Blog Posts - General
Setting your stage – a guide to removing blocks to creativity - Read More
Have you ever had a brilliant idea flash into your head? An idea which is so pure in inspiration that it makes you burst with enthusiasm to get it down on paper? Then, have you experienced the frustration of trying to convey the brilliance of this idea into words only to find they fall flat and heavy on the page or remain glued to your mind? Or have you ever experienced trying to express the essence of your thoughts into a simple paragraph and instead sit for hours in front of your computer tortured by the struggling words as they trickle onto the page like dripping molasses?
How many times have…
Finish my story … - Read More
Here’s an exercise to give your imagination a workout. It’s simple and it’s fun so here’s how it works. Read the (very) short story which I have started below. There’s something down in the basement and only you know what it is. Don’t leave us in the dark – add the final paragaph and finish my story …
Bang!
I wake up suddenly with a fright. This has been happening for the past two nights, down in the basement. I know what’s down there and even thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. But this has gone on too long, I have to go down there, I have to face my fears.…
Are we really disconnected from the world? - Read More
With the recent tragic bushfires in Victoria I felt proud to be an Australian when I saw how quickly and willingly we, as a nation, rushed to help those people who lost their homes and loved ones. Within days we had dug deep and raised over 10 million dollars, loaded up trucks with food and clothing and offered our spare rooms to help accommodate the thousands left homeless. This, in a time of economic downturn when the government is giving away billions to boost the economy is indeed an impressive response.
But whilst we felt compelled to give money, food and clothing I believe we also felt a connection to these…
When will conservation be taught in schools as a Basic Skill? - Read More
The other day my ten year old daughter asked me for something which took me by surprise. She asked me if I would take her to the Great Barrier Reef this year because she wanted to see it before it disappeared.
The reason I was surprised by this was not because I disagreed with her assessment of the situation, after all, it has been common knowledge for years that we are loosing our beautiful reef, but rather, because of her somewhat simple acceptance of this apparent inevitability.
It made me wonder, is all this talk about the impact we are having on climate change filtering down to our children as a message…
Was that Climate Change or Just Unexpected Weather? - Read More
I can remember walking home from school, back in the late 60s, in the middle of winter. Even though we lived in a temperate climate (in Australia) it seemed like every day from May through July, as I walked home from school with my brothers and sisters, it was always freezing cold and wet.
In fact I can still remember the feel of the rain stinging my face like I was being flicked with the wet kitchen tea towel, my clothes clinging to me, drenched through and my shoes squelching with each step. Then, after what seemed like hours facing the elements (although it was probably only a half hour…
What ever happened to the Terrarium? - Read More
Do you remember setting up those mini glasshouses in those bell bottomed bottles back in the 70s? Mini ecosystems with an assortment of dwarfed plants co-existing in a closed environment sealed with an unusually large cork.
I loved the one we had sitting by the dining room window and for some reason those plants outlived every other plant I tried to grow back then. To be honest, I believe the reason they survived for so long was because that large cork in the top stopped me from interfering with the balance of nature inside the glass.
The sunlight from the window encouraged photosynthesis in the leaves. The roots drank in the…
Left Brain/Right Brain - Read More
Even the way we say this puts the Left Brain on the left and the Right Brain on the … well you get the idea. But what does it really mean? As early as primary school we start to understand what we are good at and what we are not good at. Our school report displays in vivid alphabetica (I know, I made that word up) what subjects we have excelled in and what we have lagged behind in. As we scan the page looking for As our eyes are immediately drawn to the Cs and our hearts sink at how we have failed to meet expectations in a subject…
If Planet Earth was a company on the stock exchange … - Read More
Imagine if “Planet Earth” was a global company listed on the stock exchange and at birth our parents started buying us shares in this company. As we grew our parents would continue to buy us shares until we were old enough to buy our own. We all kept our shares knowing that they were a good investment for our future.
Imagine if the profits for this company were measured in how much it contributed to the conservation of the planet. And the dividends it paid to its share holders were paid in commodities like clean air, water, food production and arable land.
If we were shareholders of this company would we…
World Congress of Metropolis Sydney 2008 - Read More
Metropolis is on in Sydney.
From the Metropolis website…
“Established in 1985, the Metropolis Association, Metropolis (head office in Barcelona) represents almost 100 of the world’s largest cities. Its mission is to promote international cooperation and discussion on issues including urban planning and development, the economy, environmental and health matters, transport, infrastructure and communications.
The Association’s main objective is to have greater influence over development of metropolitan areas and achieve an enhanced general wellbeing of their citizens.”
