I started 2012 with the image of a firework. For 2013, I chose this photo from the Brisbane protest rally on 12th September, the day after the Queensland public service budget cuts were announced. This confrontation is, quite rightly, going to continue to dominate the state government arena in 2013. The meta message to myself, politics aside for a moment, is to slow down, do (or have) less, and be less ambitious! And these imperatives can be applied to many areas, including this blog!

Perhaps, cherished long term readers, you were all too polite to mention it, but I have realised I have been very disorganised. From the outset, in writing this blog, particularly in relation to stating and reviewing my values, or areas of committed action, and the goals that flow from them, I have been remiss. By actually reviewing (rather than assuming I knew or remembered)  what I had written, I discovered, to my shame, that I didn't ever complete defining my original thirteen 'areas'. No wonder it has been difficult to review them: the best attempt was in July 2011, in three word rhymes. In consistent fashion, I am in danger of doing the same again, by failing to deliver on my promise to review them all at the beginning of this year. So to try to prevent this, the remaining seven areas still to be reviewed are as follows:

• leisure,
• frugality,
• therapy,
• home,
• emotional growth
• communication
• spirituality

I will start each topic by trying to write what I was trying to achieve. In some cases, I am not quite sure. At my age, I need to write everything down, obviously!

 bird of leisure - Brisbane Botanic gardens

Leisure
This is a fairly straightforward  value, namely to focus on leisure, and actively doing fun stuff, rather than passively vegging (?) out. Which of course, is sometimes a great thing, and possibly the only thing I am capable of at the time, but I need to remind myself that actively seeking leisure is also worthwhile and fun. This can include reading - apart from text books, which I usually try to avoid anyway - and watching movies, but not tv. Unless it is mindful tv, which is watching something because I want to, not because it is on at the time (usually its an old episode of QI - how many did they make?). I have done reasonably well on this one, but sometimes, surprisingly, holidays are a challenge, as I am so reliant on structure the rest of the time.

cockatoos taking tea - Mount Nebo

Another photo of birds relaxing, suggesting perhaps they are a good model to follow? This was taken on a bushland drive, to give my younger son some driving practice the other day.

Frugality is a big one, so I will do a separate post, hopefully later today. Now I have a vacuum cleaner to collect from the repair shop. And that is another story.

more later...