We are all individuals

"Today you are you. That is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you!"

~ Dr. Seuss

One of the biggest quests in life is the search for self; to find the answer to ‘who am I?’

Society all around us tells us to be this and that. In high school, the pressures of trying to fit in and be the same as everyone else can be even worse.

During high school I found it quite difficult to fit in properly, I guess everyone feels like this as we try and find out who we are.

I had friends but sometimes it can be difficult to truly fit in when they don’t understand your sense of humour, or hobbies or your general nerdiness.

Nowadays, I have found many places where I feel I truly belong.

How? By embracing who I am and not letting society dictate who I am.

I am my family and friends, my passion for justice and a little bit of quirky nerdiness mixed in.

I am that girl who will fight for others when I see injustice.

The girl who will reference Doctor Who whenever there’s a chance.

The girl who will silly dance with children or by herself.

By embracing who I am, I have found friends who are just as quirky as me. Friends who get super excited over quoting Harry Potter in their exam or by free comic book days, friends who are obsessed with puppets or share my passion for peace and friends who love to join in with my silly randomness.

So my advice to you all is to disregard society’s so-called norms and embrace what you are passionate about. At the end of the day, we are all individuals.

Be proud of who you are!

Twenty years too long

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of mandatory detention for all asylum seekers who arrive here by boat.

This is not an anniversary to be celebrating.

Instead over one hundred community groups and many more individuals gathered at the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne to have their voices heard.

This year’s World Refugee Rally calls for an end to mandatory detention.

It has been twenty years too long.

Asylum seekers are just that; seeking asylum.

Yet when they arrive here on our shores, we ship them off to detention centres where the conditions are shocking. Talk about separation of families, suicidal ideation and occupational 

boredom.

God only knows what they have managed to escape from.

I have been involved with the local refugee community for a few years now. I know that these 

people would return home if they had the chance but with war, violence and risk of persecution...Australia is their refuge.

So instead of sending refugees and asylum seekers into detention centres when they arrive seeking help, why can’t we open our arms and welcome them into our communities?

Before mandatory detention was introduced, asylum seekers were processed within the community. Why can we not continue this more humane processing?

I will continue fighting. I will continue to make my voice heard.

Especially for those behind detention centre gates who cannot be heard.

Detention centres have got to go!

Halfway happiness

As I handed in my final assignment for the trimester, I could not believe that half the year has passed.

Around me, people in my course are celebrating the fact that we only have one trimester left of our course.

Only six more months and my uni course comes to an end.

Six months and my thesis will be complete.

Six months and we go our separate ways into the world of occupational therapy.

Nerves. Excitement. Celebrations.

So let’s raise a glass and celebrate our achievements so far. We’re almost there!

For now, I am in halfway happiness.

Living life to the fullest with my uni friends, embracing what uni has to offer and dreaming about next year.

With only a few stepping stones left ahead of me, life is good.

Surrounded by papers...

There have been many ideas for leaves on the Peace Tree over the past month.

However, when surrounded by papers and textbooks it can be difficult to find the time to write these musings down to share with you.

This week I will be completing my honours literature review and then I can return to sharing many leaves of peace with you all.

Till then I shall return to my papers of play and sensory processing.

May peace fill your lives. 

Being someone else...

This leaf on the Peace Tree has been written by my lovely mum, Jodi Lee. My mum’s words are a reflection on recent events in our local community and thoughts of being someone else.

~~~

I have spent the past few weeks imagining I was someone else. To be precise, I have been imagining myself as the winning ticket holder of the recent Lotto jackpot. Although I admit occasionally I will give in to a whim and buy a ticket to dream big for a week or so, I had not done so on this occasion.

Imagine my excitement to then discover that the winning ticket had been purchased from my local newsagency. While I knew that I had not won it didn’t stop me from daydreaming the whole ‘what if’ scenario.

So I have been spending my free moments imagining I was the lucky winner and mentally spending my millions.

Then driving home from Melbourne a couple of days ago we were caught in a traffic gridlock that seemed to go on forever. As we were waved through a detour by a policeman we could see that the cause of the hold up was a serious accident at the next intersection.

As we passed we could see there had obviously been at least one fatality and it was a sobering thought to realise that someone would not make it home safely tonight. Somewhere, someone’s family would answer a knock on their door and their lives would never be the same again.

As I drove on it occurred to me that this was an intersection I used on a regular basis and it could just as easily have happened to me. I thanked God that it had not and  we had in fact made it home safely.

So I have found myself simultaneously wishing I was someone else while also being extremely thankful not to be someone else. I think I will be happy for now simply to be myself and be grateful for what I have.

