Hasn't it!
It will certainly be hard to forgive myself for letting this one slide for so long but it is really hard to write when I'm so busy with school and all that.
You might wonder what brought me creeping back to this little project...
Utter devastation, a sense of hopelessness and a desire to simply give up on life.
It will certainly be hard to forgive myself for letting this one slide for so long but it is really hard to write when I'm so busy with school and all that.
You might wonder what brought me creeping back to this little project...
Utter devastation, a sense of hopelessness and a desire to simply give up on life.
Rather grim, isn't it?
Well it's the truth. After the recent federal election, I feel severely disheartened on the topic of change making and entirely uninspired by the current politicians. I have been finding it very hard to find a way to stay positive about my future and that of humanity, considering somehow, Australians have yet again decided that they want business as usual and zero action on climate change.
Don't get me wrong, I am ecstatic to see Mr Abbott out the door (a few years too late if you ask me) and I am so excited to see what Ms Steggall is going to bring to the table. She has promised to act tough on climate change and hold the government to account but is that not what they all say? And, in any case, its a majority government so they can pretty much do whatever the f**k they want.
So, unsurprisingly I'm sure, I have decided that I will no longer look to politicians for direction. They are not my leaders and I will not expect anything at all from them from now on. Convenient, isn't it? I cannot be disappointed by a lack of action as I'm not expecting them to even turn up to Canberra, and I simultaneously disentangle myself from expectations of myself that I keep up with the news and follow politics in order to stay informed. Its a win win situation, zero expectations of anyone.
So where do I go from here?
Well, in light of said events, I have decided that I shall now be my own leader and, as cringe worthy as it sounds, I will do everything in my power to be the inspiration to others that I am struggling to find. I will, I have decided, quit being the passive activist, hoping that people might just notice that I am quietly doing good things and jump on my bandwagon of doing good, but relatively low-key, deeds. Instead, I will shout loud and clear to show people what I believe in and what I think we should be doing. Because, honestly, why should I wait for other people to speak my mind? In fact, how can I even pretend to imagine that some angel from the eco-friendly, activist, sustainable heaven will come down and voice my opinions for me? It's a rather naive notion.
So, I become a leader then. It sounds simple enough. There are plenty of young people out there doing amazing things already. But I cannot help but ask myself, what is it that I am bringing to the dinner party? (to continue my domestic allegory). I can't really get up on stage and say "we need to act on climate change now!" because people have already tried that, and it didn't really change much. I mean clearly Australians aren't really capable of acting on an ideology or a message (unless it concerns a booming economy). Starting a campaign is always cool, however I feel that, right now, we need to do more than ban plastic straws. We need to re-align the national agenda to create a space for sustainability, indigenous culture and diversity. Its about an ideological and moral re-adjustment. Right. So apparently, even though Australians don't respond to theoretical or value based messages, that is exactly what they need to do.
Well it's the truth. After the recent federal election, I feel severely disheartened on the topic of change making and entirely uninspired by the current politicians. I have been finding it very hard to find a way to stay positive about my future and that of humanity, considering somehow, Australians have yet again decided that they want business as usual and zero action on climate change.
Don't get me wrong, I am ecstatic to see Mr Abbott out the door (a few years too late if you ask me) and I am so excited to see what Ms Steggall is going to bring to the table. She has promised to act tough on climate change and hold the government to account but is that not what they all say? And, in any case, its a majority government so they can pretty much do whatever the f**k they want.
So, unsurprisingly I'm sure, I have decided that I will no longer look to politicians for direction. They are not my leaders and I will not expect anything at all from them from now on. Convenient, isn't it? I cannot be disappointed by a lack of action as I'm not expecting them to even turn up to Canberra, and I simultaneously disentangle myself from expectations of myself that I keep up with the news and follow politics in order to stay informed. Its a win win situation, zero expectations of anyone.
So where do I go from here?
