Staying 'real'
Time can seem to be an enemy, but is such a
great teacher too…Sometimes in those beautiful dawn celebrations, watching the
sun rise out of the ocean, time stands still for a moment and there is clarity
and everything seems as it should be. Then the day goes on in relevance and
irrelevance – a dance in trying to keep it real.
We live on the Gold Coast now, the place I
grew up, the place that I struggled to keep my identity intact as I grew
through adolescence and there was so much influence and pressure to ‘be a
certain way’. The Gold Coast is
famous not only for it’s beautiful beaches and surf, but for casinos,
night-clubs and plastic surgery. There’s an influence, no doubt, and it’s not
always a healthy one!
As Pacha travels through the big transition
of teenage-hood, I’m aware of balancing the influences and reminding ourselves
about who we are and why we are here! Surfing has been a constant anchor for her - to nature and to freedom and empowerment - take a look here!
A couple of weeks ago we were invited to
take part in a deep ecology women’s retreat, co-facilitated by the ocean and an
amazing team of wise and empowering women. It felt like a warm embrace – nurturing and accepting of who
you are, no matter where you are on your life’s journey. There were new tools to help stay true
to yourself and negotiate life’s ‘dramas’ and deep (re)connections to other
women from different places. I’m so grateful to Eshana who has created the beautiful Foresthaven retreat centre with her partner Peter Cumming - I hope to work with
them in the future inviting people along for deep ecology workshops – perhaps
from Japan?
I watched as Pacha peeled off the layers of
other people’s expectations of her to come back to her core – an exuberant,
joyful, free spirit – strong in body and mind. We all jumped into a raging
ocean, attempting to stand on our surfboards – asking the powerful waves to be
kind to us since we are only feeble humans, being tumbled and turned and rinsed
out… refreshed!
In the meantime, Yani got to stay with his
great inspiration, Rasta - musician, activist and one of the best free surfers
on the planet. Yani came home with renewed sense of peace – a steady calm and
inexplicable faith that he could make his own good story, following his heart –
in service to life…
The following weekend, we travelled to
another surf competition near Coffs Harbor and were able to reconnect with a
rainforest activist friend that I hadn’t seen for 20 years! Andy and his
teenage son, Finn, live on a most beautiful intentional community – just
minutes walk from the wild ocean in the middle of a national park.
Self-sufficient in energy and water, lots of good healthy local food and a
community that celebrates together and supports each other…it was another
heartening reminder that there are many ways that humans can survive and thrive
into the future.
So, even though we are based on the Gold
Coast, we are so lucky to have wonderful friends, family and long, strong
connections with the people here who stand up to protect the natural beauty of
the place culturally and environmentally). Last weekend we were invited to attend
the 25th anniversary celebration of the GECKO (our local environment
group) – which happened to coincide with the 15th anniversary
celebration of the Sloth Club at Café Slow! The highlight for me was going
along with my Mum (who received an award for her environment work) and my
sister – and remembering the many, many campaigns over the years and the
wonderful people we’ve shared them with!