~~~

Thank you Mum for always reminding me to be grateful for what I have in life. You have always taught me to “be happy with who you are”. I believe that peace within yourself cannot be achieved solely by yourself but is guided by the wisdom and support of others. I am grateful my mum is one of these people. 

A taste for Live Below the Line

One of the first questions I am asked about Live Below the Line is “but what will you eat!?”

My answer is usually “not much, not much at all”.

There is enough food to survive on but it is really not enough.

Anyone around me during Live Below the Line week would see how utterly exhausted I was and hungry as I went to bed each night.

I still had to get up each morning and face uni but I was barely there mentally. My focus had decided to leave for a holiday last week and fatigue and hunger settled in.

I cannot stress enough how tough I found the challenge this year.

So to give you an insight into what food did make it into my rumbly tummy, here is my menu for the Live Below the Line week.

Day One: $1.82

For 24 cents, my day started with bland, gluggy and almost burnt porridge.

To get me through my long day of uni study, I snacked on a small ration of peanuts at 25c.

Yummy banana oat bread was my saviour for the week, filling and cheap at only 14c a slice. I bartered for local free range eggs and bought the cheapest overripe bananas I could find.

Day One ended with a small bowl of pasta and lentils at 91c. I wish I could have added some cheese but there was no room in my small budget.

Day Two: $1.23

Second day and I realise that I forgot to soak my oats the night before for breakfast...therefore no breakfast for me before heading off to uni.

Again, I snacked on a small ration of peanuts through my long day at uni. Was incredibly difficult to focus in lectures as I just had no energy at all.

Lunch was two slices of banana oat bread at 28c and dinner was a small portion of chicken flavoured rice. Desperately felt like comfort eating today but you can’t really budget in chocolate or ice cream when you only have two dollars to spend each day. My stomach was growling as I went to bed that night.

Day Three: 74c

There was one slice of banana oat bread left for breakfast unfortunately a tad stale. Heated up with a tiny bit of butter and made for a yummy meal. Not enough though.

Was unable to cook anything for my lunch so was incredibly hungry for most of the day.

Dinner was a “large” serving of chicken flavoured rice at 60c. The rice was a bit bland and I would have loved some vegies but I was not complaining. Every last grain in that bowl disappeared!

Day Four: $1.90

Again, was so tired the night before and forgot to soak my oats. No porridge for breakfast so I had a bowl of rice, not as filling as oats but it was a meal.

For lunch I had small bowl of pasta and was very hungry for more but at 40c for my serve I couldn’t afford anymore.

Dinner was again chicken flavoured rice but to “spice it up” I cooked up an egg to go with it. Extra protein and was quite yummy although definitely getting over eating rice!

I worked late that night on an assignment and so I made some homemade chips to try and get me through my work. There was not a lot but it was just enough.

Day Five: $1.95

Yet another meal of rice but cooked up with an egg for some extra protein. I needed as much energy as I could get at this stage. You know it is taking a toll on you, when you wake up and your stomach is already growling.

While working away on an assignment, I snacked on a small ration of peanuts and had a lunch of plain pasta at 65c.

My final meal for Live Below the Line was, surprise surprise, a bowl of rice.

It may not have been a very filling week or even a week of variety but it is a challenge that 1.4 billion people face every day.

If you would like to support the Live Below the Challenge, please head to https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/tarawatts to donate. 

Feeling well below the line...

This past week has got to be one of my roughest weeks, emotionally and physically and everything in between.

I have had tears, headaches and overall exhaustion resulting in poorly written pieces of work and many long naps.

Two dollars is really not a lot of money if you think about it.

It is almost like some impossible battle of physical combat to make that two dollars stretch so you have enough to live on each day.

It’s tough.

I only did the Live Below the Line challenge for five days but it was my choice.

Knowing that 1.4 billion people in our world live like this every day is beyond frustrating.

In our world we have enough resources and food to support our neighbours yet many go hungry.

So this is why so many thousands across Australia participated in this challenge; to raise awareness and funds for our neighbours, for these people living in extreme poverty.

Together we can make a difference.

Collectively, $1,616,123 has been raised so far. It is just amazing!

This money will go towards the Oaktree Foundation and their work in Papua New Guinea.

Funds will help to support programs for young women and men where they will receive life skills and vocational training.

Helping people help themselves out of the cycle of poverty.

If you would like to support the Live Below the Line campaign, please head to www.livebelowtheline.com/me/tarawatts to donate. Every little bit counts.

Thank you for all of you who have supported me during this campaign especially my family who put up with my cranky moods, my friends for letting me drool as they eat their own meals and for the amazing people of The Evening Cast who are collecting donations at their next gig.

Together we can break this cycle of poverty!