Life in Melbourne with Friends

I contacted my friend Jane and she texted me if I wanted to stay with her. She is in Heidelberg so it is closer for me to stop. I was feeling very tired as I had been on the road for 12 hours. I picked up a nice bottle of red wine and headed to her place.

Soon as I walked in her dogs went nuts. They know me and they are the sweetest dogs, one is a Jack Russle I think called cheeky and the other a fluffy toy dog called Lou Lou. They were so excited wagging their tails. My friend was on the phone so I dumped my things and waited for her to finish her conversation.

We opened the wine and had a great chat and caught up on life. We’ve been friends 7 or 8 years now and we know each other well. Jane is a psychiatric nurse in the mental health field. She is working all sorts of crazy hours and raising her two boys. Life for her is stressful and she is constantly working, never stops. It is no easy life as a mother. The father’s of these boys apparently don’t contribute much and even maintenance is difficult. One of them complained as one of her son’s is turning 21, he didn’t think the venue was appropriate for his 4 year old so is not coming. I just shake my head I can’t even imagine how he cannot put his son first. Anyway, it is not for me to judge.

My friend and I talked of earth changes and she showed me a video which was very long. It talked about the Mayan Calendar and Hopi prophecies which I found interesting. It indicated that there were comets heading for earth and that NASA had confirmed that. I will check that now. Here is some information directly from NASA.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/comet_elenin.html

NASA Answers Your Questions About Comet Elenin

Often, comets are portrayed as harbingers of gloom and doom in movies and on television, but most pose no threat to Earth. Comet Elenin, the latest comet to visit our inner solar system, is no exception. Elenin will pass about 22 million miles (35 million kilometers) from Earth during its closest approach on Oct. 16, 2011.

Also known by its astronomical name C/2010 X1, the comet was first detected on Dec. 10, 2010 by Leonid Elenin, an observer in Lyubertsy, Russia, who made the discovery “remotely” using an observatory in New Mexico. At that time, Elenin was about 401 million miles (647 million kilometers) from Earth. Since its discovery, Comet Elenin has – as all comets do – closed the distance to Earth’s vicinity as it makes its way closer to perihelion, its closest point to the sun.

Comet Elenin should be at its brightest shortly before the time of its closest approach to Earth on Oct. 16, 2011. At its closest point, it will be 22 million miles (35 million kilometers) from us.

Comet Elenin will not come closer to Earth than 22 million miles (35 million kilometers). That’s more than 90 times the distance to the moon.

There have been incorrect speculations on the Internet that alignments of comet Elenin with other celestial bodies could cause consequences for Earth and external forces could cause comet Elenin to come closer. “Any approximate alignments of comet Elenin with other celestial bodies are meaningless, and the comet will not encounter any dark bodies that could perturb its orbit, nor will it influence us in any way here on Earth,” said Don Yeomans, a scientist at NASA JPL.

The internet film indicated that there would be 3 days of darkness around this date and I was wondering about the trajectory of this comet and how it may affect the axis of the planet. I’ve written poetry about axis shift and it seems to me if this was going to happen, a comet would be a way of changing the earth’s trajectory. Apparently on 26th September there is a passing comet and that is apparently the start of what is termed the ‘end times’. I don’t know if it is or not, my feeling is change will happen next year, but who knows, anything can happen in this life.

The film also talked about environmental colapse, economic collapse, and the fall of materialism. This to me is evident as we see the global financial collapse occuring and the downgrading of the US credit ratings to AA. This is a significant sign as contracts are written in US dollars and the US is the highest debtor nation on earth, so if they default others are affected. They make the point that the fall of materialism is a way for people to wake up to their spiritual life. I see truth in that, it is only during crisis that people see what is important, each other. To be kind and assist others calls upon a feeling within which is natural. We are naturally kind and offer help. In a materialist world we have increasingly become selfish and self interested. It has led us down a track of unhappiness I feel. So the film reconfirmed this and emphasised that changes were afoot. It also mentioned an extraterrestrial invasion and how it would be defeated. I wasn’t so sure of that but would agree that ET’s are out there. I don’t necessarily believe the fear factor that they have to be negative. We will find out I guess. I do agree we are going through significant change. Although people can be fooled by business-as -usual and the dumbing down of the media, to believe that all is fine. Although the many people I have spoken to do believe something is coming. They are from all walks of life. So in a sense we are a species sniffing the winds of change.

My friend was quite nervous at the idea of many people dying in a cataclysm. I can understand that, yet my feeling is to understand that change is coming for a purpose. I am a spiritual person, so for me, I don’t think we are the victims of life, I think we are part of a cosmos and we have higher spiritual aspects, which have been pretty much removed from modern life and genuine discourse. The value of money has replaced spirituality and the fall of the church. There is a sense of disappointment with religion I feel, yet humanity naturally searches for deeper meaning. That is inherent in who we are. The question is what do we believe? does it promote love or fear? If it is love, it can’t do any harm, fear on the otherhand can galvanise people to hand over power and to lose hope in humanity. The latter is more my concern. When people are fearful they are likely to engage in violence and acts of survival of the fittest, scrambling over the top of others to survive. In a community based society we look after each other, and if we keep our calm we assist others. I am in the latter category. I also do not have fear around it. I think a new beginning is coming. I feel this as a poet and through my own intuition. I also think it is time.

