It's been a long hiatus filled with growth and new roots. And now I'm ready to write again. Rather than begin a fresh blog with new directions, I thought I'd lay a new path over the old one.

What I learned today.

It's all about the travels you go on when you are in one place and plan to stay. It's about believing that growth happens from the inside out rather than the other way around. So my happy little feet are happy here in the tropical north firmly planted in the sand. And my mind is free to wander.

Street kids of Jogjakarta - Donations welcome

A generous gift from someone on the other side of the country has raised me out of my blogging slumber!

Last year Charlie and I trucked through Indonesia and formed a friendship with a group of street boys in Jogjakarta. The boys story of misuse and abandonment is extreme, but sadly not unique in this city..

in 1982 the Family of GIRLI was created by mas (brother) Didid when he saw a young boy having sex with an old prositute with a crowd howling and cheering around them. He put aside his college education and went to live on the streets to earn the trust and love of these boys and provide a stable role model and organised them to take care of each other...you can read more about the story here - Street Kids of Yoyakarta

The boys we met were part of this family and creating an income by designing, sewing and flying traditional kites. To help them raise money I put a link on my blog with a paypal account..I hope to raise enough to help them buy a sewing machine..and pay entry to new kite competitions around Indonesia.

Today a donation appeared in my account...

So, this post is one of gratitude for kindness bestowed on strangers with a common love. Thank you for your kind donation. Thank you for caring and sharing the wealth. And thank you for giving me hope today.

If you want to help out too, please find account details through paypal here or click the DONATE link on the side bar of the blog.

University Lives

Final exam completed! The excitement and stress of 13 long weeks of learning, learning, learning in a formal, school environment has finally come to an end.

Just so you know, Tabitha's mixed bag semester of four subjects has been interesting:
Sociology
Social Science
Effective Writing
Archaeology

I've acknowledged foundations of the human condition and understand the basic social concepts of our society. Sociology and social science have given answers to some of the 'whys' and 'wherefores', archaeology provided an understanding of where we have come from, and effective writing offered a platform on which to express it all.

Academia; a learning curve. I've learned the ins-and-outs of how to punctuate; when and where it is appropriate to break down; how to structure assignments, essays and study for exams; and (in my degree at least) the bones an essential elements of our beautiful, terrible social world (past, present and future, in theoretical terms at least).

It's been exciting, edifying, and at times a little lonely.
And I'm done for now. Hooray!

So what have I learned?
...a little of everything about everything....

1. How to dig a proper, professional hole.
2. What capitalism actually means for the rest of us.
3. To be pissed off about things, because a little change for some people can mean the difference between living and dying.
4. Australian realities are often harsher than those of the poorest country you've seen.
5. Formal, structured learning is priceless.

So it's Friday night and I'm ready to join the rest of my alcoholic, student brothers and sisters in a toast to a future of more learning, more knowledge and further education.

Love it!

Life and learning

As I write life floats past, broad brushstrokes that define each moment, every thought and the momentary glimpses of the beauty. It seems my journey of movement through the world has found its end in the tropical heat and wild weather I was born for. One of the northernmost parts of Australia.

It's been a wonderful journey of discovery, movement and knowledge..and now it's time for a foray into the world of thought and theory. Time to define the notions and ideas I've had over the years into something more concrete...a time for study.

Thanks for sharing my scattered thoughts as I've walked through cultures, travelled on the trucks of love through landscapes vastly different to my own.

Thanks for listening and understanding. I hope to one day soon have more stories to share. But for now, it's time for a different kind of life, one focused on reading, learning and studying about the world..

Three years of it!

Tropical Cyclone Yasi

Whew, it was a little windy the other day!

I love FNQ...

it's just me today - writing...

Life cycles, trailer racks of earth tracks, just me and my charlie and a surfboard between us and the world, my heart poured out on her sleeve..

