Selectively Juggling

Surely these are unprecedented times, with Russia flexing its repulsive monstrous muscle against a courageous Ukraine. Images of innocent people, and buildings bombarded by screeching shells. fill our collective nightmares. The result, complete and utter carnage. The images further exacerbate a collective sense of dread, anguish and foreboding. What could possibly be next? And this is coming from a genuine glass half-full kinda girl.

Twitter feeds fill with messages of fear, resilience, courage and love. We hear the silent sounds of Ukrainian voices screaming out into the abyss. We catch a glimpse of the struggle, the pain, and the desperation. Helplessly watching as our feeds are filled with the images of crumbling buildings, empty facades, that mere moments ago had been filled to overflowing with life, joy, and families. Now, instead of smells of food, and sounds of laughter emanating throughout the city, there is an acrid smell of burning, and the otherworldly piercing sound of wailing sirens. The sounds of tears and people’s fears. We may not be standing side-by-side, but we see the struggle, we see the pain. We feel for the Ukrainians. We feel for all the pawns in the political puppeteer’s war games. We feel.

This is juxtaposed, with the vile image of Putin smiling, his bloated botox-filled cheeks, and empty soulless eyes a constant reminder of how evil is able to take reign. His image stirs up feelings of hate, and despair deep within the pit of my stomach. Much like trump does, for all his vile racist rhetoric, and hate. I feel saddened that humanity has not yet learnt from history. Will it ever? Once again we have malignant narcissists and sociopaths jockeying for positions of dictatorships, and sadly history is littered with the remains of those who’ve suffered under such regimes.

Even here at home in Australia torrential rains have wreaked havoc, causing once-in-a-thousand-year catastrophic floods. People are bone-weary tired. Covid has been an exhausting companion. Not helped by an incompetent Australian Federal conservative and regressive government. Our Prime Minister, more interested in playing dress-ups, then showing any real compassion and integrity. It says it all when he aspired to be like trump, and is backed by media mafia monguls like Murdoch. It has been exhausting, frustrating and at times infuriating. Again, Twitter feeds are full of Australian voices, in every conceivable Australian accent, shade and tone, expressing their distrust and dismay at the federal government. I too am extremely vocal, saddened by what I believe is a self-serving government who lacks vision, compassion and integrity. There are so many disenfranchised, so many in need. Yet they don’t seem to care or listen, they keep feeding the conservative narrative.

I look around and see compassion fatigue everywhere. I see it at work, at home and online. I feel it myself. I see it when I look in the mirror, or when I speak to my kids. I hear it in their questions, their attempts at self-reassurance. So, what are our options? what can we all do to try and combat this malaise?

The answer will be different for each of us. Yes, there will be a common human experience, a common understanding of fear and hope. For many, including myself we seek out nature, knowing that solace and time amongst the trees, bush, rivers, animals, sky, deserts and oceans help recharge and renew our energy levels. Helping to soothe our threadbare, ravaged nerves and minds. Time in nature helping to offer a new perspective, balance and healing. Others will turn to prayer, friends, music, art, work, writing, exercise, dance and other creative endeavours. There is no right or wrong, there just is. .

So what is it that helps me recharge, and recalibrate? Firstly, it’s about making time for me in my life. It is about me making sure I prioritise my own health and wellbeing, and not just that of my families. This is essential, given that I have additional Caring responsibilities, apart from work and family. It’s about me stepping away from technology and seeking quiet, solace and inspiration through time in nature.

I personally find my zen, or flow when I feel the camera strap around my neck, and the camera in my hands. Photography is my happy place, especially when combined with walking deep into the forest (bush) and losing myself to the beauty that surrounds me. Peering down the lens it’s as though the noise of the world melts away and I am left with just the beauty of my focus. It’s as though I fall into myself, and experience a sensation of ‘flow’ or ‘joy’ and grace. I see nature as providing incredible metaphor after metaphor. I then get to create and recreate my photos, playing with them until I have found some form of Art that resonates, like the one below.

The camera helps to shift and reframe my focus. My breathing slows, me presence becomes grounded in the moment, and I watch in awe and admiration as nature reveals herself to me. I try and find joy in the small things, in the unfurling of a new leaf. I see the beauty in the world underfoot, tiny sundews, ancient lichens and even ants as the scurry on their merry way. Even decaying leaves suspended in fine silken spiders thread, offers beauty and metaphor. Am I strange? I don’t know. All I know is that those precious moment in nature, obsevrating her, the life cycles, the beauty and even the decaying help me to find wholeness, in a world were so many of our lives are completely compartmentised.