Stranger Danger? I don’t think so!

A little girl innocently walks up to a man sitting quietly on a bench in the park as she has chased a butterfly that landed next to him and she asks him if he noticed it too. But chasing behind her is her mother who, after a sheepish smile to the man takes the little girl’s hand and walks away with her, whispering that it was not safe to do what she did because that man is a stranger and “We don’t know him, so he could be dangerous,” asking her to never do that again.

Building Loving Relationships in our Communities

A while ago I started noticing a number of shops closing down or just sitting empty. I wondered why. So I started talking to the people who felt they had to close their shops.

The common theme that came up was that their rents have been raised and they can’t afford to pay what the landlords are asking for. Some even felt they were being pushed out because they were not of a certain nationality.

This all got me reflecting on what has happened to equality for all, what has happened to decency, respect and care for our fellow brothers, no matter what nationality they are, or whether they are skinny, overweight, rich, poor, Australian, Chinese etc?

Where Are We Going and What Are We Doing?

This is a question that we may ponder on.

Sometimes we may feel lost. It feels as though we have lost our way and don’t know where to turn.

I base this feeling on what I have been feeling for some time and this is that I have become so caught up in looking outside of myself that I am ignoring the loss of contact with my innermost feelings and I sense that I am not alone with this particular feeling.

The Consequences of our Choices

What determines the choices that we make and are we as free to choose as we think we are?

I have been aware for some time that the way that we choose to think, speak and move governs the thoughts, speech and movements that will come next, but it wasn’t until I experienced this for myself that I really knew it to be true.

The Wings of an Airplane Doctor

Since I can remember, I have always loved and appreciated anything with wings – birds, butterflies, and especially airplanes; anything to do with aviation. As a small boy growing up in a rural farming area, finding feathers and collecting them was special to me. It connected me to the magic that made the birds soaring above me swoop and fly in graceful circles.

It was with this feeling of joy and amazement of flying creatures that I eventually decided to become an aircraft technician after I had completed college. I was always fascinated with the systems that made airplanes work and I enjoyed working with my hands in a team environment. Even though I was leaving the mental health field that I had gone to university for, there was something that brought me back to my childhood and told me that aviation was indeed my calling.

The Corruption of True Teamwork

Is our society operating on corrupted versions of true teamwork?

Our global society works through teams and there are many situations in life where we need to be part of a team. Families may see themselves as a team; corporations call upon their employees to contribute to and do their part for the team; we value working together as a team and most of us will have experienced a sense of satisfaction whenever a team pulls together to address a crisis – such as in a widespread disaster – or to collaborate to produce something. This can be anything from a newsletter to a product to sales figures or, indeed, to any outcome.

Supremacy – More Common Than We Think?

Supremacism – the belief or ideology of superiority, control and domination. That some particular group is superior to all others and has a right to dominate, control and subjugate others. (1)(2)

When we think of supremacy we tend to picture Nazis, war, mass genocides, white supremacy (e.g. Ku Klux Klan) or something similar and we tend to think that it is something that happens somewhere else in the world and/or that it is an extreme event and that we are not affected by it or do not partake in it in our daily lives – but is this actually true?

Why Do I Do That?

Over time I have come to realise that I engage in the same or similar behaviours that I judge or dislike in other people. I am also becoming more aware of where and when I do this. The next question that arises is, “Why do I do that?”

This Beauty

Bombs in stadiums, houses reduced to rubble, children with limbs blown off, whole nations displaced, toxic chemicals in our water stream, politicians who plot to skim off all the cream, brutal bashing of our closest partners, drug addiction through the roof, sex trafficking and child abuse. One look at the world today and it is clear things aren’t going so well.

Supply and Demand – What about the Truth?

Sensationalised journalism, news reporting and the like offer us a reflection of what we as a society are demanding. Supply and demand affects everything in this world – if there is no demand then there will be no supply. It literally applies to everything.

When we consider the mass volume of reported and consumed news through the medium of newspapers, that which is watched on television and through social media daily, it feels imperative to ask a couple of questions:

• What is it that we are actually consuming?
• What are we over and over again, continuing to ask for?