London Calling

In my last blog I explained what intermission meant to me. Well I am pleased to say intermission is finally over. Boredom has been replaced by excitement, fun and laughter and enough energy to turn my life from staid to chaotic in a moment of seconds. Yes be careful what you wish for folks because you do get what you ask for. I am happy to say intermission is over and life has begun and I am loving it. I want to spend the time I have left (no I'm not ill, just getting older by the minute) enjoying every moment and experiencing new things. The journey has begun.

Let me explain. I applied for the British Council Accelerate Indigenous Australian Creative Leadership Program and I was offered a placement. Accelerate is a program developed by the British Council in partnership with the Australia Council and supported by the states. Indigenous Australians who get into the program are identified as being future leaders in their chosen field of career or study and are offered an opportunity to fly to the UK to develop professional skills, meet other successful people working in the same sector or industry or field of study and to build working relationships. And it is so wonderfully amazing. We have had the opportunity to attend two works shops in Australia both of which had a profound effect on me and I have to say I am now directing my career into pathways that open windows of opportunity and allow me to grow in the way that I wish to move rather than being locked into the 'comfort zone'. I don't like the comfort zone, it is boring.  If you stay in the 'comfort zone' you don't get a chance to challenge yourself or to step over the threshold into the unknown. And the good thing about stepping over the threshold into the unknown is that you face new challenges that make you grow. Challenges are a bit frightening, however, they are also fun because you get to try new things and by trying new things you develop new skills. As you know I love learning and I am passionate about education. Education is the answer to freedom (Paulo Freire, Sociologist). Education is not just about text book learning, it is about experiencing new things, new places, new people. It is about immersing yourself in someone else's culture other than your own and learning from the experience.

My new experience is that for the first time I have stepped outside of Australia. Yes folks I am in London on the 3rd Stage of the Accelerate program and it is wonderful. We arrived yesterday. I have travelled with 5 other talented Aboriginal people from around Australia and the Director of British Council Australia, Nick Marchand. The journey itself was an experience. 22 hours in a plane is a bit much but here we are. In London. Arrived yesterday. And it is amazingly dark. I realise I haven't been here long but so far I love London. You know you get a feel for a place as soon as you hit the city and generally you can tell whether you are going to like it or not. Even though the sun only shines for a short time during the day, 

London is magical.

We had a few hours to kill before checking into our rooms so we meandered around the block to find somewhere to eat breakfast. We found this fabulous cafe called Elliotts that is across the road from the Burough Markets and the food was to die for. All fresh and organic. Best breakfast I have had in a long time, or maybe it was just because we had been chewing on airline fare for a few hours. Either way it was an experience and new and fun and exciting. 

London is truly, magical. I mean there is a lane way called Charles Dickens Lane, how exciting is that. This place is full of history and it is magic. 

Today I am going exploring, off to rediscover history, shall let you know how it turns out. 

Life is good!

New Beginnings

Hi there fellow bloggers. Intermission is definitely over and I am truly excited. I have finished my exams and submitted my final essay. Phew that was exhausting. I then had the honour of speaking at an Indigenous Social Justice Workshop, Commonwealth Peoples Forum, CHOGM. Interesting that was and I think it went very well. Received lots of supportive comments and not one boo, thats always a good sign especially when talking to your peers, yee ha!

In my earlier blog I declared that intermission was driving me crazy, well my life turned into crazy....lol Lesson learnt be careful what you wish for.

Recently I applied for the British Council Accelerate Creative Indigenous Australian Leadership Program that is run in partnership with the Council for the Arts, Australia. And it is the most inspiring and exciting program I have ever been involved in.

Two things have happened since I was accepted into Accelerate. Firstly, it will be my inaugural trip out of Australia. Frightening though it is, it is also very exciting. Secondly, the leadership component of the program in which I have participated in two workshops prior to my arrival here in Sydney (yes I am blogging from my hotel room), has changed my perspective on my life and my career. In fact it was so inspirational that I have shared Heros Journey with some of my closest, nearest and dearest who had voiced their concerns about the way in which their own lives were travelling, and hope that they will accept the challenge that comes with changing your life. I personally find the challenge exciting. I love the feeling of being outside my comfort zone because it means that I have to dig deep and conquer my fear in order to move forward. Challenging yourself also builds new skills and once achieved it is so rewarding.

Another interesting thing that has occurred for me during the last 10 days of chaos is the reflection of an academic paper that I was reminded of whilst researching my speech for CHOGM. It was written by Paulo Freire, Brazilian Sociologist who wrote 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed'. And just between you and me it could only be a white man that comes us with a word like pedagogy. For those of you (my children in particular) who don't like to use a dictionary pedagogy is another word for teaching. Freire taught illiterate adults in Brazil how to read and write. Out of his teaching he was rewarded with a brilliant book that is used in sociology and probably a number of other disciplines. However the point I am trying to make is something that Freire said that has stuck in my mind since I began University. What he said is that 'education is the answer to freedom'. Freire's theory is based on the premise that oppressed peoples participate in seeking their own liberation. I love that and it brings me to another interesting comment that I recently found on the British Council's Accelerate public statement which was made by the Director of the British Council, Australia, Nick Marchand. Nick's comment is this: 

'accelerate's main aim is to create an environment for talented future indigenous leaders to gain the skills and international networks they need to drive their own careers, and in doing create a pathway to success for others to follow'.

As you can see Nick and Freire are thinking along the same lines and in my case their theories to freedom and success is accurate for I have changed my life, freed myself from the shackles of being a black fella in a colonised country and made choices that have been informed and appropriate for the direction I wish to move my career.

Now the interesting thing about changing your life in this way is that other Noongar people, not all but some, have made comments to me about being a 'real' Noongar and that now that I am an academic I am moving away from being a Noongar. In response to this I just want to say I am a Noongar first and foremost and I will never forget where I came from, however lets be realistic, we are colonized and if you think that you aren't assimilated just remember when you reach for your mobile phone and jump in your flash car, you are assimilated, so get over it and move on. Kim Collard said something enlightening at the CHOGM workshop. Kim said as he was mowing his lawn it occurred to him that he had been assimilated....made me laugh I have to say. Kim is right. And it is time we accepted it. 

Culture and heritage in todays world has changed, fact of life. We can never take it back to where it was and I personally don't want to live in the bush, this is my choice, so respect my right to choose. I also want to say that its not a bad thing. In fact I am learning more and more about my culture and heritage every single day. I am learning to speak language (not that well yet but getting there) and I love listening to the Elders and hearing what they have to say. However, it is important not to dwell in the past but to acknowledge the past and move into the future. Life is different, no doubt about that and not just for Aboriginal people but for all people. And I personally want to participate in life.

The other interesting thing that is resonating off the walls of my over active mind is that you really do have to travel outside your country to experience education. And that is exactly what I am going to do. On that note I want to take this opportunity to say to all of my Noongar friends and family who have encouraged me and got excited with me, I thank you for you support and your love, to my wadjela mates who have encouraged me and supported me and to Jane who reads all of my really important academic papers like my draft essays etc, you are invaluable and I love you heaps. To my children who have given me the space to study and put up with my stress levels at times when I may have been calmer had I not been under so much pressure, I thank you and love you heaps.

So here I go, into the new frontier. Frightening but so much fun!

Life is good.