Photgraph

There is a saying, Take only photographs leave only footprints. This saying is relevant to being out in nature (national parks, beaches etc), it means in a nice way don't pick things like native flowers or plants and don't litter our beautiful landscape with rubbish.

But leaving only photographs has come to mean something very different to me in recent history. Several of my acquaintances have passed away in the last two years. And in this age of the selfie and social media the one thing lacking was current photographs of the most lovely souls.

If you were to die tomorrow would you have a photo that memorialises you? Are you the only one who has these photos? Are they locked up in a computer or phone that only you can share because they are secured with a password.This is something that I have been pondering lately happens when somebody passes away. If your body image is poor you don't like photographs of yourself you shy away from the camera and while we are not thinking about it at the time after our passing the things left behind are the photographs and memories.

In one case, one of my colleagues hated being photographed so much that when she passed away last year some the photos included in her memorial were of her wedding that ended sourly in 1996. Why were they there. That's the complicated bit while her wedding day was a happy day there were not many photos from her life after.

In this age of photography we have invented a new word for the dictionary and while the young are often taking selfies once children arrive in our lives the photos avert to capture their acheivements and cuteness, the school years capture the gaps in smiles, unforms that are swimming on 5 year old and shrinking on the graduating teen and gowns of graduates and brides. But what about the every day life when was the last photo of you taken, if you haven't got one taken in the last 6 weeks, get the camera out and take one today.

The last photo of me on my phone taken in 9/13. 

Go on, I challenge you.


P.S. This blog came about as an elderly friend passed away this morning and the question was asked of me. Did I have photos of him? He lived in a group home with others who like him have intellectual disability, the photos the have were not current As it happens I visited the house regularly and randomly took photos of every person who resided in the house just for occasions such as this. Photographs that were not formal, "mug shots"or depicted as "fun times".

unfortunately it takes a celebrity death

I find myself having to write this down so I stop thinking about it ... After hearing of Australian fashion and media identity Charlotte Dawson's passing yesterday I keep thinking that it wasn't a case of if but when she took her own life.

Those who knew her say she had a beautiful soul, those who admired her thought she was a beautiful person and I'm sure she probably was (I don't know as we never met and I'm no fan of her genre of interest) but it is well documented that she suffered a life of anxiety and depression and at a time when she was most vulnerable trolls began bullying her, publicising hateful, untrue brutal words thus damaging what little self esteem she had and self esteem is difficult to rebuild.. 

In a 60 minutes interview last year she spoke of she history of depression, the help she was seeking and the trolls that where destroying her life with their hateful spite. Which only made the problem worse for Ms Dawson but at least talking of the issue bought bullying into a spotlight where people would talk about it. Bullying or intimidating in manner either physical or via social media is never OK but if it takes a celebrity death to make society talk then about not just curbing bullying and the hopeful prevention of suicide then so be it. Another celebrity death has done it's job.

Suicide happens every day as so many people decide that it is the only way out of their personal hell that they are suffering and often those around them never expect it the person involved is behaving happier as they reach a place of inner peace before making such a decision .No statistician will ever be able to gauge how many per annum or why?  It's decision that is devastating to loved ones as they struggle to fathom WHY and HOW and all the emotions that come with grief and loss. But again another celebrity death has done it's job!! 

Journalists of all form will now behave like animals to extract all and any detail they discover until it's not news any more because a public figure has taken their own life in the belief that every member of the public wants every detail. That in itself is appalling but at least I would like to think we are talking about the loss with a purpose: the awareness of helplines for people to call if distressed, that bullying is not appropriate and seek help does not make you weak (no I do not live in a blissful bubble expecting percentages of people using these service to rise) 

Suicide has touched my life on more than one occasion and I think of those people often, too often and that's the nature of grief however it has taught me that you never know how much you are loved.

Charity costs as little as a cup of coffee

I wrote this blog some time ago but as I read my archive of blogs this is one of the few that are still very relevant in my life today as it was when I wrote it. I wrote it during the weekend of Red Shield appeal 2012. At this point of my life I can only think of one brief stage in my youth where I have turned to food parcels to stop my utilities from being disconnected yet 25 years later things have done an about turn and I'm volunteering and giving to charity rather than taking from it....


