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utopiaSenior Contributor27 Aug 2017, 3:34 pm AEST

HOME

Well I'm finally home (again).
4 hospital stays in 91 days. Wow. No wonder it feels so strange to be in my own house again. Adjusting will take time. Cooking for myself will take time.
My house is in the same condition in which I left it. A pigsty. So no one room has warmth and charm to lift my mood. Will have to slowly start cleaning up - one room at a time.
I did go and watch my son play soccer in the finals. I'd been so sick this year - thst it was the first game I had been to all year. His team lost. But they play again next week. So still stand a chance of playing the grand final.
My son is still living with my mum. Has been since the end of April. Hopefully he will see how much I've improved on my new anti depressants and anti anxiety meds. Then he may choose to come home soon.
Was up and doing the washing early this morning. But now reading a book in bed.
Am very bored. But have AA Meeting tomorrow night.
And I have my WorkCover IME (independent Medical Examination) - psych interview with a tough psychiatric on the 30th of this month. Think it could be on Wednesday. And then I have my much waited for Psychologist appointment. Can't see him when I'm in hospital (too far away).
So that's it for now. A new thread for a new beginning.
@Zoe7 @soul @Former-Member @Faith-and-Hope @Bast @oceangirl @outlander @Former-Member @Teej @BlueBay @Owlunar

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In response to: HOME

ethSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 11:32 am AEST

Re: HOME

Hi @utopia thanks for thanking me. I was concerned that I'd said too much. I really hope you get permission to publish. Sounds like a good read to me. You might be able to reach the necessary people through the local Lands Council.

In response to: HOME

Faith-and-HopeSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 11:37 am AEST

Re: HOME

I agree wholeheartedly with @utopia in her post above @eth ..... so much so that I don’t want to repeat everything she has said ..... other than to say OMG that was a terrible incident to have suffered through ..... and wow, you must have had some amazing experiences too ...... I don’t wish to understate in either direction ......

I agree also with the involvement by invitation. Much of the trauma, indignity, invalidation etc of our First People cane about through the mistaken impression that they were infantile and needed decisions made over them “for their own good” ..... which was bollocks !! Approaching someone else’s nation in the modern age would have involved invitation, respect, immigration and intergration. ..... both ways .... and it would all start with being able to greet each other in our own languages.

I read “I, The Aboriginal” in my early teens .....

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_the_Aboriginal

It left a lasting impression on me. I find it hard to see now that the book and film won awards, and yet it has taken so much longer for us as a society to begin to really hear its message, and respond appropriately with the acknowledgements that need to be made to create a necessary sense of equality.

In response to: Re: HOME

ethSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 11:42 am AEST

Re: HOME

@Faith-and-Hope @utopia Ngukurr, where the narator of that book is from, also has an annual festival open to the general public. Sitting down and listening and respect are so important.

In response to: HOME

Faith-and-HopeSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 11:56 am AEST

Re: HOME

My father has had dealings with traditional landowners in the course of his work @eth, which involves seeking permission for some things, and advice about others .....

We lived in mining towns and there were generally high Aboriginal populations in the local towns, if not the ones that were purpose-built for the mines, especially in the Northern Territory when we were there. Interschool activities across the area meant an integration which I still vividly remember and appreciate. People are people.

When I was much older and in a different state, and living in a purpose-built mining town, we had new neighbours arrive, he a Caucasian, she of Aboriginal decent with amazingly beautiful dark skin, and their new baby the same. We introduced across the fence and my Mum offered for me to come over and help hang the washing or whatever, understanding the demands of a new baby. I spent a lovely afternoon there ..... but around a fortnight later, my Mum told me they had suddenly left town. Asking questions as a child of that age does, I soon learned that the family had been made decidedly unwelcome within the town ...... and I was horrified. That was my first remember real experience of racial descrimination, and I am still appalled by it.

My husband’s experience was different again ...... there were violent Aboriginal gangs of youth in the area he grew up in and he and his siblings learned to run fast to avoid conflict.

In response to: Re: HOME

ethSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 12:08 pm AEST

Re: HOME

@Faith-and-Hope @utopia the most significant experiences I had were dancing in sing-sing in PNG and several bungguls in the NT as a child. My dad would be making a speech, opening a school, and I would be cared for and prepared for the dancing by a local family. Usually involved being dressed in the garments someone who had passed away used to wear and taught the role in the dance (songline) that they carried. Powerful stuff. In PNG I learned to speak pidgin fluently and in the NT a sort of kriol that worked well enough in many places. I also went back to PNG in 2006 and went to the remote highland village who I had danced with in 1972 in the big sing-sing that tribes from all over PNG come to dance in. And found an elder who remembered me. So yes, some amazing adventures.

In response to: HOME

Faith-and-HopeSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 12:10 pm AEST

Re: HOME

Wow @eth ..... huge heart-feels with the elder who remembered you ...... 💕

In response to: HOME

utopiaSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 12:25 pm AEST

Re: HOME

Such amazing, and rare moments you got to experience in PNG @eth. Sounds like great memories. And how wonderful that the elder remembered you all those years later!

In response to: Re: HOME

ethSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 12:33 pm AEST

Re: HOME

Those experiences still influence who I am and my values and causes @utopia and @Faith-and-Hope. It's been good to share them this morning, took my mind off other stuff in a good way. Thanks for 'listening'.

In response to: HOME

utopiaSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 12:34 pm AEST

Re: HOME

Anytime @eth. Thanks for sharing

In response to: Re: HOME

ethSenior Contributor04 May 2018, 12:41 pm AEST

Re: HOME

A more recent life-changing experience was going to a women's bush medicine retreat for 5 days at the Garma site (not when Garma was on) at the women's place there. Dilthan Yolguna. Aside from all the knowledge shared, we did a beachside sauna pit (made with all sorts of prepared herbs and bark and pandanus coals and we were steamed for about 20-30 minutes buried in the pit) with massage afterwards. I was given a Yolngu name and clan membership. Definitely still part of who I am. @utopia @Faith-and-Hope

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