It's just me today...getting to Know the city of Cairns better. I like her muggy insistence, her twitching nationalism, country roots and up-and-coming sense of self. She's slowly growing on me and who knows, we may yet become friends.
I created a song yesterday, yes, about love.
You could say it's my first one. 
I'm a proud parent of my first, true lyrical expression direct from my soul. Creation, to dig under the nails of thought, scrape the roots of memory and float gracefully in the arms of form.

Speaking of beautiful things..These are five things I'd like to focus on in my life..Buddhist precepts as written by Thich Nhat Hanh:

Reverence For Life

Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world.
True Happiness
Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and reverse the process of global warming.

True Love

Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future.

Loving Speech and Deep Listening

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.

Nourishment and Healing

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of Nutriments, namely edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. I am determined not to gamble, or to use alcohol, drugs, or any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and conversations. I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing, healing and nourishing elements in me and around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment. I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being in my body and consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family, my society and the Earth.

And the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama and Psilocybe cubensis are worth listening to ..

from Chris

Hobbits o' Bellingen

Charlie B and me clankered all day and night to reach the land of the Hobbits, just a smidgen south of Coffs Harbor. An area of well watered pastures and contented brown cattle grazing on the open plains. As we drove, pastures evaporated and forest began encroaching the edges of the road.

It narrowed, the air became cooler and tiny houses appeared here and there nestled in the hillsides, tucked away in green valleys, or screened by forest and enclosed in old wooden fences. A few minutes on this winding track we arrived at Rand J's. The letterbox was weighed under a frenzy of vines and honey suckle, and a tiny wooden house with windows of colored glass sat happily surrounded by towering hoop pines.
The gardens were overflowing with vegetables planted in neat terraces, paths blocked by bicycles, timber, old carpet, pots, tubs, buckets full of miscellaneous green slime. The open shed home was full of instruments, jars full of seeds and grains covered the shelves, tools, bottles, furniture, materials hanging from the walls, sewing machines on tables and a tiny cot covered with a purple mosquito net. An old copper still bubbled away with its concoction on a red cedar bench.
R came out and suggested we go to the river for a swim. In the sunlight four shining souls wandered down a grassy slope at the bottom of the garden, with ancient trees watching from above, they disappeared into a small valley. The rockpool was crystal clear and the forest breathed all around. The frigid water flowing down in small waterfalls and around the thick fallen trunks of moss covered trees.
Many things to do around the house, a kitchen garden to create for example, camphor laurel roots to infuse and make 'smells', a native grain to harvest and dry for experimental cooking later, more smells and concoctions to look at. J flashed Charlie and excited grin and ran to the truck for a second. He came back with a wide grin holding a bottle full of brown liquid. On the side of the bottle was scrawled 'Danger - madness'. The paste was thick and had a pungent odor, the mixture was a number of psychedelics, things for taste and probably a bit of actual madness added for good measure.
Later in the warmth afternoon, pizza making maddness took its own course. Small families and groups friends showed up from the hills most born in this area, organic beers and music appeared, the flour grinder came out and a massive mix of millet, quinoa, spelt, buckwheat, amaranth and more ground where turned slowly into dust.

In the sunshine, on the hill under the trees, Baggins took out his washtub bass and plucked a beat, Sam Wise whistled and Sam Luce banged his knees, Tabitha sang a melody and although there were no Gamgee's or Took's they all had barefeet and laughed.
Until the cool of evening when the woodfire oven was kindled and on the table lay vegetables cut into pieces on trays, a banana carrot slice, raw snacks like balls of ground whole wheat, honey, nuts and definitely no meat, dates and goodness rolled in coconut juices..hang on, it's too tempting to get into a Dr Suess tirade here because the imagery in my brain is making me a little dizzy from the memory of the sight of that good food and all those funny hobbit names.

Anyway, we ate magical pizza under the light of the moon, jammed, and shared stories of life in this amazing forest and within me

..I felt the pull and tug of nature and her way to BE, simply.