Void - Jonathan Rauch (Wed 06 Jan 2020)

Wilson Street, Eveleigh (Wed 06 Jan 2020)

Jonathan Rauch on a void:

We don't realize what we are missing, although we acutely feel the void.

via The War on Professionalism by Jonathan Rauch

Influences - Bryan Ferry (Tue 05 Jan 2021)

Reflection - Diggers Beach / Coffs Harbour (Fri 25 Dec 2020)

Bryan Ferry reflecting on his career as a musician:

you are a reflection of your influences.

via 104.1 WSFM interview with Phil O'Neil.

Be Yourself - Francesca Gino (Fri 13 Feb 2020)

Francesca Gino on being Yourself:

when we cater (for and to others), we intentionally minimize our own interests and preferences in favor of those of others. And when we try hard to hide what we’re doing and who we really are from the person we are trying to impress, it’s cognitively and emotionally draining, which, in turn, can undermine our performance. Second, since we can’t know the preferences and expectations of the target with certainty, no matter how much research we’ve done on them, it heightens our anxiety and make us both feel and come across as phony. All this hurts our performance in the meeting.

via Research: It Pays to Be Yourself by Francesca Gino.

Going back to what I loved doing so much for almost 10 years. These little fragments of text and thoughts (and my photos) reveal so much about the world and what interests me. I love clicking the links that search through the past posts and seeing what comes back. It's like casting a fishing line into an ocean of posts and waiting with anticipation to see what the cast catches. In the end these will be the fragments and traces of what will remain after I am long gone. Some proof that I existed on this world for the privileged time I've had on this planet, my home for a short while.

Street Portrait #5 - Lisbon (Tue 13 Aug 2013)

Street Portrait #5 - Lisbon (Tue 13 Aug 2013)

Inspire Award 2020 - Pacific Dragons - Nicola Frowen (Sun 08 Nov 2020)

This is the 11th year of the Inspire Award. The award was created in the memory of club member Jenny Petterson who passed away in June 2009. Jenny was the slightly older identical twin of Joanne and Geoff was her Husband.

Jenny had a long journey in life with breast cancer and all the complications that come with a persistent and aggressive cancer. It was through this journey she found paddling. It gave her a chance to be like everyone else and she loved the training, competing and being part of a team. She paddled at the highest level, even up to the last month of her life. She was an inspiration to many through her actions and approach to life with cancer. She was a speaker for the Breast Cancer Network of Australia and spoke regularly to various groups in the community.

To remember Jenny, and to promote and acknowledge inspirational qualities within the club, the PD's committee of the day, created what is now the Inspire Award. Nominations are made by club members for their paddling club members. Initially, the Committee would make the decision and put the names forward to Joanne and Geoff as a courtesy. As the years passed, the committee decided to forward recommended nominations and it is now up to Joanne and Geoff to decide the recipient. A big responsibility for us.

This year the Committee received many great nominations made in the true spirit of the award and it is pleasing to see that inspiration is alive and well within the club. Included in the nominations this year were Caitlin Moffat, Esther Wheeler, Hannaleena Mikkonen, Jodie Dunbar, Jo Petterson, Karina Piddington, Nicola Frowen, Rachel Mosen, Vicki Rowcliff, Ian Amos and Geoff Eldridge.

As we look back we can see that the 2019/20 season was somewhat different in a few ways. Bushfires to start with and a global pandemic to follow that reached our shores in March 2020. As a result, it took the Inspire Award in a different direction to what we had hoped at the beginning of the season.

The pandemic showed to us many things that we had taken for granted, and at the same time reintroduced us to another time where life was a little slower, simpler and more local. It showed us that we were resilient and resourceful. For a moment our nation’s leader’s put aside politics and actual lead us through a very difficult time, We responded as individuals to situation the best we could and we were asked to make sacrifices for the long term good of our Nation and its’ people. We were also asked to isolate and distance ourselves and in process we became closer through a share experienced.

