I AM FROM THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN THE WORLD. BIG AND SUBJECTIVE I KNOW. YET I’VE SPENT MUCH OF MY TWENTIES COLLECTING DATA ON THIS. I’VE LIVED IN ROMANESQUE VILLAGES ON THE SLOPES OF LAC LÉMAN (LAKE GENEVA), WAKING UP TO SEE SNOW CAPPED FRENCH ALPS THROUGH MY WINDOW. I’VE BACKPACKED MY WAY THROUGH NATIONAL PARKS AND THE REMOTE ISLANDS OF NORTH AMERICA. I’M LUCKY TO HAVE WANDERED THROUGH THE ANCIENT PAGODAS OF AN INCENSE INFUSED MYANMAR AND SINGING ONE DIRECTION SONGS WITH BUDDHIST MONKS IN FOREST MONASTERIES. I WRITE THIS PARAGRAPH OVERLOOKING THE FJORDS OF WESTERN NORWAY. AND YET, I AM STILL TO FIND ANYWHERE AS HOLISTICALLY BEAUTIFUL, ABUNDANT, SAFE AND RICH AS MY HOME.
I SPENT MY CHILDHOOD LEARNING THE RHYTHMS OF THE OCEAN’S WAVES, SKINNY DIPPING WITH FRIENDS AND PLAYING WITH COUSINS AND BROTHERS IN THE MINT SCENTED GARDEN OF MY GRANDPARENTS’ HOME. MY TIES GO BACK FAR TO THIS PLACE. 115 YEARS AGO, MY GRANDMOTHER’S FAMILY BEGAN A DAIRY FARM IN DORRIGO, THE MOUNTAIN PLATEAU OF MY REGION. MY FATHER GREW UP ON A 75 ACRE CROP FARM WHICH IS NOW LITTERED WITH HUNDREDS OF COLOUR-BOND ROOFS AND MANICURED CUL DE SACS.
IT’S EVIDENT – MY HOME HAS RAPIDLY CHANGED. THE BUILDINGS HAVE GROWN, RIVERS NOW SNAKE NEW PATHS AND DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES ARE WEAVING INTO ITS TAPESTRY. YET, ITS HOLD ON ME STRENGTHENS. WITH EVERY NEW ROLLING SET AND FRESH CUMQUAT SEASON, THE LOVE OF MY HOME GROWS AND SOWS DEEPER THAN BEFORE. SO, FOR ME. THIS INTERVIEW SERIES, THIS PROJECT IS MY SMALL PART IN CONTINUING TO MAKE MY HOME THE MOST SAFE, BEAUTIFUL AND ENRICHED PLACE I KNOW FOR THOSE FROM LONG AGO AND THOSE THAT CONTINUE TO MAKE IT THEIR HOME.
HOW THIS IDEA ALL STARTED
I’VE ALWAYS SPENT LONG EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME IN MY HOMETOWN SINCE HIGH SCHOOL HOWEVER WITH THE ONSET OF COVID, I PACKED A SCHOOL SIZED BACKPACK AND MOVED BACK IN WITH MY PARENTS. I THEN MET A WONDERFUL BOY DOING A SURF CHECK ONE MORNING AND NOW WE GROW PUMPKINS TOGETHER AND MAKE JAM FROM THE FRUIT WE PICK. AND IT FEELS WONDERFUL. BUT I WORKED FROM A FOUR-WALL BEDROOM AND WANTED TO FEEL MORE INVOLVED IN MY HOME. I SOUGHT OUT A SMALL NFP THAT SET UP AFTER SCHOOL ENGLISH READING HELP FOR REFUGEE KIDS FROM A LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL. AND SO… I MET THE AL MHAMA FAMILY, AND THAT HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING.
THEN, ONE DAY I WAS SPEAKING TO A FRIEND WHO IS AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT DOCTOR. SITTING IN RAIN SOAKED JACKETS WITH COFFEE IN HAND, WE SPOKE ABOUT THE INTENSITY OF HIS JOB. HE SAID ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS HE LOVES IS THAT HE SPENDS HIS ENTIRE DAY NOT THINKING ABOUT HIMSELF. NOT IN A NEGLECTFUL WAY, NOT IN A DISMISSIVE WAY. IN A WAY THAT UNDERSTANDS HIS PLACE AND HIS GOOD AMONGST OTHERS EACH DAY. HIS CAREER REQUIRES THAT HE ISN’T NAVEL GAZING. HE ISN’T SUFFERING A QUASI OMPHALOS SYNDROME. YET, IN SOME SOCIETIES FOR MILLENNIUM WE HAVE LOOKED ONLY AT OURSELVES TO CHALLENGING AVAIL.
CICERO, ANCIENT ROMAN ORATOR WAS CONCERNED WITH THE CORRUPTION OF MORALS WHEN WOMEN BEGAN WEARING MORE JEWELLERY. PERICLES, GREEK STATESMAN CARVED HIS NAME IN STONE MONUMENTS AND HIS MEN TOOK DOWN THEIR BROTHERS FOR POWER. FROM A WESTERN PERSPECTIVE, WE ARE OFTEN TAUGHT TO BE NAVEL-GAZING. BUT OUTDATING THIS ALL, AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS CULTURE KNEW THEIR SURVIVAL AND CONTINUATION CAME FROM A DEEPLY SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE AND A RELIANCE ON AN INTRICATE AND COMPLEX KINSHIP SYSTEM. A CULTURE THAT HAS ENDURED ICE AGES, WAVES OF COLONISATION AND DESTRUCTION. SO PERHAPS, IT IS A LITTLE MORE LISTENING AND A LITTLE MORE CONNECTION THAT CAN MAKE OUR TIME HERE A LITTLE BETTER. AND SO, AN IDEA WAS BORN…
WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT
ONE MONDAY, I WAS TELLING THE AL MHAMA KIDS, ALL PRIMARY SCHOOL AGED, ABOUT MY WONDERFUL CAMPING TRIP ON THE WEEKEND.
