For me personally, there was a number of anxieties, not least of which being the premiere of the play I collaborated on with my friend and renowned playwright, Alan Hopgood. “Four Funerals in One Day” is a performance piece that explores issues around life, death, euthanasia and the importance of story telling in palliative care.

“Karen is a community nurse caring for her first dying patient. Clarrie has had enough of being a burden on his family and wants to die now. Vi is tired and bad tempered and wondering why she stays working in palliative care, particularly as she has her own problems at home and Sue is walking the fine line of acting as a mentor for junior staff and supporting a colleague who isn’t coping. Four Funerals in One Day is a performance piece that explores the human reality for patients and professional carers living and dying in palliative care.”

I need not have been nervous! The performances of Alan, Babs McMillan, Margot Knight and Michelle Hall were filled with joy and compassion. They truly captured the emotional rollercoaster of working in palliative care……………….the audience laughed (and some admitted to me later, they cried), but mostly the feedback I got was that it made them think.

As practitioners we have always understood the importance of our client’s stories, but we often forget the importance of our own……….. and how our own stories inform our capacity as carers to support people living with terminal illness.

For me, it was wonderful to sit in an auditorium filled with my colleagues from all around Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America, China, Hong Kong, Japan and the U.K and experience the impact of parts of my personal story, combined with fiction (and Alan Hopgood’s mastery of language and performance).

Including a play as a Keynote address at a high profile conference was a big gamble for the organising committee, but given the feedback, it was a gamble that paid off.

The lesson in all of this? if we are to get people in the community talking about what matters to them, thinking about why they are here and what they’re here to do……………we can’t just stand up and lecture them…………..we need to be creative! Using the creative arts to tell stories and engage people is a wonderful way to do just that without it being confronting or overtly prescriptive. For me personally………….it was a wonderful climax to hours of reflection, discussion and hard work and it has not only made me feel proud of my professional work, but has enabled me to build a friendship with a man I have watched on television since I was a kid…………….Alan Hopgood.

Christmas was wonderful for me, surrounded by family and friends and spent in the midst of the warmest summer we have had in a long time. The funny thing was, we had arranged a full trad Christmas dinner OUTSIDE and it turned out we had the coldest Christmas Day here in Melbourne since 1934!!!! It poured rain, blew a gale and was only 14oC (and that was when it warmed up!) Thank goodness for tarps and big heaters on sticks!

The rest of the time I’ve been working on a creative project with a friend (will tell you more about this in the future), working on a couple of new books, reading, thinking, walking on the beach and planning a conference for later in the year on the coast of Queensland……..stay tuned for more info on this one too!

So I’ve teed up some great guests for the show and promise you will be surprised by my mystery partner who will appear in the next few weeks.

So I wish you all a miraculous 2007, filled with fun, joy, happiness, challenges and achievements and look forward to providing you with lots of Dead Serious info! And don’t forget to check out my new and groovy website by following the link and you can find out a bit more about what I’ve been doing and with whom! Let me know what you think!

Poor, sick, grieving, homeless and lonely people struggle with the whole view of happy families, eating, shopping and celebrating that is continually promoted by the adverters as the ‘norm’, in order to entice us to buy more of their goods.

It is timely to remember that some poeple don’t have the whole “happy family” thing happening, due to a significant death, family breakdown or the total lack of a family. I can’t begin to imagine how awful it would be to spend Christmas alone, no matter the reason……………..maybe this is an opportunity for those of us who are fortunate to have loving families to invite someone along to our celebrations who would otherwise be alone…………….Just a thought!

So from me I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and the next time we talk it will be 2007………….WOW!

Who is David Hicks?

He is an Austtralian citizen who has been held in Guantanamo Bay for five years. David has not been charged, he has had no tiral and he has been abandoned by the Australian Government. He lives in solitary confinment in a small cell with blank walls and a single frosted glass window and where the lights are often left on 24 hrs a day. He has no access to outside communication and if lucky is allowed one phonecall from his family every six months.

Since Davids incarceration 340 other detainees have been repatriated to their countries of origin including Britian, Europe, Asia, Albania, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Yemen, because their governments demanded their release.
Despite not being charged, David has been abandoned by the government…. OUR government. They have left him to be a ’sacrificial lamb’.
David’s American military laywer, Major Michael Mori stated in The Melbourne Age today (Sunday December 3rd 2006) that “The whole system is about Khalid Sheikh Mahommed. It’s not about David Hicks, nobody cares. Nobody in America cares about David Hicks. Hicks is there because of the Australian Government. All they have to do is ask to bring him home.”

