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Circles of Separation: Lowlands

“You can’t fight fire with fire,” said Odin. “Everyone gets burned.”

Chapter 64: Tension

“Thank God,” said Ide as she lay on the floor of her dear and peaceful lounge room. “No more hospital visits.” She had returned from the city for the last of Christopher’s visits to the surgeon after his broken leg. “No more fighting the city traffic,” continued Ide in singsong fashion. “No more crazy hospital. No more graphic YouTube videos.”

“What do you mean?” asked Salt. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Lowlands”

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Breath of God

This is the beginning of my book, Love’s Longing. It describes two pivotal spiritual experiences at ages 22 and 26, covering three different countries – Australia, America, and England.

Chapter 1: Solutions are Spiritual
Breath of God

The fruits of serious spiritual devotion have an unmistakable flavour, sometimes, even more so in retrospect. It had been a challenging few years. I was twenty-six. I had been progressing through an existential crisis, an involuntary falling apart of life’s meaning. I felt a deep human aloneness and with all my praying I failed to feel the love of God in any way which could help my state of being. Other than the care and protection of my two little children and my spiritual studies, I had no interest in anything. Everything seemed trite to me; meaningless and often painfully intolerable. I had lost faith in everything human to give solace to my soul. It was not intentional. It is just what happened over the space of a few years. I was at the bottom of the valley – all things lost but nothing yet gained. Continue reading “Breath of God”

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How To Become Real

“Once you are Real you can’t become unreal again.” The Velveteen Rabbit.

A2983C5E-72E5-4613-AE50-D7F5D44D9D2COn a recent drive to Daylesford, I went into the old bookshop with its rows and rows of books in peculiar little off-shoot rooms. Although the books looked like they were undoubtedly loved long-time by their master and shop owner, I wasn’t so sure that they were going anywhere else in a great hurry. I picked up a used copy of a children’s book which was published almost one hundred years ago. It is a moving, ageless story for children and their adult readers alike. I read it to my children but they may not remember. 28270363-B6DD-4E5B-83CC-EE2ECF1031C7Books like this one go into the back recesses of our consciousness and help form our collective consciousness. It is called The Velveteen Rabbit (or How Toys Become Real). I have recorded it in this video for anyone who ever wonders if becoming Real hurts and if it is worth it.

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Circles of Separation: Winter Lights

Love is its own reward.

Chapter 45: Suspicious Arrangements

Mullum-Mullum was not in the rose garden. Amira decided to walk up the back steps of the old house and look around the verandah. Some dusty boxes and a few bits of dirty furniture were haphazardly pushed into a corner where they had remained for years. She spotted a small bookshelf and pulled out several, yellowed books. Her eyes landed on a familiar green cover. It was The Little Book of Healing. On the inside of the cover was a sticker saying, This book belongs to Rose Este. The book had long since ceased publication. Amira had given her precious copy to Thomas, a few years ago. There was something quite peculiar about the little book. Amira didn’t know if other people had the same experience but whenever she opened it, she seemed to read pages that she had never seen before. As she had read the book many times and it wasn’t long, she eventually decided that the book changed its contents depending on what was needed. She put it in her pocket and went back to her and Gabriel’s apartment. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Winter Lights”

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Circles of Separation: Magic Men and Women

There was something unusual about Rose. She didn’t do or say anything unusual but whenever she was around, everything worked well.

Chapter 42: Om Mani Padme Hum

Farkas pulled his hood on and made a run for Ide’s front porch in the storm. He was picking up baby Lan-Lan. Ide had been able to keep the house that she and Farkas had jointly owned, at least, for now. The main elder of the Clinkers had decided to rent Ide’s large, front room. He was using it for meetings and private sessions and, occasionally, sleeping there. His tribe name was Salt, although, Ide’s teenage son, Christopher, had always referred to him as Magic Man. That is the name that stuck in Farkas’s mind. Although Salt was an elder, he was far from elderly. At seventy, he could run through the forest almost as fast as the young Clinker men and he could, certainly, outwit them. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Magic Men and Women”

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Circles of Separation: Make-Overs and Move-Ons

Beautiful things come together one stitch at a time.

Chapter 37: Decorating Skeletons

Amira was walking along the main street of Waldmeer, greeting the locals, and looking into the shop windows to see if any of the familiar places had changed. It was her first visit back since moving to Darnall. “Hello,” said a lady outside the Op Shop. Amira didn’t recognise the woman but, on closer inspection, realised it was Amelia.

“You look so different,” said Amira. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Make-Overs and Move-Ons”

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Circles of Separation: Curiosity Shop

Circles of Separation: Part 2 begins.

Chapter 34: Not Dead Yet

Two months had passed. It was still winter but no one in Gabriel and Amira’s Dementia Unit dance class was cold. Everyone was hot and pumping jive. The class had come to an equilibrium of its own accord. Gabriel was given notes from the “proper” dance instructors, although, somewhat begrudgingly. The notes were enough to give a loose direction and Wolfgang and Madeline would demonstrate the technical elements of each dance for anyone interested. Although Madeline’s mind could not remember the technique, her body remembered perfectly well the movements she had practised for so many years. Lacking in technical knowledge, Gabriel and Amira decided to go with transferring the feeling of each dance and giving their students an immersive experience. Basically, all that meant was turning the music up and dancing enthusiastically with the class members in, more or less, the appropriate style. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Curiosity Shop”