This evening I'm basking in the afterglow of a day spent with wonderful people. I just love being with positive, energetic, amazing human beings - and there are a few of them about!
Whether it's having someone truly listen to you, and take the time to hear your story; whether it's the energy you get from teaching a receptive student, who appreciates the opportunity to learn, and is open to the exciting beauty of knew knowledge; or whether it's returning home to the steady rock in your life - all these are wonderful things.
There's something alchemical about the process of speaking and being heard. (This, of course, is why therapy works.)
There's also something unmistakable and irreplaceable about that feeling of being fully alive, of being energized and motivated and creative, that you experience after spending time with someone positive, open, creative and ... well, just plain fantastic.
So, to all you wonderful people in my life - near and far, "real" and "virtual", "old" and "new" - thank you for gracing me with your presence - it is appreciated.
Showing posts with label relatedness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relatedness. Show all posts
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Sunday, 9 October 2011
A Connection with China
Reading an article today about the swing to the left in China, I was reminded of a conversation enjoyed recently.
Ping and I met at the Philosophies of Travel conference held in Sydney last weekend. We ended up sitting side-by-side at the closing dinner. Ping is ten years older than me - fifty - and grew up during the tail end of the Cultural Revolution. I was fascinated to have the opportunity to spend some hours chatting with a woman who had lived through those times. She told me about being separated from her parents and sent out into the country as a teenager, what it was like growing up in an "intellectual" family, and how when she and her husband left China twenty years ago, they were not allowed to go to the same country; she went to America, and her husband came to Australia, where she was able to join him. Her two children were born and raised in Australia, though one has recently accepted a scholarship to a prestigious American university.
It speaks volumes about our world that two women with such vastly differnt life stories can sit down and share a meal together. We chatted for hours, and she caught the bus back into the CBD with me, a kindness for which I was grateful amidst the rowdiness of a Saturday night.
Two women, two stories; one meal, and one new connection. The world is small, and the world is full of wonders.
Ping and I met at the Philosophies of Travel conference held in Sydney last weekend. We ended up sitting side-by-side at the closing dinner. Ping is ten years older than me - fifty - and grew up during the tail end of the Cultural Revolution. I was fascinated to have the opportunity to spend some hours chatting with a woman who had lived through those times. She told me about being separated from her parents and sent out into the country as a teenager, what it was like growing up in an "intellectual" family, and how when she and her husband left China twenty years ago, they were not allowed to go to the same country; she went to America, and her husband came to Australia, where she was able to join him. Her two children were born and raised in Australia, though one has recently accepted a scholarship to a prestigious American university.
It speaks volumes about our world that two women with such vastly differnt life stories can sit down and share a meal together. We chatted for hours, and she caught the bus back into the CBD with me, a kindness for which I was grateful amidst the rowdiness of a Saturday night.
Two women, two stories; one meal, and one new connection. The world is small, and the world is full of wonders.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Writer's Group
Today, my four-weeks-and-first day in Melbourne, I tried something new: I attended a writer’s group.
This was definitely outside my comfort zone!
For the last six years, I’ve only written academic pieces and speeches – and one piece of fiction, a “thank you” story for a special person left behind in Adelaide; so you could say I was sorely underprepared to attend a writer’s group. But I’ve been feeling somewhat socially isolated since arriving over here, and know I need to put myself out there – so along I went. (Previous readers: yes, I’ve been lacking a sense of “relatedness” lately! One of my Big Four.)
I felt some trepidation: would they be poncy word-snobs? Would there be bitchiness and backstabbing? Would they be open and welcoming, or closed to outsiders?
I chose the group I attended after looking at a website of Victorian writers groups; on the basis of a few words on a screen, I made a fairly arbitrary selection ... and trusted my intuition.
I chose well. Three men, seven women, age-skewed to the mature; some published, some not, with works from children’s picture books to novel chapters presented. I decided I would “put myself out there” and read the first two scenes of the piece I’d taken along. The feedback was both kind, constructive and particular – “you had a split infinitive on page two” – just what I’d hoped for, but was almost too nervous to anticipate. I wouldn’t say they were blown away by what I’d written – I’d say they’re not great science fiction fans, for starters! – but it was gratifying to hear that it was well written.
It was a really great example of positive community: purposeful, supportive, truthful (within the bounds of compassion) ... I was really impressed, and grateful, and am looking forward to next month.
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