  This weekend is the Red Shield Appeal. The major fund raiser for the Salvation Army in Australia. The "Salvo's" are the church you forget. What do I mean by that? well although they have a large church backing they are mainly known for their charity, emergency relief and rehabilitation services not religion.

I give to the Salvo's each year because you never know what could happen and if your circumstances will change. Think about it, 2 years ago when Victoria burnt could have anybody predicted it, NO but because of the donations and kindness of those who donate to non-profit organisations people living in that area are now slowly rebuilding their lives. So when the local scouts came knocking in our area I was ready which my little donation and while it wasn't much it will provide somebody with a meal next week and all I'm going to miss out on is a cup of coffee for my small effort.

Before moving on I want to acknowledge our local scout group and their leaders. The team of leaders for the 1st and 2nd scout groups of Fullarton should feel proud of  their standing in the community. Together they represent their local community in a stellar fashion, every year the troop are present at Dawn Service at the local War Veterans Homes and unlike the military cadets they aren't there for honour or pride (not the only reasons I thought of )  but to represent community and to see them today in the miserable rain collecting for the Salvo's makes me want to herald them for their good work. Well done to all the scouts in our area.

Charity is the one area some would says why do you give so much when you are such a limited budget and the answer is simple I have the resources and the donation does not have to be big. I don't spend money on concert tickets, cars or overseas travel and don't have a hoard of children to feed so have my chosen charities that are important to me and my philosophy is if I can't give money I'll give my time instead.

Nothing gives me more joy than my sponsored child in Brazil. For $1.35 per day I offer her and the community she lives in the opportunity to provide for themselves a healthier community while seeing her grow up through photographs and letters and while the child sponsorship people quote child sponsorship costing "less than a cup of coffee" the reality is these days that cup of coffee which you could downsize or "coffeepool" in the office could actually sponsor two kids in poverty. Thalissa will turn 10 this July and as I sent her birthday card away today I was thinking about the birthday party I had when I was that age a Halloween themed sleepover with all the girls from my class. Gifts from each guest and a table groaning with party food and home baked iced cake which I don't imagine is something her parents could achieve so if my little contributions, cards and pictures from Australia brighten her day then my job is done.

Back to current time, while I still sponsor a child through Childfund the child I sponsored has changed as her family circumstance changed but my support to a new child in Timor will continue as lets face it while charity begins at home I have lived a privileged life in comparision to those in the developing world.

Last weekend in September

It all boils down to this day, Grand Final day in the AFL competition. There is 18 teams competing for the coveted trophy in the beginning of the season and today only two remain.

The Sydney Swans and my team Hawthorn. Hawthorn have not had Grand Final success since 2008 but the Swans have have longer to wait, appearing in consecutive in in 2005 & 2006. Losing the latter by just 1 point.

Both teams deserve the win but as the 2010 grand final proved only one team can. That game between Collingwood and Geelong had to be replayed the following week because of a cuticle tearing draw at the final siren.

At the end of the minor premiership season I predicted that the Grand Final would be played out between the Hawks who have played consistently all season and either Geelong or the Adelaide Crows but with the way that the games were won and lost that was not to be.
A Hawks v Swans game is not what I predicted but to the victor goes the spoils and while I am hope for a Hawks victory but in my heart I believe that Sydney will be the successor. :(

This is my projection for the last game of season 2012. But I can be wrong

Getting an education, Community Foodies style

It's official, I'm a graduate of Certificate 3 of Nutrition & Dietetic Assistance. It was a long road and frankly I recall very little, two years after I began.

My saviour to learning most of the information that has been Community Foodies, a initiative of the SA health department. The way this works is that the state government provides funds to educate ordinary South Aussies with simple health messages from qualified dieticians and after 8 weeks of training in topics such as key messages of health, essential nutrients, portion control, label reading, food hygiene and confidence building "Foodies" as we are known are sent into their communities to spread the messages we have learnt onto others.