Well, in light of said events, I have decided that I shall now be my own leader and, as cringe worthy as it sounds, I will do everything in my power to be the inspiration to others that I am struggling to find. I will, I have decided, quit being the passive activist, hoping that people might just notice that I am quietly doing good things and jump on my bandwagon of doing good, but relatively low-key, deeds. Instead, I will shout loud and clear to show people what I believe in and what I think we should be doing. Because, honestly, why should I wait for other people to speak my mind? In fact, how can I even pretend to imagine that some angel from the eco-friendly, activist, sustainable heaven will come down and voice my opinions for me? It's a rather naive notion.
So, I become a leader then. It sounds simple enough. There are plenty of young people out there doing amazing things already. But I cannot help but ask myself, what is it that I am bringing to the dinner party? (to continue my domestic allegory). I can't really get up on stage and say "we need to act on climate change now!" because people have already tried that, and it didn't really change much. I mean clearly Australians aren't really capable of acting on an ideology or a message (unless it concerns a booming economy). Starting a campaign is always cool, however I feel that, right now, we need to do more than ban plastic straws. We need to re-align the national agenda to create a space for sustainability, indigenous culture and diversity. Its about an ideological and moral re-adjustment. Right. So apparently, even though Australians don't respond to theoretical or value based messages, that is exactly what they need to do.
It is at this point that I step back and reflect on my existential pondering here and realise that I am possibly stepping slightly out of my sphere of influence. I mean I have almost no base to work from (other than a blog that I write simply to get ideas down and has a total following of zero people) and the current extent of my influence is rather limited. In order to focus my energy, I think I want to target young people. They are, after all, the demographic I most relate to and can have the most impact on. And after all, these are the people who are going to be bearing the brunt of today's actions and decisions.
To really inspire young people, I think it is super important that they be educated on the current situation and the problems and be subject to many different opinions. They also need to feel excited about the possibilities of the future and want to be part of the change. I would say that the major problem that prevents young people from becoming involved in the change in their communities is that it isn't considered cool or rewarding but more like volunteering or a 'good on you!' position. I would like to see young people admiring young activists and saying 'this is so cool, how can I get involved?'. Or even better, 'this is awesome, I am going to start my own initiative like this!'. Now that would be cool.
Unfortunately, I think that we are a long way from this mindset and to be totally honest, I am not totally sure how we are going to get there. It seems like a long and difficult path and I don't really known where to start! Somehow, issues of conservation, Indigenous culture and inclusivity always are either swept to the side in the midst of busy lives full of social obligations, or become the laughing stock of a conversation and the supposedly sarcastic (but really not sarcastic at all) joke. Its an unfortunate state of affairs.
I feel that a lot of what I want to do now is call out the jokes or the sarcastic remarks that, while perhaps intended as a light-hearted jest, is actually undermining and destroying the little sincerity that exists around that issue. I mean how can we take Indigenous rights and culture seriously if half the conversational mentions of Indigenous people ends up a racist joke, intentional or not?
I realise that I have gone off on a bit of a tangent here but I also believe that what I am saying needs to be said. So I will finish by discussing some of my plans for the future, because ambition needs to be supported by concrete goals and plans.
To really inspire young people, I think it is super important that they be educated on the current situation and the problems and be subject to many different opinions. They also need to feel excited about the possibilities of the future and want to be part of the change. I would say that the major problem that prevents young people from becoming involved in the change in their communities is that it isn't considered cool or rewarding but more like volunteering or a 'good on you!' position. I would like to see young people admiring young activists and saying 'this is so cool, how can I get involved?'. Or even better, 'this is awesome, I am going to start my own initiative like this!'. Now that would be cool.
Unfortunately, I think that we are a long way from this mindset and to be totally honest, I am not totally sure how we are going to get there. It seems like a long and difficult path and I don't really known where to start! Somehow, issues of conservation, Indigenous culture and inclusivity always are either swept to the side in the midst of busy lives full of social obligations, or become the laughing stock of a conversation and the supposedly sarcastic (but really not sarcastic at all) joke. Its an unfortunate state of affairs.
I feel that a lot of what I want to do now is call out the jokes or the sarcastic remarks that, while perhaps intended as a light-hearted jest, is actually undermining and destroying the little sincerity that exists around that issue. I mean how can we take Indigenous rights and culture seriously if half the conversational mentions of Indigenous people ends up a racist joke, intentional or not?
