Sarah Wilson A few weeks back I posted about why I don’t drink bottled water. Happily it inspired a stack of people to reconsider their habits.
If you’re not yet convinced, watch this Story of Stuff video (it’s a little long, but fascinating) below. And then scroll down to some info on the effects of flouride, especially for anyone with thyroid issues. A number of readers highlighted that it was an issue (thanks!), so I get Angela Hywood to give her thoughts.
Angela’s thoughts on flouride and thyroid:
Here’s the thing about Tony Abbott, the man pitted as our next PM: he’s un-pin-downable. His brazen comments about lying on The 7:30 Report a week or so ago demonstrated this. My opinion in the aftermath was that they indicated he wasn’t up for the job as leader of Australia.
And, then, yesterday, I met the guy.
He was “in conversation” with the ABC’s brilliant journo Annabel Crabb at Sydney’s Writer’s Festival. He was quite restrained yesterday. No royal gaffs. Although he did mention that he subscribed to the idea of “asking for forgiveness, rather than asking for permission” . Which is a mantra Kerry Packer used to work to. When I worked for Packer, this maverick approach was certainly how things got done – you went ahead and did bold things and dealt with the fallout later. I loved working this way, because it meant you could take risks (you just weren’t allowed to f*ck up). Things got done in fresh, untainted ways… at least some of the time.
But, I ask again, is this maverick approach how the (potential) leader of a nation should operate? Shouldn’t a leader always seek permission from their constituents?
Anyway, I digress slightly. Because the THING I’m stuck on is the broader idea of AUTHENTICITY.
This week I give gifts
There’s this thing I do in cab queues at airports. I don’t find it weird. Although you might. When I get to the front of the queue I sing out to the crowd to ask if anyone would like to share a cab to Bondi (which is where I live). Or Downtown (when I visit New York). Or Rundle Mall (when I find myself that way). At first people are affronted by such an invasion of “stranger distance”. But then they soften. Especially when I offer to pay.
Of course, the practice is efficient (it shortens the cab queue for all concerned), and saves carbon emissions in it’s own modest way. But mostly I do it because it feels good. And a bit daring. And, golly, if this world doesn’t need an injection of daring from time to time!
Seth Godin does the same. Seth is one of the most prolific marketing experts in the world. He’s written 100-plus books, invented genius online businesses well ahead of the curve, has a blog following of 500,000 and is responsible for terms such as “permission marketing”, “idea viruses” and “purple cows”. And, truthfully, I think he’s the most authentically impressive person I’ve ever interviewed. And not just because he shares my penchant for cab queue bombing.
OK. Seth Godin just alerted me to this one. A gizmo that allows you to publish things on the interweb a little privately. OK, just a little. The best way for me to demonstrate it to… demonstrate it: This is who I had lunch with today http://trick.ly/2P3 Yeah, you got it? I’m clearly not that … Read more
On Wednesday I posted a flash mob clip that made me cry. Sometimes I just need to cry, to release the bigness of life that I’m feeling in my being. It’s not sad. It’s just big. And it needs to be expressed. Whether you need to cry, or get happy, or sad, or clean the … Read more
Chia seeds are everywhere. Yeah, you’ve noticed? If you’re new to their magic, they’re a South American seed – a bit like a poppy seed. My understanding is that Western Australia are now the biggest producers of it in the world. There are a few Australian chia suppliers around, and you can buy them at all health food shops. I’ve seen them at Woolies, too.
So why do I love the slippery little suckers? Well, they are the most nutritious superfood on the planet (according to some). They contain:
Then watch this Danish flash mob thingo: They’re singing happy birthday to the bus driver. In Danish. I love watching his open face. So trusting. You can dive into his vulnerability. It’s happiness on a plate. Today I needed to release some tears in this way. If you do, too, hope this does it for … Read more
“Challenging the meaning of life is the truest expression of the state of being human.”
So said neurologist and psychiatist Victor Frankl. This sentiment touches the flickering core of me. The search for meaning is pivotal to my human experience. It’s what drives me forward. It’s what drives the human experience forward. This search for a visceral POINT to life is what dragged us from the primordial soup to the top of the food chain. We’d be amoeba without it. Or cud-chewing cows. I love this clip from 1972 of Frankl discussing the importance of this search. I found it on TED this morning.
Frankl’s raw enthusiasm makes me smile. And get a bit teary. He’s all love and is so light.
And I like his flight analogy, and this idea of crabbing…whereby a plane has to head north of it’s destination when there’s a side-wind pushing it south. Extrapolated out: to land where your truth is, you have to aim high, as winds will send you backwards. You have to be an idealist to wind up a realist. If we take humans as they should be, they can then become what they can be.
So often I’ve tried to water down my search, fearful that I’m penetrating too far.
I really think everyone should watch this: Tony Abbott being called to account by the sublime Kerry O’Brien on the 7:30 Report. If you haven’t already. We have an election coming up. This performance is important to reflect on:
For a blow by blow account, Dave Penberthy at The Punch did a neat job.
There are a few things about Tony Abbott that concern me. His thinking on climate change (he thinks it’s crap), abortion, RU486, industrial relations and the rest are closed-minded and limiting to the human spirit. He also strikes me as the affable Dad at the school fete turning sausages, rather than a politician.
When I was a kid I used to feel dead sorry for Bert. He had to be the sensible anchor to Ernie’s silliness. Ernie got to have fun. Bert had to uphold standards and sensibility. Someone had to, right? Everyone loved Ernie. Everyone found Bert a stick-in-the-mud. But, really, Bert, always did the right thing. On behalf of both of them. At least, ostensibly. His only outlet was to do that ” Wa-Wa-Wa-Waaaaaah” collapse backwards!!
I always identified with Bert. I was the sensible big sister, while my four brothers and sister got to be silly. This dynamic played out in my relationships over the years, too. I kept going out with blokes who played the Ernie role. Which, I now realise, was all about keeping me in my comfortable Bert role. I resented them for it. And observed myself becoming the dour nag who said things like, “You can’t get drunk tonight because it’s your mum’s birthday tomorrow!”.
At some point, though, we have to acknowledge that we choose the people we hang around with. And often because they keep us in roles we’re cosy with, even if they don’t make us happy.