So it was getting late both of us went to bed. I found it hard to sleep as my whole body was aching. I had been up since 5am and had been on the road since 8am, so I was feeling overtired. However, just rested as best I could. I offered to take my friend to the airport the next morning. She was meeting a man from Plenty of Fish (dating site) in Mildura, looking on the map this is close to the NSW/SA border.

We had a good talk in the car and I asked her about her mental health work. I said what sort of psychiatric issues are people presenting with. She said mostly it is drugs, heroin or cocaine. She said many come from extremely dysfunctional families where sexual and physical abuse occurs. They can be highly stressed and agitated as they are used to being hyper vigilant and excitable. She didn’t think some staff understood them and their needs. She said some of the old nurses can be quite hard referring to them as ‘druggies’. She tries to bring some positivity to this place. She is pretty volatile herself but I feel in this area she has lots of empathy. She says some of them have their pants hanging down and can be violent. But she doesn’t feel afraid, she has become used to them. I know she is very skilled with talking with people and identifying, she has a lot of charisma as well. She was saying that for a long time mental health patients have been shunted onto the streets as there are not enough beds. I saw this in London 13 years ago. She said the psychologists will try and discharge other patients to make room for the next 40 people. She said it is a crisis. We wondered at why this area is unfunded. She said they don’t have the money, I don’t believe that. I see the sound barriers along the freeway, all artistically created and the money pumped into infrastructure, yet the content of our society is ignored. I have to say I think there is little understanding of the social chaos that is happening. We likened the social chaos as the mirror to the systemic chaos going on.

What do mentally ill people do when released into the public? She said with a wry smile that they are ensuring they are inclusive in society, part of soceity, but clearly some of them need interventions and assistance to cope with life and trauma. I feel these are the most vulnerable people. She said she saw a 14 year old girl who was a prostitute, on drugs and living on the streets. What happens to this girl? Apparently her father got her onto heroin at 10 years old. Can you imagine how vulnerable a child is? This is the role model for life.

My friend is a very special person and she says people say ‘how can you work here?’, but she says she loves her job. I feel she understands these people. Truly a gift I feel.

She rang me today and said she had arrived in Mildura. The soil she said is red, hence desert. We quickly ascertained she is in the desert region close the borders. I find myself immediately interested. Somehow when you have been in the desert it just gets to you. I really love the red soil. Her friend Tony was saying that he is into gravel jokingly and we had a long silly conversation about grovelling in gravel, rocks in your head and to appreciate the uniqueness of people like Tony. He has put all this on his profile as a joke. I myself, in all genuiness, am getting fascinated by rocks and the energy they hold, I find myself noticing. So whilst I stirred Tony up on the phone, I also respected his love of nature and his uniqueness as a person. He said in his profile he likes quirky intelligent women, he will love Jane. So my friend is there now and having an experience. Good on her. She will make a new friend. She has been through a lot in her life and has had many challenges, so being independent now is a good thing and finding her power.

After I left her at the airport, I dropped her car off and then went for coffee in Heidelberg and grabbed a paper. I ended up on the phone to my mother. She is funny, she tries to organise me. I love the way she is a mother. I am fine with my own decisions but she is an organiser and tells me what to do and say. I just laugh and joke with her. She loves that cheekiness. So we have a good laugh together. She is looking forward to me coming up to Canberra to visit. I want to spend some time with my brother who is finding life challenging. I felt to spend time with him and share with him what I’ve learned as I have been through lots of hardship, but I am able for the most part to remain happy and positive.

I will see how life goes here in Melbourne for a short time, visit my friends, of which I have many, they just keep coming out of the woodwork, it is really nice. I will just have a good time here and find closure with Melbourne and move on and really get on with my own life. Personal responsibility is important and I will do my best.

I am currently staying with a dear friend of mine Bronwen. There is nothing like feeling at home. I am up in the Dandenong mountains, Sherwood Forest I am told (no Robin Hood darn it, nice to see men in tights ha). I am living in a wonderful house withy lots of glass to let in the light and view of gum trees. I am in a forested area and the house I am is just stunning. It has rock slate floors, lots of aboriginal art and designed furniture. It is a large house and very peaceful.

Bronwen and I are close friends and we caught up on life. She does laughter workshops and the two of us are very silly when we get together, joking most of the time and singing and dancing outrageously. My friend is a free spirit, she is a beautiful person inside and out and very courageous. She encourages laughter workshops to release stress and to encourage people not to take life too seriously. She is lots of fun and we really get on well.

So I’ve just been through the photos of Uluru. Loved revisiting that. We also had a look at a really good story on her Facebook about a woman who was found dead in the Chinese earthquake. To the rescurers amazement she was covering and protecting a 3 month old baby. The building had fallen on her back and snapped it. Yet she protected her baby. They then found a mobile phone with the words ‘If you can escape, please remember mother loved you. I am lucky to be your mother in this life.’ Can you imagine the presence of mind of this mother to leave such a text message. The phone was passed around and they all cried. The unconditional love of a mother for her child is just awe inspiring. My friend, who is a mother, said that is what mother’s do. She is so right, I’ve seen so many of my friends who will do anything for their children. I guess giving birth just creates a bond that is unshakeable. I commented to my friend isn’t it incredible how touched we get about a baby yet all the people killed in Iraq and Afghanistan etc. we just accept as normal. I don’t know I shake my head a lot at the irony I see.

Anyway, I am really happy, loving being up in the mountains and keen to catch up with friends.

Have a beautiful time no matter where you are and know you too are loved, just as that baby was.

 
Mohandas Gandhi

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

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