Posts

Mental wellbeing

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  I'm lucky to be in a book club, a fabulous small bunch of blokes who read interesting books and get together once a month in our local pub (and later at the Italian restaurant for affogato and dessert). I'm a newby. This month was my turn to offer a book. Dangerously, I submitted a title I hadn't read, but one from a writer I know and trust, Alain de Botton. His latest book, A Therapeutic Journey , offers insight into the minds and lives of those of us struggling to stay well mentally. It was heavy going for some of us. A bit close to home and a bit heavy, but deeply appreciated by others. The strength of the book from my reading, was the normalising of mental sickness. We know that mental illness has become a common, almost ubiquitous phenomena, draining so much life from families, communities and workplaces, let alone the quality of life for those who suffer. De Botton offers an invitation to understand and therefore empathise with those who's internal demons have t

the character of mountains and the ethics of adventure

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On the drive away from Mount Roland in northern Tasmania, we were talking about how this mountain felt inviting, friendly almost. It's not that her dolerite peaks and jagged rocky faces don't deserve deep respect. We wondered out loud ... I'm not a mountain person really, but I am fascinated by the idea that mountains, and the environment more generally, have personality and character. Mount Roland is not part of a range, at least not a significant one. It rises alone from the farming landscape. It owns a community ... the rural village of Sheffield is strongly associated with the mountain and indeed, she gives the town its character. Her foothill slopes appear gentle and even 'organised' as the cleared land and forests give way to imposing cliff faces. The way the cleared land and trees are organised around her skirt invite excursion. In my uni days I was friends with people who built a hut at the top of one of the bits of cleared land, right on the edge of the dol

RAAFs Iceberger glossary of swim terms

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  Anthropologist Franz Boaz studied the life of Inuit people on Baffin Island back in the late 1800s. His work is the root of the myth about Inuit people having 50 words for snow, the cliché that we've probably all heard at some point. Not surprisingly, there is more to the story (not least because there are 100s of Inuit language groups), but there is a grain of truth in that they have multiple ways to describe what we simply know as 'snow'. Similarly, for those of us who are regular swimmers, to 'go for a swim' is a meaningless term, or at least 'more information is needed' to understand exactly what is going on. For my little swim community, here are the terms we use without explanation to describe swimming. (not to be taken too seriously!) 1. Rinse When you spend just 5-10 minutes bollarding (standing), catching white water, and have a general frolic to start the day. Weekdays at RAAFs. 2. Dip Similar to rinse, except often stay longer, and more often th

A tribute to local tribes, especially mine

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When I turned 50 I had a big gathering in the basement of donkey wheel house in the CBD. It was a gathering of family and friends. In those days my connection to friends was almost exclusively via work. It was a retrospective event: Five different people gave a little speech about each decade of my life and those gathered in the room represented the various communities that had shaped me over the years. It was fabulous.  I have always considered myself lucky. But one of the things that I knew I had missed in the middle decades of life was casual ‘mates’, by which I mean people who I was genuinely comfortable with outside of work and family. I knew lots of people, I’m a friendly bloke. But I missed having honest conversations with people who I felt like I had stuff in common with. It wasn’t a mystery why this was missing. My life was so full of family, work and the complexities of living in a metropolis that there was no time for community sport or the other connections that facilitate

Do gooders anonymous: when you realise your theory of change is a furphy

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In my last post I listed some deeply held, unquestioned beliefs that got inverted for me and in me, and wondered out loud what would be next. I kind of already knew, but it’s fresh so didn’t want to include it in the retrospection of the last set of notes. Most of the previously listed inversions were cultivated by multiple inputs and their traction took some time. Not so this one, the inversion was dramatic and sudden. Margaret Wheatley spoke heretical words that I knew instantly were true. The ground had been cultivated for this inversion by sophisticated skeptics that have challenged my comfortable view of the world from inside social change and consulting paradigms. Nassim Taleb ( Skin in the Game and other writing) and Anand Giridharadas ( Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World ) are the most notable for me. And then, in an unassuming little book called So Far From Home: lost and found in our brave new world , Margaret Wheatley said it straight up, “I no long

Unpacking my last edition of Monocle Magazine

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I subscribed to Monocle magazine in 2011. That’s quite a few months ago. I was intrigued by their evangelical commitment to hard copy journalism when everyone seemed to be going digital and the news stand was on the verge of extinction. The design of the monthly publication had six sections: Global Affairs, Business, Culture, Design, Entertainment, Fashion. I loved the mix. It inspired me and even grounded me. It was, and is beautifully produced so the practice of reading it was sensually pleasing. And then it changed. Or actually, it didn’t change. I did. So much so that it started to feel offensive. I cancelled my annual subscription, at least I thought I did. But I must have made an error because it auto-renewed for another year. I made sure I got it right last time, 12 months ago. So today I decanted my last edition, two years after I had intended. It is unsettling to realise I’ve changed as much as I have. It’s unsettling because I had no inkling of the areas of my life that would

How to celebrate

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There is a difference between doing celebratory things, and celebrating. After my morning swim a few days ago, over coffee I was exchanging Christmas catering stories with my friend Nik as we dunked panettone in our coffee. I made an intuitive comment about how our Christmas had felt more celebratory this year ... but when I tried to explain why I floundered. So over the last couple of days I've found myself pondering.  We are lucky. For the most part we live a pleasant and enjoyable life that includes family, friends and good food. Our normal everyday lives are peppered with what many people would consider 'special occasion food and circumstances.' There is a heightened sense of that for Maria and I after we decided 10 years ago that we would endeavour to live where people holidayed. Since then a resort on the Sunshine Coast, the Seaport Marina in Launceston and Barwon Heads have been home. So the general community vibe is chilled and casual. Special occasions therefore a

Winter Solstice and swimming as a practice

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  Winter Solstice is an underrated celebration.  It could be so meaningful in these ridiculous times of evolution and uncertainty. Why and how should the winter solstice become more than an excuse for a skinny dip? (Although as per below, that is one of the best ways to embrace the turning of the seasons.) So-called advanced civilisation has relentlessly sold us the lie that humanity is in control. We have believed that 'we have the technology', that we can tame nature, plunder the natural environment for our  energy needs with impunity, and scar the earth forever with bitumen and buildings. We have considered the planet to be a resource in our service. But the excesses of industrial capitalism are finally catching up with us and we are slowly recognising that Country cannot be tamed, that the earth is boss, and that it is we, not it, that must learn to conform. It became conventional during the Covid 19 pandemic lockdowns to say to each other, almost in a religious chanting ki

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