David is an Australian citizen. He deserves just, fair and equitable treatment. If he has done something wrong, I’m sure five years in solitary confinement would go some way to proving he has already been punished. Let’s face it if he had been convicted of rape or manslaughter in Victoria he would now be ready for release. But David has been charged with NOTHING let alone been convicted.

David deserves to be home in his own country to spend Christmas with his family. Imagine if David was your father, son, brother or friend.

So if you feel strongly about human rights, understand that it doesn’t matter if David is innocent or guilty, he has a right to JUSTICE. If this can happen to one Australian citizen, it could happen to any of us.

Information on the rallies being conducted over the next week can be found on the Fair Go for David website and you can register your support to bring David home by emailing The Age on bringdavidhome@theage.com.au

Thanks goodness our major print media are finally supporting the cause of justice and human rights. Well done The Age!

So the rest is up to us……………think about it, read about it and if you feel strongly……….DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

It was an amazing program about a man who is incredible knowledgable about the planets, the universe and the moon and yet is happy to share his knowledge with people from all walks of life FOR FREE. Not only does he provide access for people WHERE they are, but he runs classes and teaches people how to make the telescopes.

Why am I telling you all this???? No, I’m not on the payrole for Dobson, but I was spoilt by my beloved and presented with a Bintel BT 152 Dobsonian Reflector Telescope for my birthday and have spent every night since in the backyard looking at the amazing surface of the moon. I always had a bit of a “thing” for the moon and must say I leave crystal bottles of water out under the full moon each month (and yes…….it tastes much better), but when you look at it through the telescope it is AWESOME. You can see every crater, the seas, the mountains and it looks like you could just reach out and touch it!

The night before last I saw the ‘variable, multiple’ star ‘Sirius’, a huge white orb flashing red, blue, green in the lense of the telescope. It looked like a light on a Christmas tree! Considering that it is millions of light years away from earth, it’s a miracle to be able to access it like it was at the end of the street.

I am now eagerly awaiting the big planets to rise above the horizon here in the Southern Hemisphere so I can finally get a close up view of my favourite planets Venus and Jupiter!

Isn’t it amazing that we can now see what the Greek astronomers could only dream about. Thanks to the work and committment of John Dobson, I am able to access the stars up close and personal…………what a gift!

Yes, I’m still alive and well, though have been neglecting both my Blog and the show (for which I’m suitably repentant), but must give you an idea of what I’ve been up to.

The past months have been increasingly hectic in my little world. My ‘day job’ has been extremely demanding BUT great fun and a wonderful brain stimulant. For those of you who dont know what I do during the week…………I project manage one of the three metropolitan Palliative Care consortia here, made up of nine organisations who are funded to provide care to terminally ill people and their families. These organisations range from major metropolitan acute heath services, inpatient units to community providers who care for people in their homes. Our region is that largest and has the biggest population in the state, so it’s quite a job! I am very lucky though as I work with a wonderful team of incredibly passionate people who have such a committment to what they do, that it makes my job a lot easier than it would be otherwise!

So…………that’s my ‘day job’. I also teach at university and regularly speak at conferences and seminars in the health and corporate sectors and to a variety of community organisations on everything from death, grief and loss to complementary therapies, spirituality, self care, legacy and life purpose. I write everything from small articles to manuscripts and education curricula and am currently working on a play with a colleague who is both a seasoned Australian actor, producer and playwrite.

I am on a couple of Boards of Management, the one I am spending the majority of my time on at present is Spirituality Australia a subsidiary of the Father Bob Maguire Foundation, with my pal Fr Bob, Shane Holst and James Grant. I will have more to tell you in the near future about Spirituality Australia which is an exciting initiative that will stimulate people to connect with their personal spirituality in an atmosphere of support and community (yuou can find out more about SA by going to my website.
Amongst all of this I have been working on an idea with my friends Sue and Jan to establish a seminar program starting next year that explores complementary therapies and the angel work we have been doing together over the past couple of years. The three of us went to Sydney in October to the Angel Intuitive Advanced Program that Doreen Virtue conducted, which was a great networking opportunity.

