“This is love. To fly toward a secret sky. To cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally to take a step without feet.” –Rumi I’ve been away from my home in Perth for the past few days, spending time clear across Australia, in Melbourne and Hobart, over 4000 km away. It’s given …
Someday I'll Fly
So I’m in my shed today, and I’m painting the walls. It’s the final stage of turning this rusty old garage into a studio space, a place where I can make my art and prepare for my workshops. I’m standing on a raised platform my brother-in-law built for me to protect my gear from the damp. I’ve laid down Greg’s old wheelchair …
A Letter to Mary on Father’s Day
Dear Mary, This is more than likely going to horrify you, being the intensely private person that you are. But on your first Father’s Day without Dad, I thought I would celebrate the best thing we ever did: YOU. When you were born, I couldn’t believe that I had actually made a baby. After nearly three days of labour and …
Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String
For the past three weeks, I have spent an awful lot of time coughing, being very very sick and then getting sick again. All this time in bed was interesting. It was as if my body was saying, I’ve had my fill of grief and despair, I need to just rest now. And ok, the bugs can win. There was …
Remembering Who Needs a Pat Most
My little black dog Layla is getting old. She’s also a bit smelly, even after a bath. (What can I say? Body odour happens). Layla has a lovely personality. She has spent the past twelve years being as good a dog as a dog can be, paying careful attention to everything her humans want, say and do, learning as much …
Catching my breath
A pleasant young man casually tells us to place our feet on the green line and wait for the chairlift to come around. We sit on the swinging seat as it moves around the giant cable, barely stopping for us to get on. “The safety bar is coming down now; remember to lift it before you get off on the …
He's Gone.
My husband Greg passed away on Friday May 16th at 8.07pm. It was just four years short of the day he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The actual moment was completely peaceful. I was next to him, adjusting his position to make him more comfortable. His head was tilted toward me. He stopped breathing quietly. I felt his pulse and …
Has he stumbled upon a secret key?
“When we let art out, we let love in.” K.R.Roberts Many years ago, I spent my days pulling my hair out over the statistical analysis of clinical trials. Yep, you read that correctly. My life was steeped in randomised, double-blind placebo controlled studies. Don’t believe me? Check out this paper in the Journal of the American Heart Association. That’s the …
