Juniper’s World Journal – Page 2

Where have I been?

In the last few months I have been connecting with Pasifika Friends, as we carry our cultures in the heart, in the art, and in the soul wherever we go, and connect to families who share that same passion to continue meaningful cultural practices even whilst embracing new homes.

I have been hearing stories of endurance to obtain cultural tattoos, and reconnect with friends who dart in and around the Pacific, Australia and call so many places home, because they have family there. How I treasure these connections and the inspiration, strength and creativity within them.

I’ve been reading and attending forums on the Voice to understand where it comes from and what it means to people and work out how I wish to vote. At a Multicultural hosted forum at the QPAC, one of the speakers said:

‘we are all migrants to Australia, other than the First Nations people who were here first, and that with some coming from countries where we have no freedom of voice. It is important to ensure that future generations of First Nations will have an enshrined voice. This is something that all migrants can consider as something they can give back to First Nations people through supporting the Voice.’

The Voice is only one beginning, one action, a vote where people decide whether to support a proposal but the true changes will come through ongoing conversations, grass roots actions to connection, collaboration and friendship where listening, should forever be a keystone.

Whether you think the Voice will work or not, few can deny the integral and ancient and important connection of First Nations people to this land and that listening, healing and actions go hand in hand.

However you choose to vote, please do your homework with reliable sources, and don’t put unrealistic expectations on all the First Nations people you might know to do your homework for you!

Until my health took a tumble, I was walking almost daily. I loved sensing the sounds, scent and visuals of parks, full of bird life, turtles, and interesting trees and creeks invigorate and inspire. However, little did I know how precious this would all become when I got serious sciatica and presently I still struggle to walk for very long or very far without pain.

My small pieces of film, photographs and memories of these special places is sustaining me whilst I make numerous trips to the doctors and begin the rounds of physios, orthopaedics, and more. I am still unable to return to longer beloved walks, however I can make it out to our garden.

To overcome my feelings of isolation I have been doing lots of editing, reading, writing and attending and organising meetings on zoom when I can’t make it out of my house. I’ve made strides forward on some historical biographical work, and hope to do some interviews over zoom whilst I can’t venture too far from home.

A friend bought me a physical copy of Emily Dickinson, my first actual paper copy of her work as I usually read her online. And thinking about Emily’s use of time alone to write I have begun filling a notebook about the experience and sensations of pain.

To sustain me through this time there have also been the memories of in person times with colleagues and friends, discussing stories, writing, community and the wonderful visits of friends who took the time to come and sit with me in my garden, and cheer me up with our shared memories and stories. There have also been a few phone calls to people who prefer that mode of communication, just to see how they are.

Some very touching comments were posted on my face book wall. Some of my favourite were:

May all the kindness and love you so generously show to others flow right back to you and lift you up and over the waves rolling in. Calm seas are ahead.

“You are a treasure for so many people. I hope all our energies spread back to you, with love.”
Writing Friends

It was very sad to hear of some people passing away relatively young, who had been important at different times to our family in our children’s journeys at school, but inspiring to hear of the courage of forgiveness, of the daughters of one my close friends who lost their mother.

Both these instances of mortality and forgiveness give me an urgency to finish particular projects or ensure there is someone to continue them if something should happen to me.

My silence on this blog means I am healing, reading, living – and pausing to reflect I write to express gratitude for all that life teaches, whether it be walks, or ill health.

Many thanks to all the true friends, and so sorry to miss birthdays, invitations, walks, functions, meetings where we normally connect I will be back or you can visit me in my garden, and we can listen to the wind, enjoy the stillness and bask in the memories of nearness.

Looking forward to when we can laugh together in the same spaces.

Reflecting at midpoints

I have reached almost the mid point of the masters in teaching.

This term has been all about learning and development theories – and understanding how to develop a growth mindset, and see how empowering a teacher can be through the power of modelling the attitudes and skills they want to see in their students – as well as empowering the autonomy and independence their students will need in life. Bandura, Dweck, and others have lit the way. For Dweck, praise for process is so important. For Bandura, models need to be aware they are unintentionally modelling all the time and people can vicariously learn. Both agree that processes that enhance agency and resilience are important.

I am contemplating taking a brief break from studies, to take a deep breath before the home straits. I am keen to do creative writing and study for my numeracy test. All teachers have to sit compulsory literacy and numeracy tests. I was confident and completed the literacy one, but I do have to brush up on my numeracy skills to ensure they are reasonable.

