This year I became an empty nester. Well, for four teary months anyway. The short version is this… By design the Ready Communities program and our national conference, Social Impact in the Regions is based in a different community each year. While the first two years were practically in my backyard: Coffs Harbour and Kempsey […]
What I learned about building community from the lady downstairs Read More
How producing a conference on my own dime changed my thoughts on speaker payments (and my behaviour as a speaker) Producing conferences and events is not a new thing for me, in fact, I pulled together my first band night which attracted several hundred people at the age of 18. Through the years I’ve been
Every week I meet people who are uncomfortable with something in their community. Most will do nothing about it (except whinge), some will get started and dip out when it gets too hard and others I watch in great delight as inch by inch, step by step they forge a pathway forward drowning out the
Do you really want to create change? Embrace what makes you potent. Read More
Aunty Jo-Anne Kelly often speaks about weaving together elements of community to create change. Led by the people elements, drawing the strategies, programs and resources in place to create something lasting and reverent is what she aspires to, and works steadily towards every day. Weaving community may start with an engagement activity, or a consultation
Weaving community connection Read More
One of the things I love, and love to learn about about a regional community is what makes it’s heart beat. Thinking about my many visits to Norfolk Island I have a ritual when I visit that enables me to feel grounded in the community. Because feeling grounded is the only way you can notice
Getting to the heart of a regional community Read More
Work life balance – as far as I’m concerned can go suck a dic-tionary. Plenty of spare words in there for unsuspecting parents to latch onto and suck marrow out of every single emotion working as a parent brings forward. In my 22 years of parenting I’m yet to find a sensible, guilt free role
Are you worrying too much about work/life balance? Read More
Every summer I look forward to some decluttering and garden time. I sweat, I swear, I purge and I feel an enormous amount of satisfaction as my body aches, the sun kisses my skin and I remember – if I choose to, I can and that makes me very lucky. As I work, I think
Will chipping away solve our biggest problems? Read More
Fun fact. The notion of ‘work life balance’ was first proposed by a renegade called Robert Owen. Can you guess when? 1817. Owen’s famous phrase was “8 hours labour, 8 hours recreation, 8 hours rest” neatly dividing the day into work time, play time and rest time. While the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says
Managing work-life creep Read More
Every morning my daughter and I fight a silent battle. She visits my bathroom and turns the toilet paper role upside down. I follow along turning it the right side up. In recent times our silent battle has caused me to do a little more research. My girl seems to be very passionate about this
The right way to hang toilet paper and its role in critical dissent Read More
Foreword: My own relationship with the word resilience has changed over the years. While I was quick to embrace in my work practice many years ago I always found it somewhat patronising as it was usually applied in a context of assisting our most vulnerable communities almost implying (well, we invested you to be tough, now