Of course I have been reading, thinking and meditating. The more I think about things, the clearer things seem to become and I really believe the more we focus on manifesting joy and compassion in our world the more we can make “spaceship earth” our reality. We sometimes forget how very powerful our thoughts and feelings are in creating the world we live in. If I’ve learned one thing in the past months it has been to save the energy I used to expend on being angry about injustice and put that energy into thinking and feeling joy, prosperity, sustainability, health and justice for all. This is what will change the world…………..a ground swell of people pouring their energy into manifesting their “preferred future” instead of being worn down by disillusion and disappointment.

So, I hope you will continue to support Dead Serious and I promise over the coming weeks a new and exciting format will provide you with plenty of thought provoking programs with cool tunes and I take great joy in announcing there will be a GENDER BALANCE………..as DS welcomes a new partner in the weeks to come………………YES, I have a male counterpart who will be joining me here on Dead Serious……………so stay tuned!

OH……….my other bit of news………….finally my ‘new, hip and groovy’ website is now live, thanks to my mates at Blue Vapours, Kit and Jane who have done a wonderful job creating a site that is truely reflective of me! So I encourage you all to get along and have a look and leave me an email and let me know what you think! See if you can find the secret tribute to my elemental friends on the Homepage!

That’s it for now team. Talk to you all soon. Remember to visit www.mollycarlile.com and say “gidday”

Molly

Somehow my exploration of all things esoteric has pushed me into mainstream science which is an interesting development I think. Given that I never understood physics when I was at school (in fact I thought it was like Chemestry, but with more words), it has been a revelation to finally understand what Isaac Newton was on about. Now I understand why I never got it! Newtonian physics is so mechanical, it obviously was a paradym beyond my understanding, but the quantum movement of the modern physics…………….well that’s something I do understand!

I think the link between the major concepts of quantum physics (polarities, the role of the observer and the creative power of mind) all link to the work I have done in psychology, palliative care and energy therapies. Finally it’s all starting to make sense!

So I’m off this week to spend another couple of days studying with Doreen Virtue (the angel lady) and Hemetic philosophy is something we’ll be exploring………there is a very strong link between the ancient Hemetic themes and the modern quantum approach…………can’t wait to share with you what I learn.

SO………….watch this space!

As I hung my big black and white Magpie flag in the front window of the house this morning, in preparation for the first finals game we play this weekend, I could feel Dad beside me. I saw (in my mind’s eye) the silly face he used to pull when he threw his head back and laughed. I heard his voice saying, “We’ll do it this year……..don’t you worry” and I smiled.

I love it when Dad just ‘appears’, always at the footy after an amazing Collingwood goal, but often when I least expect it. When something funny happens, when i feel sad or melancholy or often just for no reason at all…………I feel him there, I see his face and I hear his voice………..then I think to myself how lucky I am that he takes the time to be with me, even though he’s no longer here physically.

On the other side of the equation is my beloved. As it happens, he barracks for Footscray (the Bulldogs)…….a legacy from his Dad who died in April 2003. He was a sports journalist, so my beloved spent many Saturday afternoons in the wind and rain with his Dad while he reported on the Footscray football games.

This weekend the first of the elimination finals is between Collingwood and Footscray…………..BUMMER! This means by this time next week, either my beloved or myself (and the two of our kids I have managed to convert to the black and white army) will be miserable and grumpy because the team we love is out of the competition for another year.

I can’t help but wonder what the two Dad’s will think and wether either of us will get a consolatory visit from our respective Dad’s to offer us an ounce of comfort in the midst of defeat.

i know my Dad will be sitting next to me on the couch as we watch the game on the big screen in the loungeroom, add the beloved and his Dad and the couch could get a little crowded come the first bounce of the ball.

Go the Maggies……………………”We’ll do it this year………..don’t you worry”!

So stay tuned folks………… SPIRITUALITY AUSTRALIA IS COMING!

I have done a show on why we have funerals and rituals to assist us in making meaning of significant losses but I havnt yet done a show on planning and conducting a funeral………….so “hold onto your hats’…………..this one will be up on the site by next week.

In the meantime, give some thoughts to the things you would like to include in your funeral.

These awards recognise people who contribute to the social and spiritual wealth of their communities and often receive little or no recognition. The Humanitarian Awards are a way of recognising these people and giving their causes a public profile.

Nominations for the 2007 awards are now open and forms can be accessed on the AAF site . It costs $Au25 to nominate someone and this cost goes to fund the conducting of the awards. The Awards will be presented in May 2007 in Melbourne and I encourage all Aussies to think of a worthy person in the community who meets the criteria and take five minutes to nominate them in one of the following categories: Arts, entertainment and media, charity, education, environment, health.

