“You’re afraid of being separated from the grassroots, aren’t you?”

I was asked this a week ago. And a soft realisation set in... yes, I am. For it is in the “grassroots” where our connection with humanity is the most profound.

This is where we find the purpose of what this is all for. This is where we remember that when we dare to almost get lost in the high level thinking, the innovative processes and peace treaties, or lack thereof....

These are the moments that bring us home, when we are face to face with another and we bridge the gap of who we are and we see ourselves in a simple act that reminds us of the true purpose of it all.

As I answered this question a week ago, it was with a gentle bringing of light to the fact that this is what I built a career around... bringing light to and bridging the gap between the way that we think that change happens, and the simplicity of what is often needed more than anything...

A BELATED CELEBRATION FOR SOCIAL WORKERS

From March 16th

“Happy International Social Work Day to all of the Social, Community and other humanitarian workers in my world.

What does it mean to be a Social Worker?

It means to give a sh*t when most people have long disbanded

It means to test your own sanity over and over, while holding and reinforcing others

It means seeing through a lot of what happens in the world, and to still know that you won’t ever see the full picture

It means to listen to things that you never imagined possible and deal with things that you never knew that you were capable of

It means to question over and over and over again and know that there will likely never be an answer

It means to create “resources” out of thin air and to make the impossible happen on a daily basis

And it means to hold humanity at a standard that most never contemplate

...... And a...

Who am I in this world?

First up, I am many many things

I am from Melbourne and I live in Bali- I found myself making a super quick decision to abort all travel plans and jump on the next flight from Hoi An in March last year and to hightail it to Bali, and to move in with a local family only a few days before borders closed and about a week before flights off the island stopped. I’ve always been best at navigating crisis While I now live independently to the local family, it has been a year that has been unlike any other in my lifetime. I had packed up life in Melbourne to begin a new and very unknown chapter, after being a Social Worker and Coach for around 14 years.

I had a few dreams about what I wanted to create for myself, and my re-launch of Aspire is a big piece of it! I originally launched Aspire two years ago to explore lots of ideas that had been brewing for a long time, while I was working full time. At the time, it was largely experiential...

Where has she been?

I am conscious that this is something that a couple of people previously connected to me may be wondering.

Well, let me tell you a story that involves a one way world adventure that began at the end of January 2020 and took me not much further than Bali, where I have been based for all but two weeks of the time between then and now.

I left Bali after five weeks to attend a wedding in Penang and then flew to Hoi An in Vietnam, where I intended to begin my travels. I wanted to travel the Southern route of the Silk Road, however I didn’t have a plan for how this would unfold. A week later I watched the world and town around me shut down. Family at home raised concerns about my plans and I made a swift decision to book the next flight back to Bali, to move in with a Balinese family that I had came to know over the five weeks and I arrived by the end of the day.

On the Monday morning I attended the immigration office to have my...

I am watching magic unfold before my eyes. Two years ago I was in the final stages of my Yoga Teacher Training. The training itself was intense. Over a year I spent five hours every Thursday night sitting cross-legged in a circle with about 15 to 20 others, mostly women, and we spoke about the human body, Yogic Philosophy, connection and the whole purpose of it all. I remember being told by previous graduates that the teachings in that space had only just begun and that a huge period of growth and learning was on the other side of our graduation night. 

In the months that followed my graduation, I found that the thing that I missed most from my whole training was those Thursday nights sitting in a circle. This perplexed me a little, given that I had felt a little nervous when we first began meeting in that space 12 months previously. In these first six months post my training, I found myself searching out similar spaces where I could sit in circles of women. By the time it...

I found myself chatting to a woman a few years younger than me recently. She commented that she is loving what I’m creating with The Aspire Series. I thanked her and commented that I loved a post that she created recently. I felt that there was something more in this. She shared with me that she is trying something new and she appeared a little sheepish. I asked her what this was all about.

She responded with “well, you know how I’m studying counselling? Well I have all of these ideas and dreams and I don’t know what to make of them or what they’re even about. But I thought that if I just post one thing a week with my thoughts, then that’s something and I’ll see where it goes”. I congratulated her.

She responded with “Yeah, but I don’t know, because who am I to post stuff like this?’. I suggested that this is perfect and all that she needs to do is to begin, and to trust that the rest will come to her when it’s...