I realise that I have gone off on a bit of a tangent here but I also believe that what I am saying needs to be said. So I will finish by discussing some of my plans for the future, because ambition needs to be supported by concrete goals and plans.
So firstly, on the topic of Indigenous culture and appreciation, I am going to look for opportunities to involve young people in the upcoming Gar-mariagal festival which starts on Saturday with National Sorry Day and runs through to the end of NAIDOC week in July. We have a school leadership council meeting on Wednesday so I will definitely bring it up then and hopefully get permission to put some information up on the electronic notice boards around the school.
I also want to continue to investigate Zali Steggall's policies regarding Indigenous rights and ask her what she will be doing to promote the Gai-mariagal festival. I would expect her to embrace this event given that her policies outline a desire to support Indigenous culture and involvement.
On a more long-term and ambitious note, I have been thinking about a project that I wouldn't mind working on. I have noticed a real need for an audiobook/podcast series featuring Aboriginal stories. I would really like to see a podcast series featuring Indigenous people telling dreamtime stories, creation stories but also stories from post-colonisation to help preserve their history and make it more accessible to the non-Indigenous audience. Verbal storytelling is such an important part of the Indigenous culture and I think that a collection of stories in English and in Indigenous languages would be a truly valuable resource. I imagine having inspiring Indigenous activists telling their stories like Aretha Brown and Susan Moylan-Coombs who was running for the seat of Warringah but there could also be other Indigenous people sharing their stories in the verbal tradition.
I also want to continue to investigate Zali Steggall's policies regarding Indigenous rights and ask her what she will be doing to promote the Gai-mariagal festival. I would expect her to embrace this event given that her policies outline a desire to support Indigenous culture and involvement.
On a more long-term and ambitious note, I have been thinking about a project that I wouldn't mind working on. I have noticed a real need for an audiobook/podcast series featuring Aboriginal stories. I would really like to see a podcast series featuring Indigenous people telling dreamtime stories, creation stories but also stories from post-colonisation to help preserve their history and make it more accessible to the non-Indigenous audience. Verbal storytelling is such an important part of the Indigenous culture and I think that a collection of stories in English and in Indigenous languages would be a truly valuable resource. I imagine having inspiring Indigenous activists telling their stories like Aretha Brown and Susan Moylan-Coombs who was running for the seat of Warringah but there could also be other Indigenous people sharing their stories in the verbal tradition.
Turning now to conservation and to my roots in conservation, trees! (did you like my pun?!?!) This whole journey started way back in 2013 when, along with my sisters and friends, we saved our precious tree outside our house. Now there is something very special about saving a green companion; every time you sit beneath it or climb it or watch its shade flicker on the dash as you drive past, you remember how lucky you are to have it there and are renewed with inspiration and appreciation for nature. Tree's really are the most amazing activists!
My tree has a wonderful story but I wonder how many other trees out there have wonderful stories just waiting to be told! Stories of passion, of determination, of success and sometimes failure. I think that there is so much that we can learn from trees and their stories and I wonder how powerful it could be, having a platform to encourage people to share their tree stories and to work together to save and plant more trees. "The Tree People". Sounds exciting doesn't it!!!
My tree has a wonderful story but I wonder how many other trees out there have wonderful stories just waiting to be told! Stories of passion, of determination, of success and sometimes failure. I think that there is so much that we can learn from trees and their stories and I wonder how powerful it could be, having a platform to encourage people to share their tree stories and to work together to save and plant more trees. "The Tree People". Sounds exciting doesn't it!!!
Well, I definitely have my work cut out for me and I am please to report that I am feeling significantly more inspired and empowered after this little cathartic spiel. (I'm sorry if I bored you with my tangential ranting!) I think that this goes to show that there is real benefit to taking the time to step back, reflect and write (or type) in order to clear your thoughts.
I think that I'm reading to be a leader now. Who is with me?
I think that I'm reading to be a leader now. Who is with me?