Weddings, Funerals, Ceremonies, Stories, Mindfulness, Practices

25 Jul 2024 | Poetry

Strength and Courage

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. Lao Tzu I wrote this poem after reflecting upon the vows we make to each other. For Better, For Worse I marry you Knowing That you will die Or leave; Or, that…

07 Jul 2024 | Poetry

Ventures Wild

I’ve been writing a few ceremony poems lately for couples and families. This one captured a whole story in a few lines which family and friends enjoyed. “I’d like to share a very short reading, a poem; it’s called: Ventures Wild Weekends planning, holidays packed. Cars, bikes, kayaks,…

02 Jul 2024 | Funerals, Death and Dying, End of Life Planning

Falling Leaves

Three in Transition by David IgnatowI wish I understood the beautyin leaves falling. To whomare we beautifulas we go?I lie in the fieldstill, absorbing the starsand silently throwing offtheir presence. SilentlyI breathe and dieby turns.He was ripeand fell to the groundfrom a boughout where the windis freeof the branches A…

30 Jun 2024 | Healing

Doing the Repair Work

When I witnessed a highly polarised and conflicted situation being met with love and compassion, I had to watch it again. In a group that was struggling, Aya Caspi, NVC trainer and facilitator spoke and brought people into a place of connection and shared agreement. Her presence and clarity was…

28 Jun 2024 | Poetry

Seventh Generation Farmer on The Bank of the River

I was camped by a river out in the far reaches of western NSW for two weeks when I met one of the local farmers. He pulled up a crate, grabbed a tinny from the back of his ute and sat around the fire pit with my partner and I….

25 Jun 2024 | Healing

Fearing Paris

Last night in our online Celebrating This Precious Life session we discussed what it is to meet our fears around death and dying. What are some of these fears? Fear of…. suffering physical and emotional pain, fear of dying alone, fear of my partner or child dying first and the pain…

20 Jun 2024 | Ceremonies

Kava Ceremony in Fiji

My partner and I had ten days in Fiji this month. The Fijians friendliness, care and kindness were an elixir of connection, nourishment and joy. Our niece, Mireille, also lives in Suva and she joined us for a short time for wonderful late into the night conversations and hugs. Aside…

06 Jun 2024 | Healing

Loving Kindness

Every morning after waking and before I get out of bed I place my hands over my heart and lie there in the stillness. Not doing anything, just being with love. “Loving-kindness is about connection, an offering of unconditional love for ourselves and others. In this, we are not trying…

01 Jun 2024 | Mindfulness

Only One Place Left…

Cassie and I are very excited as we start to prepare the food and lean into the daily mindfulness and presence practices that will enhance our being in Bilkbilkmi (Graveside) Country. A dear girlfriend who lives in Katherine and spends a lot of time hiking and camping in the NT…

Auslan Coffs harbour

26 May 2024 | Elderhood

Auslan Only Weekend

I am feeling so grateful to the Deaf Connect trainers, Deaf volunteers and fellow students for a wonderful Auslan Only Weekend up at Mt Tambourine, Wangerriburras Country. Learning Auslan, Australian Sign Language, has been hard work yet so rewarding. I feel a deep calling to learn this beautiful language and…

20 May 2024 | Ceremonies

No Written Words

I do love a spontaneous ceremony…one that has a light sense of structure to hold a grieving family. The matriarch of the family was 102 when she died. This glamorous and gregarious old lady had lived a great life. Not everyone in the family wanted a ceremony but once again,…

20 May 2024 | Ceremonies

Grief Circle

“Imagine the feeling of relief that would flood our whole being if we knew that when we were in the grip of sorrow or illness, our village would respond to our need. This would not be out of pity, but out of a realization that every one of us will…

18 May 2024 | Funerals, Death and Dying, End of Life Planning

Estranged and Together Again

I was contacted by a family member who had been estranged from their younger sibling for over fifty years until just a few months before they died from a terminal illness. No-one else in the family wanted a ceremony but this sibling and their partner really did. I visited the…

17 May 2024 | Ceremonies

Laurie Quinn—100

Jack of All Trades Late of Fernmount in the house he built himself in 1993 when he retired to work as a local jack of all trades for the next 25+ years. Born in Boort, Victoria, raised and worked around Barellan, New South Wales, RAAF service in the jungles of…

Eulogy

17 May 2024 | Ceremonies

Ghost Writing

Need a Hand to Get Your Thoughts in Order? Often people contact me to get ideas for a eulogy, ceremony or tribute; to ruminate what works, what doesn’t work; what needs to be said.. and not said. This was one of those mornings as I walked and talked with a…

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