At a club-level the response was immediate and very effective. The club leadership recognised the importance of connection in insolation right from the very start and we had many club members contribute Facebook Live content – from their gardens, to kitchens, bikes, virtual drinks, to workspaces and who could ever forget the dextrous virtual “passing” of a toilet roll (no pun intended) across the club’s membership in insolation. We even had virtual single craft time-trials.

Our club leadership stepped up in these difficult times and provided a safe and inclusive environment for all club members to feel connected in a virtual way, since we could not interact in our usual way.

It took teamwork from our club leadership to quickly devise and implement a plan. Inspirational leadership ignites a spark within those they care for. The recipient of this year’s Inspire Award was a person who shone a bright and optimistic light on the club’s response as it evolved with the everchanging requirements of the pandemic response. She provided hope and that spark for many to act and I was one. There is not another person that has had a bigger impact on Jo and my lives, than this year’s Inspire Award recipient - Nicola Frowen. Congratulations Nicola.

We have known Nicola for many years now and well remember when she arrived as a new paddler supporting a friend who wanted to try paddling. Luckily for us, Nicola stayed while her friend moved on. Jo and I, as well as many here, have shared so many great experiences with her over the subsequent years both here and abroad. Working in the travel industry she has always had a hand in our travel arrangements one way or another and has kept us all very organised.

We have seen her grow as an inspirational paddler, coordinator, coach, leader and mentor. She recognises potential and opportunities for club members to contribute and is not afraid to suggest people to take on roles and undertake tasks. She believes in you and will support you. Here are what other club members have contributed.

From Caitlin:

Nicola has supported me the whole way through this accidental/last minute President situation. If she was not as generous with her time and knowledge, I would genuinely be lost. Every time I have asked for help, she has been there for me regardless of the millions of things she has going on.

Nicola's commitment to the club is like an iceberg, most people only see 10%. Her passion for our club and its members is unrivalled. It is all of that and more that continuously inspires me to be a better paddler, a committed club member and an outstanding President.

From Steve:

Nicola has a seemingly tireless energy, passion and enthusiasm for the PD's. Is always working on 'something' for the club be it as a coach, committee member, paddler or just assisting to keep things running over the last few months with the Covid-crisis. I might be seen to be slightly biased, but I am really speaking objectively and from personal 'observations'...!

Others added:

• Nicola is completely committed to ensuring that the club is training well and working together. Her encouragement before and after a race is motivating.
• from Nicola’s support across all paddling codes, words of encouragement and push to help our sport get back to the water is inspiring Nicola goes above and beyond in so many ways, most unseen by the club, to make things happen.
• Nicola has put in so much time into her own training and also to coaching others to better the club and has put in a lot of time to organise events etc

Congratulations Nicola. Thank you for everything. You are and always will be an inspiration.

Stuck in a moment - place holder

How to Fly The Ama OC1

Believe in Hope - Cleveland Street / Chippendale (Wed 29 Jul 2015)

Believe in Hope - Cleveland Street / Chippendale (Wed 29 Jul 2015)

Doug Miller writes on Hope:

Hope is a thread that exists in our lives. It has been there since the day we took our first breaths. It has existed alongside us as we built our lives. It exists now in the shattered reality of brokenness. Though we are broken, hope remains strong. In our weakness Hope rises as an unbroken thread stretching out into our uncertain future, beckoning us to follow and explore the potential that lies dormant and hidden by our pain. Hope waits. Ready for us to reach out and grasp its firm hand. The question is not if hope exists within our brokenness. The real question is if we are willing and able to allow ourselves to stretch out of our brokenness, our preconceived attitudes, and self imposed assumptions and grasp hold of the only hope that exists, the only hope for our brokenness, our humanity and very existence. There is hope and healing and a future no matter what our circumstances. It is true. I have seen it. There are many others that have shared in it as well and testify of its existence and power and potential. Lift your eyes out of the brokenness and glimpse it, it is before you. You are not alone.

You are not without HOPE.

via A Message To The Broken by Doug Miller.

A Warrior of Light often loses Heart ..