I worked hard this first term to balance, studies, friendship, service, studies and family. It can be difficult to do it all. And really do we have to? Sometimes something has to take a back seat, as long as well being remains. Interestingly we tackled this as a topic for supporting our students as well.

I don’t ever want to lose myself in only one world, creative, social, work, spiritual but keep it all in flow and connection.

I was so happy to see one of my best friends after a year! How quickly time passes if we are not careful. We decided that it would be lovely to collaborate on something again. I am thinking it would give us a lot of joy!

On my break, I am going to read books I have been unable to, try and finish some writing projects I have always wanted to, and make sure that my numeracy skills grow. I also want to grow courage!

This is the virtue of my break – as I contemplate what is broken in the world.

So much is broken. Floods, decimated things, Ukraine and Russia, the Academy Awards (the slap!), the way people speak to and of others on social media. And yet personally my heart has been healing from great hurts. And for the first time in almost two years I feel stronger.

I feel the building of this courage, and a spilling of love for the world from my heart. I can move forward by loving the world even more, from writing even more stories, from working towards goals like becoming a teacher.

I close this post with a memory picture of my dear husband and I. He is an immense source of strength. I have placed on here images of us in childhood before we met.

Even back then I was finding a solace in art! We keep writing our joint story, but also our own stories as independent beings and that is the beauty of equality. Be well.

Alone, with others, connected, within, and beyond the self.

Back to studies

Dear Readers,

So it may be a little quiet on my blogs soon, for the holidays have officially come to an end.

This year, I am aiming to face fears, and not let them to turn into bigger walls. Instead I’d like to deconstruct them and climb over them.

I just over one third of the way through my Masters for Teaching, and gearing up for another prac early this year. This quarter I am also sitting my lantite, literacy tests.

Holidays seem to pass so quickly, especially when you have had a very full and busy year.

Most of the family visited my eldest son (his brother couldn’t make it though due to doing summer school for university and then nation wide covid dilemmas for travel, Brisbane is still heading for a COVID19 peak in coming days) in Melbourne and spend some time whilst managing not to return home with COVID19, even though many in our extended family came down with it.

We visited the graveside of my husband’s Dad, who passed away nearly a year ago. I photo documented this and recorded some memories of it on my memoir blog.

I went on a few short walks, including in Melbourne near where our relatives live. We couldn’t go out much in the end due to COVID19.

I managed to read four books which were my own choice, and not set readings. I wished I could have read even more! I am determined to do more free reading this year, even during university study time. It just nurtures my imagination and relieves anxiety and stress.

I relooked at and began to plan the Fred Murray project and remaining research tasks, and which to prioritise.

We established a worm farm, grew some lettuces, cleaned our garden a bit more, and we watched some dramas, movies and programs, such as ‘Being the Ricardos’ , Lupine, and Kim’s Convenience as well continuing to watch ‘The Wire’.

‘The Wire’ season 3 is the best season so far, with a delving into several ‘social issues’ in a complex and realistic way, but also with some splinters of light, in comparison to the bleaker nature of earlier seasons. It is not a show for the faint hearted, and be warned there are mature viewing moments – this is not one to watch with children. Sometimes I find this show very difficult to watch, but this seasons, whilst still difficult has some poignant moments to ponder on. Bubbles is such an interesting character, who is trying to mentor a young one and overcome his own addictions. In this season he has a lot of dignity.

We’re about to do a massive clean up for the first roadside collection in two years in our area. It will be a time to dig out things we need to rid ourselves of under the house. Not liking to waste things we hold onto them until sure we no longer need them, but some things just haven’t been used in YEARS (time to go). Lately we are learning to divest of things, find good homes, and throw out when no longer able to repair them and reuse.

Finally over these holidays I have reflected a lot on happiness and am endeavouring to be kinder to myself and others than ever before, and find ways to do more kindness even when under a lot of pressure from studies or worried about COVID19.

I haven’t been able to visit or catch up with too many friends in person, but hope I can find ways to gently reach out more over the next few months. We all are so busy, but I want you all to know you are often in my thoughts.

Sometimes I send a random phone text, or email, but I think it needs to be more than that sometimes, and recently I spoke to a childhood friend on the phone after ten years! We had been hoping to meet up but COVID put a stop to that, due to members of both our families being in isolation. It was a wonderful chat though, remembering positives, mostly from our childhood, and seeing how our families are doing as well.

Well that’s all for a while. I have to really focus, but if something thought provoking happens, I will be back! I am planning to share some thoughts on recent events in Tonga, where a tsunami happened and am going to continue as always my writing projects and quests, but if I can one project at a time so I complete more things!

