I’ve always called myself a writer though I prefer the term wordsmith—someone who relishes, rearranges, juggles, weaves, unpacks, spins, shapes, combines, crafts, concocts and choreographs words. No wonder I’m so tired.
I’ve always called myself a writer though I prefer the term wordsmith—someone who relishes, rearranges, juggles, weaves, unpacks, spins, shapes, combines, crafts, concocts and choreographs words. No wonder I’m so tired.
When I moved to Australia in the ‘80s, the sound of g’day was music to my ears. In New York, where I grew up, you quickly learn to avoid eye contact with strangers. You walk with a purpose, gaze fixed in the distance. Otherwise, you’re likely to become entangled in an unwanted, potentially dangerous encounter. (Don’t get me started on the subway!) But in ‘80s Australia, people were greeting me in stereo. I was naïve enough to think they must have picked me for a foreigner and were going out of the way to be nice. I soon realised it wasn’t special treatment at all. Everyone said ‘g’day. Not anymore.
Our chronically hyper-paced world seems to be a never-ending endorphin chase whose finish line is physical, mental and existential fatigue. If we’re bold and brave enough to run our own race, a quiet truth—one that’s been there all along if we’d only look—can sustain us: nature, in its unadulterated splendour, offers a sanctuary.
I’ve always been an overachiever. I’m not saying that in a bragging kind of way – overachieving is hardly a worthwhile goal. But it’s not a type of pathology either, as some would have us think.