A Warrior of Light often loses heart.

He believes that nothing can stir him in the emotion he so desired. He is forced to spend many evenings and nights feeling that he is one of the vanquished, and nothing seems able to restore his enthusiasm.

His friends [and himself sometimes] say ‘Perhaps his fight is over.

The warrior feels pain and confusion when he hears[/feels] such remarks because he knows that he has not yet reached the place he wanted to reach. But he is stubborn and refuses to relinquish his aims.

Then, when he least expects it, a new door opens.

Clarity - My Island Home - Pau Power and Christine Anu (22 Jan 2019)

One for the timeline ..

Missed this performance of 'My Island Home' at last years Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. Just popped up randomly after listening to an Artificial Intelligence Lecture - thanks YouTube, a machine learning recommendation system algorithm hard at work. The original and the various versions I have heard always give me goose bumps.

Moving around a few times from one end of the state to the other and back somewhere else at the other end, in my youth, I don't really feel I have a home town. Not in the sense that many feel. Somehow 'My Island Home' reminds me, and gives me an identity along with a relationship to the place I feel fortunate to call home - the place I live, share and experience life.

A song, its music and words give it meaning, emotion and feeling. Additionally we have the various performances, be it live, on TV, online or from a playlist on your phone. Again, just like a photo, a performance gives you a sense of time and place (memories I guess) ..

I remember seeing Christine and her partner play 'My Island Home' as buskers in the Pitt Street Mall in the lead up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics. An unforgettable and mesmerising performance by Christine on top of a huge silver globe during the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. At the last minute I included a beautiful acoustic version at Jenny's Funeral as the song to mark the end of the service. I will never forget the first notes of the guitar, you could hear a pin drop and there was a clarity of feeling I have never felt before or after - in that moment it marked an end and a difficult but sure beginning. I felt it somehow expressed our new separate physical paths, Jenny's journey giving her a new path and home, as well as Jo and my own first steps in our new journey in life without her. Always brings a small tear to my eye when I think about it for more than a little bit. There was also a sense and clarity that we have to live fulfilling and meaningful lives and not to be burdened by sadness. We owe this to them all and it is a responsibility we all share ..

'My Island Home' gives me the same feelings I experience when flying in over Botany Bay in the rising sun light from the numerous long overseas trips over the last 30 years. You look out and you see the blue of the sky, and down, you see the beautiful blue of the Botany Bay water contrasted with the sand around its edges, the rippled banks and gutters underneath. You are reminded of the clarity of light and colour we take for granted here - you have not seen it anything near it while you were away and somehow it is forgotten until just then looking out the window. With it comes another clarity, the clarity of the feeling that this is my home, a home so far from the rest of the world and my ancestors. In those moments I look down and I wonder how did this place I am looking at become my home. I think of my ancestors, particularly those that made that first 6 month journey here in a leaky boat (another song for another day :-)) in the mid-1800's. I always wonder what made them come here and what they felt when first sighting the Sydney Heads, the gateway to Sydney and a new life. I was lucky enough to paddle around this very point, the entrance to their new home, this morning. We saw the sun rise with a clarity most of us had not seen before and as I paddled I heard various chatter between my friends as we paddled - I knew what they were talking about without hearing the exact words - we all saw and felt it. And in this rising sun I was reminded with clarity of how lucky I am to be living this life, in this time, in this place with my family and friends - 'Our Island Home' ..

[ After 4 years, just bought a new phone. This version of 'My Island Home' (love the hip-hop bit from Mau Power) is the first song on it :-) ]

Molokai Hoe 2010 - Mooloolaba Seniors OC6 / Rambo

Moloka'i Hoe - A Guide to Success (Part 3 of 3) from Ocean Sports Media on Vimeo.

Doing - John Maloof / Chicago Tonight (31 Jul 2012)

"working on nemlog - a labour of love" - UTS (Thu 31 May 2018)

John Maloof on Doing:

There’s so much work that I am doing. There’s times when it’s overwhelming to the point where I have anxiety about how much there is to do, and how little I have done with all the work I put in.