It’s such a relief to know our friends in Tonga are all physically okay, although I know from experience with Yasi, that their recovery process will be ongoing and their communities will be rebuilding.

From my family to yours, all the best with your projects, blogging, studying and community building.

Why not keep on looking for anything shedding light onto your family, or community and celebrate it!

Peace be with you.

June

Returning to Motherland 1#

I never expected that my first trip back to Papua New Guinea, since I moved to Australia as a one year old, would be in my fifties and via zoom and would be working with writers based in three different countries.

Yet, none of us knows our future, and so it was that the last week my first ever Book Week experience, occurred this way.

I was invited by Tina Marie Clark, to join a CYA team, including her, Albert Nayathi, Phil Kettle, Caroline Evari (and works from Michelle Worthington and Dannika Patterson) that has been mostly going to a school there in person for the last ten years.

The last two years they have had to conduct the visit via zoom, because of COVID19.

Although I haven’t done Book Week before, I have done several workshops in libraries, environmental centres, and schools, to mentor creatives of all ages from kindergarten through to people in their seventies, in poetry. Something which became such a passion I ended up writing and publishing a poetry book, Magic Fish Dreaming, for children.

I wrote Magic Fish Dreaming, to express a sense of the place I was living in at the time, which was the Cassowary Coast, in Far North Queensland, as well as to demonstrate different poetry techniques which might appeal to children but also extend them. At the time of composing this work I was facilitating workshops in the community and needed to create original materials not just use what was already out there.

Magic Fish Dreaming, represents all the beauty, grandeur, magic, and heartache and I saw whilst living in that area, all captured for families to relive some of that and hopefully fall in love with poetry.

During this visit, I was able to bring all the experiences of the last few years, in designing workshops, as well as my recent enrolment to teacher train together into my contemporary practice.

I was delighted to see the effect of the workshops on the students and their teacher and teacher assistant. I can truly say I had as much of a feeling of joy out of this as out of being published.

My heart soared to see them engaged with the activities and WRITING! And finally confidently performing work they had collaborated on composing together.

What did we and the school do during the week to reach this point?

Find out in my next post.

to be continued…

New Pathways Continuing

‘Nature never did betray the heart that loved her’ William Wordsworth

And so it begins again. The new pathway towards becoming more of an educator alongside writer. Another quarter of University and this time I am learning about the Humanities and English curriculum and curriculum in general. Curriculum, pedagogy, assessment! How do we modify them for diversity in classrooms?

But oh how I miss nature, when trapped indoors reading, typing and researching. Have I betrayed her precious trust, in being too much indoors? Does she know she is in my heart?

I could take my laptop and study outdoors I suppose, but she would distract me, and in the time before spring, the Brisbane winds are chilly, and the winds of COVID also blow state after state into lock down. Perhaps the wind is not safe here either.

This semester I am keen to achieve a greater balance, between university studies, my creative writing and other aspects of personal and community life. The break from studies, and two outings for a Picnic and frisbee with friends, and a discussion on Fairytales and folklore, telling and writing stories reminded me how much richness there is in connecting in real space with people!

Last quarter it was about remastering academic essays, report writing and narrated powerpoints. And remembering paragraphing and the elegance of concise and precise sentences! Blogs tend to split paragraphs much more than essays to make it easier to read on screens.

I was also progressing a project, where I am doing a guest editing spot, which is focused on diversity and am giving opportunities to others to be published! So thrilled about this, and more will be revealed!

I had an epiphany over the quarter break that I must escape my desk more for a cup of nature, in terms of a walk in a forest or by a stream and have a little more time with dear friends.

I am thinking of Romantic Poets, like Wordsworth, who would go for long walks, and in times where he was trapped in the urban areas, would think of nature. Nature is so rich nearby to us, both real and imagined. She has such bountiful, green, light, wrens, songs, and surrounded by bush the traffic camouflages itself as waterfalls.

A short drive and there are so many walks around places like Mt Cootha. So will be exploring the mazes of green there in between study breaks. Actually, it makes me study better to go on these explorations.

I find myself looking up into the branches, and spinning with the light. When stress about assessment rises, I am spinning beneath that light, and reminding myself, it is the insights and practice that will arise from education theories that counts.

My blog will be more silent for the next few weeks. Perhaps though photographs of nature escapes for strength may appear. Will they have words to go with them? Maybe only a handful.

Now off to read about Piaget, and Vygotzkgy! Who learnt more from each other than it might seem, on the role of the individual and community in the future of a child.