‘The world cannot get any more fucked up.’ I did as all millennials do and googled ‘what to do when your parent is dying’. Google graciously spat out in its search results that I should ask my parent twenty questions about life’s triumphs, holidays, and proudest moments—a conversational highlight reel. It was one of the best things I could have done, as now I will … Continue reading 13 March 2017
Twelve months ago today, I was supposed to be lying beside a pool in Darwin. I still recall the Instagram scrolling moment I saw my best friend’s daughter post a photo of herself and her mother having breakfast in Darwin—the place I was supposed to be. I couldn’t speak. My jaw jammed. I was without speech. My breathing may have stopped too, as I slowly … Continue reading DeakinSync and Other Traumas
When I was five years old, I walked with my mum past a butcher—a large, blood-red building where fleshy, veiny, bright red cuts of different meat hung on display in the window. Centring the display was a large lamb’s head staring at me. Most human memory begins at age four, so I can still recall the terror and devastation that washed over my tiny body … Continue reading Preachy Vegan
One might ask (as I am sure many did) just what I was thinking when I quit my job mid-pandemic, decimated my life savings on a trip to far north Queensland via Darwin, arrived home three months later and promptly enrolled at Deakin University. Surely signing up to a lifetime of debt would be the last thing on my mind at 47 and unemployed. If … Continue reading Epiphanies, Miracles, and Other Such Nonsense
My route into the publishing industry was not conventional. In fact, what sparked my interest in the first place was something that has only gained traction online in the last decade or so—fanfiction. I started using Wattpad when I was 15 years old, hungry for those juicy, fictional scenes taken directly from a teenage girl’s mind and splashed onto the site without a second thought. … Continue reading What I Learned from the World of Fanfiction
One of the initial people that lay the bricks for stories in films and TV, and other entertainment mediums that have become an important part of our daily lives, are the relatively low-profile screenwriters. They receive less recognition than actors, less creative control over what eventually goes on-screen than directors and editors, yet are still demanded the extremely challenging task of writing the foundations of … Continue reading Getting Inspired into a Career in Screenwriting
In this installment of my Yoga Series, I will demonstrate the benefits of conscious breathing for relieving study-related stress. This is essential because regardless of our biases, we all intrinsically rely on the same nourishing life force, our breath. I am not trying to get all woo-woo on you, okay? I am an academic too! I’ve been teaching academically for two decades now. One part … Continue reading Yoga Series Part Two: Breathing Benefits and Study Stress
Can you believe it’s been eight years since Richard Mercer hosted Love Song Dedications? For nearly 17 years, Australia’s ‘Love God’ dominated late night radio with his honey-toned voice, endearing personality, and memorable love songs. For most listeners, unless they researched him online, Mercer was (and remains) a faceless, friendly radio voice who comforted them to sleep almost every weeknight. Whether it was teenage puppy … Continue reading Remembering Richard Mercer: Love Song Dedications
There is a painting that hangs above the fireplace in my living room. It is perched just above the thick, wooden mantelpiece, which is home to a collection of family treasures. There’s a small piece of ancient pottery from Pompeii, picked up on my parents’ honeymoon, and a handmade vase from a market in my mother’s home-town. But the painting has always been my favourite. … Continue reading Eilean Donan
‘It’s not that simple’. ‘It’s easier said than done’. Sound familiar? Do you ever wonder where you would be if you didn’t constantly limit yourself by reinforcing these statements? It’s often easy to fall into the trap of self-victimisation, and contrary to popular belief, this does more harm than good. One can look at any situation in two ways: from an angle of losing or … Continue reading ‘It’s not that simple’: The Truth Behind the Statement
WORDLY Magazine 