When you go to the site, you will notice that the dates are different to those I’ve mentioned, IGNORE that……….it’s in the process of being changed. Nominations now close at the end of January 2007. I’ll keep you updated as things move forward.
So GET TO IT and reward someone who contributes for the good of all.

Bob, myself and a couple of other like minded, creative thinking people are madly working on a project that will empower people to reclaim their personal spirituality and share in (Bob’s words) “the common spiritual wealth”.

So it’s all a bit ‘cloak and dagger’ just now until the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed………..SO WATCH THIS SPACE.

I’ll let you know whats happening in the next few weeks……………keep an ear on Bob’s program too…………..he might just drop a clue.

Can’t people see the futility of shooting bombs at their neighbors when the majority of people who get killed and maimed are civilians? Do poeple not have any sense of proportion and/or ethics?

It would be easy to let all of this violence make us more apathetic…….after all what can you and I do about it?

I’ve pondered this question long and hard and decided I don’t want to live in a bubble. Much and all as I abhor the violence and aggression, I can’t shut it out and pretend it’s not happening………………therefore I need to do something proactive.

So, I’m writing to politicians, talking to people at work and at home, and positively affirming an end to this conflict.

What good will that do? I hear you say……………..well it’s a damn lot better than avoiding the news and pretending that I don’t have an investment in what happens on MY planet and in MY world……………….because it’s MY world and it’s YOUR world………….it doesn’t belong to any one country and no one super power (no matter what they might think)!

So get to it troops…………..write, talk, think and VOTE for a better world. The day will come when all of these elderly cowboys who currently sit in the top jobs in many powerful countries will be sitting quietly in a nursing home somewhere and eating vitamised food …………..they can’t stay in power forever. Our day is coming and we need to know how we’re going to move the world ahead in a peaceful and productive way, caring for the environment, caring for each other and caring for our future and the future for our kids.

I guess I was a bit perplexed. I didnt know who to barrack for, all I knew is I didn’t want Italy to win, so I ended up cheering for the French.

Maybe I’m bitter and twisted, but I still cant quite forgive Italy for their “diving” defeat of the Socceroos. If the circumstances had been different, there would be no question about me supporting Italy, given that my kids live in the centre of “little Italy” in Melbourne and I have lots of Italian friends………..but they weren’t and having watched all of the Italian games, I find the “diving” aspect of their game “poor form”.

Yet again though, it worked…………

So Italy are the champions, despite all of the scandal about match fixing going on at home, despite their relatively ‘lack lustre’ performance in a number of games………the defensive game won out and I think that’s a shame for the game.

On reflection, the games I enjoyed the most over the past weeks are the games where teams tried to score, not the games where teams tried to stop the other team scoring…………..and that is the Italian strategy.

Of course luck has a lot to do with it. Luck of the draw, luck of the referee you are allocated, luck of the umpiring decisions and the luck of your passage through the finals.

France were very unlucky last night. They played better than Italy but were unable to score after their initial goal. The missed penalty occured because the ball didn’t bounce as they would have wished………………and the game was over.

So, to all the teams who inspired and enthralled this predominantly Aussie Rules supporter…………….thankyou. To Croatia, Togo, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Ukraine and all of the other teams who played action packed attacking games that kept me enthralled………Thankyou

THANKYOU to the georgeous Lucal Neil, Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and JOHN ALOISI and all of the other Socceroo boys who did Australia proud…………..

I’ll never forget the vibe of being among 20K+ of my countrymen and women singing the national anthem at ’stupid o’clock” in the morning in Federation Square and Lygon Street in front of the big screen, with my daughter and her friends………….

What a ride! Roll on the Asia Cup!

Hard to imagine that in a country like India, with it’s huge population, the majority of disease is caused by lack of adequate sanitation. In fact, many houses in New Delhi and other major city centres, do not have toilets. What do they do? I hear you ask? Well, they squat on the street, under bridges and beside rivers…………..hard to believe in the 21st century! 110 million Indian houses have no toilets and 10 million have “bucket toilets” that are emptied onto the streets!
What is worse, “scavanger” women sanitation collectors (who belong to the lowest caste of “untouchables” in the Indian social system), have the role of collecting this human excrement from the streets, and are subsequently shunned by the society because of this work.
Dr Palhak ( a Brahman by caste and therefore high on the social ladder) developed an ecologically sound recycling system in the early 1970’s and set about establishing waste management and sanitation strategies to improve the quality of life of India’s poorest people. To date Dr. Palhak and his foundation have built millions of toilets in India. But his workdoes not stop there, he promotes health programs, education and training and support for the poor of India and has been recognised world wide for the amazing technological breakthroughs in sustainable sanitation developed by his foundation.

