Sharing Your Heart (and Kidneys and Liver...)

As a young child, I was in and out of hospitals having all sorts of tests. At least three to four times a year, before finally having an operation on my kidneys when I was just six years old.

I was aware from a very young age that our organs are precious so when my mum sat me down when I was eight to discuss organ donation I said yes. As soon as I was legally able to register, my name was put on that register list.

Had I not had an operation, had I not had the tests that made doctors aware...my kidneys would have eventually started to shut down. Doctors said that had I not had my operation I would not have lived past the age of sixteen. At the age of 21, I am grateful for the access we have to medical knowledge here in Australia.

However, if none of this had happened I could have been on one of those lists...just waiting for someone to donate their organs.

My mum has always taught me to share what I have with others and I see organ and tissue donation as the ultimate sharing.

Imagine, if you could help save a life.

And not just one life but up to ten lives.

And improve the lives of even more simply by signing up to be an organ donor.

You don’t have to imagine. You can do it.

To sign up all you have to do is head to the Australian Organ Donor Register and click register online. Simple.

I have talked about my views and wishes for organ and tissue donation with my family. Considering the final consent is given to families it is important that they are clear on what your wishes are.

My mum has always been an organ donor and so shall I.

I encourage all of my friends and family to consider organ donation and to register. It saddens me to hear that Australia has one of the lowest donation rates in the developing world. Let’s change that.

When I think of the people on the waiting list, they are someone’s mother, father, brother, sister, friend, cousin...what would you do if it was your family?

Organ and tissue donation has always been something that I have been passionate about and I think that it is important that we raise awareness and get more conversations going about donation.

The FilmLife Blogger Challenge asks the interesting question: if you were to donate your organs, which one would you love to donate and why?

Personally, I put my hand up to donate whatever can be used to help save a life. I think from my early childhood my kidneys are probably too scarred to be useful to anyone though.

Overall I would like to share my eyes and my heart.

If someone could see the world through my eyes, I can think of no other word to describe it but a miracle. As a crafter, reader and musician I cannot imagine a world without sight. So I hope that one day someone may share the world through my eyes.

As for my heart, it is a heart filled with compassion, strength and full of love for the world and its people. If that could be the last gift I was to give to someone, it would make me very happy.

So do you think you could share your heart...or liver...or kidneys...?

If you would like more information, please take a look at the following links:

Australian Organ Donor Register

Donate Life

FilmLifeBlogger Challenge

Life's A Happy Song

“I’ve got everything that I need 

Right in front of me. 

Nothing’s stopping me, 

Nothing I can’t be  

When you’re right here next to me.”

I could not help myself singing this song yesterday as I was surrounded by my friends on such a beautiful day.

My morning was spent playing ‘Follow the Leader’ with my friend’s younger cousins through the twisting greenery at the Botanic Gardens. We searched for fairies and found their homes in amongst some flowers and in knot holes on a beautiful tree.

As we ran around the gardens, we danced like fairies and sang songs from ‘Beauty and the Beast’.

One of the gorgeous girls, in all her wisdom, told me that “you’re weird”...I cannot argue with that. However, despite how weird she thought I was we had a magical time in the gardens together with many tickles as well.

Delicious picnic food was had under the most delightfully shady tree and many a conversation between good friends was shared. It was lovely just to lay back and look up at the green leaves swaying in the slight breeze, surrounded by friends and listening to the tunes of The Evening Cast on my iPod. Just gorgeous!

Afterwards I went for a walk along the beautiful bay that Geelong is blessed with. While I walked along I came across a wooden ship nestled in at the pier that as a child I would have been convinced was a pirate ship...although you can never be too sure, perhaps it was.

As I walked along, I sang out loud. I sang to the trees, the bollards and to the sparrows and seagulls. It was just one of those days where you feel so alive and full of love for the world.

My walk eventually lead me to dinner with my lovely Vinnies friends where we shared food, stories and laughter.

Such a scrummilicious Thai dinner of hokkien noodles with vegetables (it was one of my vego days)!

My beautiful day was finished off wonderfully as we walked together to the Geelong NightMarket and wandered around the amazing stalls.

So many beautiful colours, delicious smells and gorgeous products. It was just lovely.

You can understand that as I went to sleep that night, these were the words drifting through my head: “I’ve got everything that I need right in front of me”.

So true.

The Ethical Storm in My Head

The past few days I have spent my time tippy tapping away at the ethics application for my honours project. Filling out incredibly long application forms and answering seemingly repetitive questions has had my head swimming with ethics.

However my head not only swims with ethical applications but ethics of another sort.

The words of Eleanor Roosevelt “I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday” fly past in what is quickly becoming a storm in my head.

If we are the decisions that we make and there is so many things we need to consider if we are to make ethical choices...there can be an overwhelming amount of pressure.

The first choice presented to you in the morning is what to have for breakfast. A simple enough task.

