Bottom of the stairs

I have been long fascinated with the London Underground. To say that I’m obsessed is a bit of an understatement. It surprised me that until recently, I didn’t know about the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster during World War two. I came upon it initially through the film Atonement, where Cecilia Tallis played by Keira Knightley […]

The more I looked up

Warning: distressing imagery follows. The images of a high rise, fully alight can only be described as chilling. It is something outside of our daily realm. We are somewhat sensitised to house fires, they happen all too commonly. But what has happened to Grenfell Tower in London is something else. I have been following the […]

Connecting

It’s not often you get to enjoy the company of one of the world’s great minds in the area of Post Traumatic Stress. Yesterday I, and many of my colleagues, were able to revel in 3hours of post traumatic stress heaven (if there is such a thing), with Dr Patricia Watson, one of the gurus […]

Cities of Light

Like everyone, I am aghast at the events in Paris and Beirut. I have been grappling with whether to write anything, as there have been plenty of words and lines written since Saturday, and I’m not sure if I can add anything worthwhile. I haven’t watched the news bulletins, getting most of my information from […]

From Little Things, BIg Things Grow

Today I had the most fortunate privilege of helping launch an amazing research project from the University of Melbourne. Born over a cup of coffee between Lou Harms(a researcher), and Rhonda Abotomey (a Black Saturday survivor, who lost family in the fires), where Lou put into terms what Rhonda had been feeling “There’s a term […]

Bali

The Bali bombings are now over ten years ago. What I write has the fog of the intervening ten years shaping it. Take this how you will. This is also a “crossing the streams” post (see the How did I get here page for an explanation). The Bali Bombings were really where I cut my […]

9/11

Warning: Content Advisory. I describe some graphic scenes, if you aren’t feeling like it, don’t read on today, maybe another day Today, of course, is the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. My thoughts go out to all those affected, through bereavement, through subsequent trauma, and through the fear and suspicion that pervaded society. […]