This man has invested in the future of his country and his fellow Indian’s, no matter their social or financial status. In fact he is a true humanitarian…………….and it all started by identifying a need and doing something practical about it, even though sanitation is not a “sexy” cause, he has invested heavily in making life better for poor people. We could all learn a think or too from Dr Palhak………a man with true vision!

The vibe was great……………Aussies chanting, Italians chanting……….another great funfilled night of frivolity. I was again surrounded my two of my kids and numbers of their friends. As we headed toward “kick-off” we found a spot amont the 20K plus crowd right up in front of the big screen.

We all sang the national anthem with verve, waving our flags and screaming Ole, Ole, Ole, ole, Aussie, Aussie……..and the game started.

And what a game! I really thouight we were going to win………….and then the decision that was like a kick in the stomach……..and it was all over for another four years.

We walked home disheartened and I must say, a little bitter!

Rather than winge about a terrible umpiring decision that cost us a place in the last eight, I want to remind you all of the importance of coming together and sharing a peaceful event.

If I’ve learned nothing from the Socceroos, I have learned this…………no matter the odds, if you keep putting in all you’ve got and more, even when things seem hopeless, luck may not be on your side, but you earn the respect and admiration of those who have watched you contribute.So what does all this mean to how we live everyday? I think the fact that passionate people from different backgrounds, with different ideas can come together and share something in a respectful and peaceful way is a lesson that many politicians should take on board.

The fact that there is always a winner and a loser, but that a huge impact is made by HOW you win and how you celebrate that win as well as HOW you lose and how you accommodate that loss……….. are things that politicians should learn. Sometimes the loser can actually have more influence in the long term than the winner…………then we should ask what does winning actually mean?

So, for me the past two weeks of soccer (or football as it is called elsewhere) have been exciting, challenging and comforting………….I feel great about my community, a community made up of people from all over the world who have made Australia home, who can support their country of origin in a sporting event without being abused or having to tolerate violent behaviour from their adopted country’s population……………a community that celebrates together and commiserates together…………..we are really lucky.

When I was walking home, a young guy clad head to foot in Italian colours, waving an Italian flag rushed up to me and said “Bad luck love, we deserved to win”. I said “You did win” and as he pulled off his Italian flag to reveal a Socceroos jumper he said, “No we lost, but from now on I’m barricking for Italy” and disappeared into the frenzied croud shouting “Italia, Italia, Italia”

I never thought I’d see the day when I would be madly swept up in “soccer fever”, but I have been. I got up at 0230 and rugged up, packed the thermos and the umbrella and headed into the centre of our fair city with my daughter and her friend to watch the Australia/Croatia game on the big screen with the rest of the diehard soccer fans.

The thing that amazed me was the feeling of expectation and goodwill. All those people crowded together……….a good mix of Aussie and Croatian fans, smiling, talking and singing together. The teams came onto the field and the noise of the crowd singing both national anthems gave me goosebumps! Then the game started.

Despite some dodgy calls by the referees, there was good hearted “oohs” and “aahs”………..with each ‘crappy’ call, toilet rolls were thrown in the air to illustrate the thoughts of the fans! Croatia scored the first goal and the singing was deafening from the Croatian fans…………the Soccerroos equalised and the crowd went wild…………jumping, screaming, singing…….drums thumping, trumpets blowing, flares lit and turning Federation Square into a sea of pink smoke……………another Croatian goal and another Aussie goal………….strangers hugged each other, the drums went crazy, whistles blew, people screamed in unison, “Harry, Harry, Harry”………..Harry Kewell had done it…………..equalised the score and qualifying Australia to progress to the next round.

At 1/4 to 7 in the morning the crowd danced out of Federation Suqare into the junction of Swanston and Flinders Streets……….the major intersection in central Melbourne……….the traffic was at a standstill as thousands of fans poured into the street. Flags were flying, soccer balls being kicked into the sky……two guys danced on top of a tram………..the crowd danced down Swanston Street……………laughing, singing, chanting…………….up Collins Street they marched…………to the steps of Parliment House where they danced some more…………one guy stripped down to his Aussie flag undies and danced in front of the mounted Police. People sang “Our team is red hot………..your team is diddly squat”…………..JUBILATION!

