Be like water...

"Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend."

~Bruce Lee

Lately I've been really aware of the need to be flexible, pliable, teachable... to adjust to events and expectations around me while still being able to hold onto what I feel is true for me.

Trees and buildings that are rigid and stand firm against the elements are more prone to breakages, but trees that can sway in light breezes or gale-force winds and structures that compensate for extremes in temperature by allowing room for expansion/contraction have a greater chance of surviving in one piece over long periods of time or when things get hairy.

Summer S.M.A.D.D. 2007

I spent last week working on Summer S.M.A.D.D. (Song, Music, Art, Drama & Dance) which is a performing and visual arts camp for high school kids.

I've been involved with this camp for more than 10 years and while it's a lot of work, there are always good things that come out of it.

This year was probably one of the more difficult camps I've done, mostly because I was asked to direct the art section at very short notice.

I'm generally with the singers, so it was quite a mind and skill shift and there were lots of different factors that meant it wasn't the easiest job which left me feeling incredibly stressed and inadequate for most of the time. Needless to say, I came home feeling utterly shattered.

In the end there were some interesting pieces to put into an exhibition as part of the concert on the final night. Parents and friends come along to see what their kids have been up to.

There were just over 100 kids and all of them were amazingly talented. Every item in the final concert was created during the week and came off so well that you'd think they had worked on it for months.

This video below is of an interpretive dance that was brought to life by using just about all of the disciplines on camp.



Monday afternoon a small group gathered to write lyrics. These were given to musicians on Tuesday so they could write the accompanying music. Wednesday the musos went to the recording studio where a CD was made to be given to the dancers on Thursday, so they could choreograph the dance. All of this was captured on video to create a documentary on the process. The final product blew me away.

On the other hand, this song probably didn't have as much rehearsal time put into it, but I have to say it brought me a great deal of joy (which you will more than likely hear throughout the vid) {:->



The site where we stayed is in the hinterland behind the Sunshine Coast. There is a beautiful lake and is surrounded by native trees and animals. It was so pleasant to wake up each morning and hear lorikeets and magpies singing to celebrate the begining of another day.

It was more startling than pleasant when I heard this guy one morning...

There were all sorts of fun activities throughout the week like:


Pirate Day


Visiting Nambour


Working with these cool people and...


Seeing amazing views like this on the way home

My 2007 Daily Photo Diary

I discovered a new group on Flickr where people are encouraged to keep a photo diary for a year.

There are several different types of "a photo a day" groups, but this one appealed to me because it wasn't just self portraits, nor did it have a list of specific images to be included. This one is just to document each day with an image and possibly a few words.

I half thought about putting it up here as well, but it all seemed like too much fiddling about.

Here is the first picture...



If you would like to follow the thread, you can find it here.

I feel really bad

This afternoon, I went out to the backyard to paint some boxes for the pinhole cameras I'm making. As I got to the bottom of the ramp, I discovered a dead baby Blue Tongue Lizard among the grass and fallen leaves.

I must have squashed it when I went to the clothes line this morning.

Crawly things are not generally my favourite, but you were pretty cute.

I'm so very sorry little lizard...

Entertaining Myself...

Fur Baby Tribute
Originally uploaded by Lalalian.

It's amazing how much fun you can have with some tinsel, a lamp and a camera {:->

Freedom of Expression... Freedom of Living...

Originally uploaded by HORIZON.

I have a friend through the Flickr photo sharing site.

His screen name is HORIZON. He lives in Iran, has a gentle heart and takes the most beautiful photographs.

Today he uploaded this photo and a simple note was left in the tags (see below) explaining that access to the Flickr site (I assume this is not the only one) by internet users has been blocked by the Iranian Government.

I
am
blocked
filterred
banned
can't
access
you
this
is
via
tehran
miss
all
friends

This evening I pray to God to thank him for the freedom I have as an Australian and also to ask that this same freedom will come to those in countries ruled by fear.

Let there be freedom in their hearts and minds even if they aren't allowed to express it.

Crikey!

I find it interesting, and perhaps a little confusing, that people would be so devistated by the loss of a public figure they have never met.

A few weeks ago, Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin was killed when a stingray barb pierced his heart. A tragic event in anyone's estimation and I was as shocked as anyone when I read it in the paper, but I had no idea it would bring such an outpouring as the emotional tidal wave that seems to have struck the earth.

I've spent the best part of the last week processing some of the 20,000+ condolence emails that were sent in relation to his passing. Of course there were plenty of Aussie and American ones, but I was more than a little surprised by some of the far flung places that people had been touched by Steve's enthusiasm for animals and the environment.

There were plenty of sappy (read: so over the top they nearly made me gag) messages that seemed like people felt they had to write something just to say they had.

Other people felt that they should offer to be there to talk to if the family need it and left their contact details. It's kind of nice I guess, but why would you write to or call a random stranger when your husband/son/father has just died?

We also had quite a few nasty ones that had me wondering why a person would even bother to do the Google search to find the website. I mean really. If these people stopped to consider how they would feel if someone wrote these things about one of their dead family members, I'm sure they would think twice about posting such dreadful things.

One message brought tears to my eyes on Friday. An Australian who had been living overseas for several months in a country where he was about the only English speaker. In his loneliness he found a connection to his home country through watching Steve's shows and the news had hit him fairly hard. The message was full of such raw emotion that I am in tears again as i think about him now.

I think my favourite ones were from kids. So honest in sharing how they felt about the situation and there were definately no flowery speeches composed in order to impress the reader. Just plain and simple stuff like "Dear Bindi and Bob, I'm sorry that your Dad got stinged by a stingray. I hope you feel better soon. He was a good crocodile hunter".

What is it that makes people form such deep connections to a celebrity (they have never met) that they feel as though one of their own family members has passed away. What will they fill this emptiness with when their "grief" subsides?