History, in the retelling, tends to lose important details and context, substituting a few dramatic embellishments along the way. Take the first Thanksgiving story, for instance. Enshrined in school texts, the tale has been idealised to the point of disbelief. Even as an adolescent, I recall thinking, ‘This just doesn’t stack’. (Don’t get me started on the Bible). But no one wanted to hear my cynical take on the holidays, let alone on life. That’s what writing’s for 😉
Contentment is more about what’s within. It’s about finding joy in the simple things, like feeling the sun on your face, or being followed by a rainbow. Getting lost in a pile of autumn leaves or laughing so hard hurts. It’s about being satisfied with what you have, rather than always striving for more. Contentment is like a cosy jumper – the colourful one your gran knitted for Christmas. It may not be the most fashionable thing in the world, but it’s comfortable, and it makes you feel good.
The Fragments web series was launched on 23 February at the National Film and Sound Archives in Canberra by the ACT Arts… Read more Fragments Web Series Premiere
I’ve been doodling a lot lately. Not in a gaze-off-into-the-distance kind of way but as an activity with intrinsic merit and no aim or outcome – a novelty in my task/deadline-oriented world.
Lately, people have been asking me where I get my characters from. I chuckle to myself when greeted with this question; semantics aside, the word ‘get’ conjures images of me plucking characters from shelves when out doing errands, perhaps wedging the unruly ones in my hand basket so I can admonish them under the pretence of a phone call.
Get fit, brush up on French, update the kids’ scrapbooks, publish my play, experiment with other forms of writing, be grateful.
That was the list I wrote after the shock of the first lockdown settled, somewhere around April 2020. It was part ‘When life gives you lemons’ and part ‘If I stay busy I won’t have time to think about seismic changes in the world.’