The amazing thing about all of this was that among the laughing, singling, chanting throng of Aussie fans was a whole gang of Croatian fans…………singing, laughing and dancing as well………exchanging good humoured banter and all aware of what a great experience they were a part of.

I was so impressed that there was no anger…………..no bad sportsmanship…………..just good humoured ’stirring’ that was enjoyed by all.

Tomorrow morning I’m heading off to the soccer at Federation Square again………this time we play Italy and I know, with a huge Italian community in Melbourne ……………..the game will be just as exciting to be a part of…………….now that my kids live in Carlton (the home of Lygon Street……..the centre of Melbourne’s ‘little Italy’) I will be cheering for the Socceroos, but will be finishing my day, win or lose…………in Lygon Street with a caffe late and a good italian ‘breaky’.

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves how very great it is to live in a multi cultural country where we rejoice in our similarities AND our differences and celebrate good natured rivalry on the sporting field without it getting ‘out of hand’.

Go Socceroos!!!

It was an interview with a 43 year old man who I knew………..not personally, but as I grew up watching “The Sullivans” on TV, I felt I knew this guy. His name is Richard Morgan and he played Terry Sullivan in the quintesential Aussie TV drama.

Richard and his wife were sharing a very personal story. The story of his diagnosis one year ago, with Motor Neurone Disease. Richard went from being a fit, health man, the father of two young children, to being confined to a wheelchair, dependant on the care of his wife and others. Richard lives daily with the probability that he will be dead within two years.

I know plenty about Motor Neuurone Disease as I’ve cared for plenty of people in the end stages of this awful, wasting disease. I know a number of people who work for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. I understand that it is an umbrella term for a range of degenerative, neurological conditions that can not be defined.

BUT each person’s story is unique. Each person diagnosed and the people who love them, have to live on knowing what awaits them. Every day they loose mobility, strength and function. They have to live on knowing that eventually they will die from asphixiation or choking.

Richard’s story is a powerful one. A story that highlights the lack of compassion often demonstrated openly in the health sector. A story that reinforces the importance of community when things go wrong. A story that is both inspirational and devastating. A story of personal strength and defeat.

I encourage you to listen to the program if you have a chance. I also encourage you to find out more about Motor Neurone Disease by listening to the program I did with Rod Harris, the CEO of the MND Association, late last year on Dead Serious.

I also encourage you to think about Richard and others who are living with Motor Neurone Disease.

I, like millions others, sat up till 2am to watch the Socceroos play Brasil this morning. Come 4am, I dragged myself off to bed, disappointed at our loss, but not devastated…………we played well, but the luck wasn’t with us. That’s OK though, we’ve got a good chance against Croatia and the fact that we’re playing at all is something to celebrate!

As I lay in bed at 4.30am, exhausted, but unable to sleep, my mind wandered…………I started thinking about what other people are awake at this time of the night? Obviously, other soccer fans in the southern hemisphere, but who else?

I thought about people who were lying awake because they were worried and unable to sleep……………the people who are worried about not having enough money to pay their bills, the people who are worried about a son or daughter who is out late, the people who are worried about the security of their job, the people who are worried about a sick family member or friend, the people who are worried about their future, the people who are worried about their relationship………….the list goes on.

I thought about people who can’t sleep because they are sad or depressed. The people trying to come to terms with a loss………..an empty space in the bed where there used to lie someone they loved, the people struggling with the fear and anxiety of depression, the people battling physical pain due to illness or injury, the people feeling frightened because their nighttime hours are full of nightmares.

I thought about the people who cant sleep because they are cold, living on the streets or in refugee camps. The people who can’t sleep because they are hungry. The people who can’t sleep because bombs are ringing in their ears.

Thinking of all these sleepless people made me feel  guilty and then I realised I shouldn’t feel guilty…………..I should feel GRATEFUL!

I snuggled down under my doona, with a full stomach, next to the man I love, in a warm house, in a peaceful country and reminded myself that the day to day things that keep me awake at night are so small in the big scheme of things…………they are not worth the energy I give them………………from now on I won’t let the negative things invade my peaceful thoughts…………..I’ll focus on how very lucky I am and be grateful.

It reminded me of something my Dad always used to say, “I used to complain because I had no shoes……….until I saw the man who had no feet”.