As a result, I decided to take the opportunity to re-educate with the new group of Foodies that will be joining our fold.

I am really looking forward to the challenge of learning the new things to be learnt and helping our newbies discover a world of food that they had never imagined.

Bruce Watt, it has been an honour to know you

Yesterday an acquaintance and friend of mine passed away. Bruce Watt, I am in awe of you, I am 38 years old and can not imagine achieving the things that you have done in my own life.

I can not believe that our paths first crossed almost a decade ago when I started blogging on Australian Blogger website. What began as just a website quickly became a community as a constant group of us shared stories of our life experiences, families, hardships and world travels while other member came and went. Unfortunately this community had to come to an end due to legal action (of which I still don't fully understand) forced the closure of the site. Then five years ago Facebook put us back in contact and again the group of us were sharing the highs, lows, travels and troubles with each other like no time had passed.

Although closer in age to my grandmother than myself, I am glad to be able to call you a friend and as I read Rohan's post regarding your passing I immediately felt grief and the need to share the news with those who we had in common, Catherine in particular as you gave us both wonderful advice. You loved your boys and proudly shared their achievements as they advanced their careers and travelled the world.

Your ability and desire to adjust and adapt to technology leaves me in awe, age was never considered a barrier for you to embrace something that as a boy would have been an inconceivable dream. This proves the point that anybody can learn anything if you put your mind and heart into it.

We shared a love of AFL, you loyal to your beloved Richmond which was cemented before I was even born and my passion for Hawthorn made for many weekends jovial rivalry especially as the lowly ranking Richmond lost ... again. For the record I live in hope that your beloved Tiges win a handful for you by seasons end but especially this weekend. It would be an embarrassment if they lost to the Gold Coast when they are currently sitting 10th on the ladder with an equal win loss ratio. I promise that I will be thinking of you if the Tiges ever win the flag, God forbid.

My involvement in my local community garden in Adelaide inspired you as we shared a varying passion of gardening, while I certainly love the social aspect of our garden more than gardening I do find digging in the dirt therapeutic whereas bonsai was your passion. It was not until I began to write this blog that I discovered that the only comment ever made to my blog came from you about my garden.

It's no secret that I envied your travels,far and wide. You love your caravan capers it seemed nothing was a barrier to your travels and the trip to Turkey prior to ANZAC Day several years ago was a definite highlight. A trip that I would love to experience but alas due to health conditions international travel is the one goal that has had to come off my list.

We never did do what we joked about, travelling to Byron Bay for the Blues festival, Bruce, but a love of a variety of music was just another thing we shared.

It has been an honour to share you're your love of the Richmond Football Club, the opinions that you shared and your zest for life. Cyberspace made our friendship possible and while I have always stated my view of the afterlife as I'm going to Hell because it's less crowded if we are to met again I would like to think that we would be sharing a good yarn upon seeing a face previously only seen in photographs.

You made an impact on so many and are a true gentleman, I will miss your friendship and am thinking of your family at this time.

"the block" mets my life

I feel like I have not been living my own life for an eon but in reality the reconstruction of my kitchen and subsequent departure from my abode only occurred 2 weeks ago.

Renovating has been full of highs, lows and frustrations. As I enter my third weekend away from home, there is some resemblance of the final result as the cabinetmaker installed the kitchen cupboards this week.

Appliances started arriving 2 weeks ago thanks to the end of financial year stocktake. Why would Harvey Norman want to count it when they can deliver it to my place then call me at 5.30 to say "Who is taking delivery of this", well the answer was "Paul Edwards would have if you delivered before 12 as instructed" Grrr, while i can't fault the service of the Harvey Norman warehouse outlet, the stores after sales service has been crap.

As a result my lounge room has been looking like warehouse because the team doing the work weren't quite ready for it. But my last days prior to exiting for work to begin were spent with a fridge at the end of the couch so why not a microwave on the kitchen table.

After the weekend will be when the final fixing of the electrical appliances. Then I'll have a house that looks like a house but I have this foreboding sense that it just can't be that easy.