‘NO. WE HATE CAMPING!’, THEY SAY.
‘WHAT? NO WHY. YOU CAN GO FISHING AND SLEEP OUTSIDE AND SEE THE STARS. AND HEAR THE OCEAN. YOU SHOULD GO CAMPING HERE’.
‘WE WENT CAMPING FOR 30 WEEKS ONCE AND I GOT BITTEN BY A …’ AND THE ELDEST BOY MAKES THE SHAPE OF A SCORPION TAIL WITH HIS HANDS.
AND THEN THE PENNY DROPPED…
CAMPING. 13 WEEKS. THEY MEANT REFUGEE CAMP AND HERE I WAS TRYING TO CONVINCE THEM HOW LOVELY IT IS TO SLEEP IN A TENT ON THE GROUND AND LISTEN TO THE BIRD’S SONGS CARRIED IN THE MORNING DEW.
I HAVE A DEGREE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND GLOBAL STUDIES. I WORKED WITH ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER HIGH SCHOOLERS FOR THE FIRST FOUR YEARS OF MY PROFESSIONAL LIFE, SAT WITH ZIMBABWEAN HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS LISTENING TO THEIR DREAMS FOR A POST SCHOOL LIFE AND I AM SIX MONTHS AWAY FROM BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL HISTORIAN. AND I AM STILL SO SIMPLY IGNORANT. THIS EXPERIENCE HAS HUMBLED ME. AWOKEN ME AND ADDED INTENSE JOY TO MY WORLD.
CHARLIE CHAPLIN SAID, ‘THE WORST THING I CAN IMAGINE IS GETTING USED TO LUXURY’. THESE STORIES ARE SIGNPOST REMINDERS OF HOW SIMPLY AND INHERENTLY NECESSARY IT IS TO BE SAFE. TO BE LOVED AND FEEL LOVED. TO HAVE OUR PEOPLE. TO HAVE HEALTH. AND TO KNOW THAT IF WE HAVE THOSE THINGS, WE ARE PRETTY DAMN CLOSE TO HAVING IT ALL.
THERE IS A STUDY OF NAVAL OFFICERS IN THE USA, YEARS AGO. THROUGH ARBITRARY SORTING, THE OFFICERS ON SHIPS THAT HAD AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN ON IT, EXHIBITED 5 TIMES LESS RACIALLY BIASED TENDENCIES OR RACIALLY FUELLED DISCRIMINATION THAN THOSE THAT DIDN’T. THE POINT; EXPOSURE AND PROXIMITY EVAPORATES HATE.
FOR US, MANY HAVE OUR OWN FOND MEMORIES OF TRAVELS TO BEAUTIFUL CITIES AND DISTANT DREAMS. MEANING THAT WHEN A RIOT BREAKS OUT IN PARIS, WE WILL FEEL SADDENED BUT POTENTIALLY WE ARE GROUNDED BY OUR OWN FOND MEMORY OF TRYING CAPPUCCINO FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH OUR FATHER WHILE IN A CAFE WITH RED SHADES, LINING THE CHAMPS ÉLYSÉES. OR AT LEAST, WE CAN SEE JASON BOURNE HEROICALLY LEAPING BETWEEN STUNNING CORINTHIAN COLUMNS. WE DON’T SEE PARIS AND ITS CONFLICTS AS AN ‘OTHER’. JUST A PLACE WITH CHALLENGES, LIKE OUR OWN HOME.
YET, MANY OF US HAVE NO PERSONAL CONNECTION TO THE HOMES AND PLACES OUR BURMESE NEIGHBOUR KNOWS SO WELL. OR THE ROOFTOPS OF TABRIZ. WE HAVEN’T SEEN THE BEAUTY OF A FIERY SUMMER SUNSET, SILHOUETTING THE SHAWEDAGON PAGODA OF DOWNTOWN YANGON. BUT WE CAN IMAGINE OURSELVES IN JULIA ROBERTS’ PLACE WALKING INTO A CORNER BOOKSTORE, FALLING IN LOVE WITH A SHAGGY HAIRED ENGLISHMAN. WE ARE DISCONNECTED FROM THE HOMES AND RITUALS OF OUR NEIGHBOURS’ COMMUNITIES SO WE FEEL AT A DISTANCE TO THESE NEW SCHOOL PEERS AND COLLEAGUES.
SO, THIS IS MY SMALL ANTIDOTE AND CONTRIBUTION TO CHALLENGE THE FAST PACE, NOT-KNOWING-YOUR-NEXTDOOR-NEIGHBOUR TIMES OF MODERNITY. PERHAPS FOR ONLY A MOMENT- WHETHER YOU’RE COMMUTING POTTS POINT TO WYNYARD, OR HAMMERSMITH TO EMBARKMENT, WE CAN PART FROM OURSELVES, OUR THOUGHTS AND OUR ALGORITHMS AND, JUST FOR ONE BEAT COME WITH ME TO GO BEYOND YOURSELF. TO PLAY THE ROLE OF BOTH THE GUEST AND THE HOST.
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