Sometimes we need to remember that man with no feet!

BUT in the last eight minutes Tim Cahill and John Aloise wrote their names into the World Cup record books kicking the first ever goals for an Australian team in a World Cup.

Just like many of my country men and women, I yelled, jumped off the couch and ran around the loungeroom with my jumper over my head………………well, not really, but I was excited.

I must say it was a fine conclusion to what had been a disapointing footy day for me as, in the afternoon, my beloved AFL team, Collingwood was ’slopped’ for the first time this season in a game that saw them look most ‘unorganised’ so it was great to see the Socceroos play well and win convincingly!

I must say it was also great to see all that yellow and green in the stands in Germany and to hear my fellow Aussies chanting and singing. I know it sounds a bit jingoistic…………a bit ‘Land down-under”, a bit “vegimite on toast”……..but it does a weird thing to me when I see representatives of my country perform well on the world stage…………even if it is just in a game, at least it’s an improvement on feeling totally ashamed by the performance of our political leaders in the same world environments!

I feel even more frustrated that we honour Aussie achievers on the birthday of the Queen of England, when we have been a federated and independant country for over 100 years! I simply dont “get it”!

I don’t get why, when given the opportunity, my countrymen and women voted down the option of becoming a republic, even though the model proposed wasn’t great. I don’t get why we have a “half-arsed” approach to independance. We are not a republic and yet a Queen’s birthday honour no longer entails a knighthood (as per the honours in the ‘mother country’), but an “Order of Australia” ………a pathetic attempt to sever the ties of colonialism without ‘biting the bullet’ and doing the thing properly!

You know what else I don’t understand????

Why are Australian honours which are supposed to recognise excellence, leadership and contribution, so focused on sport, politics and celebrity???

Not that I’m denegrating the sporting achievements of my Aussies contemporaries, but most sportspeople these days get paid extrodinarliy well for PLAYING A GAME! Most ‘normal’ people struggling to make ends meet would love a lifestyle like that! Fame, fortune and a Queen’s birthday award for playing rugby, tennis, golf etc. Not to mention the ex politicians who are recognised, purely because their party is in power and they are being acknowledged for ‘toe-ing the party line”.
I know that there ARE people recognised for selflessness, altruism and community contribution…………..but you never see these people on television, in the newspaper or hear them on the radio and I’m afraid they rarely receive the highest honours…………..they get the “Clayton’s honours” that noone really notices.

I think the time has come to review how we honour contributors in our country. We need to be recognising the people who contribute in their local communities, who sacrifice time, money and energy to make Australia a better place. We need to recognise the ‘quiet achievers” who volunteer, care, support and nurture others in their community. We need to recognise selfless leadership, creative thinking and generosity of spirit.

I know I’m an idealist, but I don’t think that fair recognition of true achievement is too much to ask. As for our great sportsmen/women, actors and politicians…………….I think they too would agree that there are numerous awards programs that adequately recognise achievement in their given careers and receipt of these awards should be a fine accomplishment for them.

One day, when we are a republic, I’d love to see the Australia Awards recognising the ‘little people” on a day that’s meaningful for us………….how about the Australia Day Awards being expanded to include the current number of Queens birthday awards? How about the status of the Australia Day Awards being increased and how about we look around our own communities and start nominating the people who do so much for us? I’m sure noone would object to that?

In addition to selling uranium from three mines in Australia, should we be looking at value adding????

Should we be establishing “tips” for spent nuclear waste and being paid by other countries for taking their garbage???

Should we be investing in nuclear power plants to address the issue of fossil fuel usage and consequently our contribution to global warming?

These are all big questions with very political implications, but questions we should be discussing, never the less.

I, for one, want to retain our three mine policy (no more than three active mines to be in operation at any one time) and must say if I had my way, all of our uranium would stay in the ground where it belongs. I am however, a realist and like other enlightened souls, fearful of the implications of global warming for the future of our planet …………and our country is notoriously poor in addressing reductions in emissions and fossil fuel usage.

It seems to me that policy makers either have their ‘head in the sand’ and won’t acknowledge the problem, have personal investments or interest in maintaining the status quo or are scared of alienating powerful allies who fall into one or both of the previous categories (our Prime Minister is a classic example of the latter).

I don’t profess to be a climate scientist or economist, however understand the financial implications of reducing our fossil fuel exports BUT can’t help but wonder why the COST of NOT doing anything isn’t being addressed during the current debat