Sometimes there’s quiet moments when I am just scanning by myself and I just think wow, it’s amazing that I’m doing this. That someone like me is doing this.

via Vivian Maier / Chicago Tonight (July 31, 2012) by Chicago Tonight.

"she had it" - Finding Vivian Maier (2014)

Paris is Calling - Newtown (Mon 07 May 2018)

Finding Vivian Maier on Having It:

She didn't have these measures of status that people aspire to but she didn't have to compromise with it. She did what she wanted. That's what she taught me. She got the life she wanted. She had it.

via Finding Vivian Maier by Finding Vivian Maier.

On Vivian Maier - Joel Meyerowitz (2013)

self portrait - ATP / Redfern (Mon 11 Jun 2018)

Joel Meyerowitz on Vivian Maier:

To go up and photograph a stranger on the street you have to hold your ground and be fearless and take what you want because it is yours.

via Vivian Maier BBC Imagine (2013) by Joel Meyerowitz.

Will see an exhibition of Vivian Maier photos in Vienna in mid-July.

Doing - Iterations / Jeffery Saddoris (Sun 24 Jun 2018)

abstract - Greenfield Park / Sydney (Sun 10 Jun 2018)

Jeffery Saddoris on Doing:

We need to rethink the word perfect and replace it with purposeful or deliberate - purposeful practice - deliberate practice. Perfect suggests there are no mistakes and it is in the mistakes that provide the opportunity to learn. Practicing deliberately on the other hand means looking beyond simply going through the motions of a particular task or skill, and instead breaking it down into where and more importantly why we are not getting the results we want or expect.

In the same way watching is the flip side of doing, failure is the catalyst to practice. Failure shows us where the holes are - whether that is a hole in a swing, a hole in our game or a hole in our thinking. But it does not happen in a vacuum and it is not binary. Failure is the evidence of doing. And failure just like success is an opportunity for reflection in order to fine tune where to direct our next efforts. When we embrace the missteps we are given the opportunity to see what worked and what did not work in the doing and as a result we can build a more purposeful or deliberate practice moving forward.

via The catalyst to practice (listen to from here) by Jeffery Saddoris.

A Genuine Interest - Jeffery Saddoris / Iterations (Wed 06 Jun 2018)

OC1 - Photo and Session organised by Nicola - Blues Point (Sun 10 Jun 2018)

Jeffery Saddoris on A Genuine Interest:

"When you take a genuine interest in someone else .. those experiences can be meaningful, transformative and maybe even life changing"

via A Genuine Interest by Jeffery Saddoris.

Simplicity - Jorg Colberg (Mon 23 Apr 2018)

Streaming - Chippen Lane / Chippendale (Sun 29 Apr 2018)

Jorg Colberg on Simplicity:

the simplest problems often are the hardest to solve.

via Success in Photography by Jorg Colberg.

Ordinary - Bernadette Jiwa / Story of Telling (Fri 08 Dec 2017)

Crossing / Intersection - Fremantle (Mon 27 Nov 2017)

Bernadette Jiwa on Ordinary:

Thoughtful, human acts carried out without applause are worth more than grand gestures made under bright lights. The ordinary is underrated.

via In Praise Of The Ordinary by Story of Telling.

Passion - Peter Diamandis (Thu 06 Dec 2017)

Intersection - Fremantle (Mon 27 Nov 2017)

Peter Diamandis on Passion:

People who pursue their passions inevitably create beacons that attract others who share their vision

via 3-Minute Entrepreneurship Course by Peter Diamandis.

No Stopping - Luca Turrini (Thu 30 Nov 2017)

No Stopping - Fremantle (Mon 27 Nov 2017)

Luca Turrini on No Stopping:

This has never been about breaking records. It has always been about doing something we love and help other people. And, maybe, just maybe in doing that, achieving something incredible and that is what we did today. And I think sometimes we don't believe we can do amazing things. That is what this is all about.

via Outrun Cancer by Tenplay.