However, is the cereal you chose Australian...is it GM free...is it organic and free of chemicals...is it fair-trade...is there any palm oil...???

There are days when this ethical storm causes such a headache before I even take my first mouthful of breakfast.

A good friend of mine said that “living an ethical life may feel like an overwhelming challenge but it is important to always remember that everything that you do contributes to a more just world and that makes you part of something bigger”.

This is true, we are not alone in our path towards an ethical world. Everyone is making small changes and those small changes add up.

Lots of small actions will create big change.

So after talking with friends and family, I came up with these pieces of advice to help you stay in one piece and not to spontaneously combust due to the ethical storm in your head...

•            Look after yourself – make sure that you take time for yourself. If you do not look after yourself how can you be expected to continue looking after the state of our world?

•            Celebrate achievements – celebrate the progress made in campaigns and our world no matter how big or small. India is celebrating its first year without a single case of polio; just another step towards ending extreme poverty.

•            Remember that change doesn’t happen over night – making ethical decisions is like a habit, you cannot change a habit over night. It is a series of small, decisions, choices and actions that will create change.

•            We are only human – no one is perfect and we all make mistakes. So it is important that we remember to cut ourselves some slack.

•            Stay positive, don’t dwell on the negatives – it can be so easy to focus on the lack of progress and feel that your ethical decisions are not making an impact, however I challenge you for every negative thought come up with three positives.

So with this advice in mind, the storm in my head is gradually subsiding and I can see the world and my decisions more clearly.

We can change the world. And stay in one piece. 

Loving Life

 ‘Twas a beautiful weekend spent dancing in the rain, drinking delicious homemade lemonade and of course spending time with my family at the lovely Moriac community market.

It was so nice just to relax to the wonderful tunes of the Evening Cast with the smell of eucalypt in the air and the breeze racing through your hair.

Little girls joined hands and danced together while the music from the lovely Evening Cast set the atmosphere for the market.

The Moriac market was filled with lots of goodies and surprises from delicious cevapis, red velvet cupcakes and wonderful organic vegetables to gorgeous drawings, dresses and beautiful fabric covered hairclips.

The afternoon ended with the sweet music of Luke Legs andthe Midnight Specials before heading home to make some scrummilicious quiches and to play board games with my family.

How could you not just love life!?

Baking Bliss

The day started off with my peasant skirt and hair covered in flour as I made some buttermilk pancakes using fresh eggs from my uncle’s chickens.

Served with some fair-trade passionberry sauce picked up from work and generous helpings of local organic vanilla ice cream...simply delicious!

Then for lunch, I scrounged around and found a few potatoes. Homemade oven baked chips. My family was loving my time spent in the kitchen.

To finish off my baking day, I made several loaves of Dutch gingerbread with a name that I can pronounce but unfortunately cannot write. Made with an old family recipe, the house filled with the smells of ginger, cinnamon and pure baking bliss.

One loaf disappeared almost immediately out of the oven but what could be nicer as the butter melts into the loaf.

However, I did part with one loaf as a way of thanking my uncle. Earlier this morning, my uncle and I went to pick up a sewing desk that I had managed to get for as little as $3.25.

Imagine this desk painted up white with some lovely green drawer handles I have lying around somewhere...just wonderful!

But for now, it is time to relax with another slice of Dutch gingerbread with butter and a large glass of milk.

Peace and love.

Embracing the New Year

New Year resolutions. Some people shudder at the thought, others simply laugh.

Either way, I believe it’s nice to reflect on the year before and what you would like out of the year ahead.

New Year resolutions are usually the things that need to happen when you are actually ready to make them happen. Not when you feel pressured to make goals at the start of the year.

So instead of making resolutions for an entire year, how about trying them for a month?

Just thirty days.

I have learnt that if everyone makes small, sustainable actions change can happen.

Whether it’s working towards an end to extreme poverty or to learn something new, it is achievable with small and manageable steps.

So this year I am making some overall promises to myself as well as challenging myself for the month of January.

For January, I challenge myself to:

·         Play flute for at least twenty minutes each day;

·         To find two journal articles for my honours literature review each day; and,

·         To write down something that I am grateful for each day.

For me this year, I shall:

·         Continue adding leaves to the Peace Tree;

·         Continue to live a vegetarian lifestyle at least three days a week;

·         Dedicate Sunday nights to family games night and Fridays to just chilling with my friends;

·         Take up singing lessons again;

·         Continue to dedicate the 20th of each month to classics such as poetry, literature and film;

·         Get my licence;

·         Embrace the world of Medimime again; and,

·         To learn to say no. This will be my toughest one for the year as I believe life is there to be lived and I find it incredibly difficult to say no to such good causes out there. However, for my sanity during this final year of uni (and my family’s sanity) I will need to learn to say no to some things this year.

Overall, I hope that this year shall bring peace and love, friendships and family, hugs and laughter. You don’t need to make a resolution for that.

Peace to you all.