2021 : a year of connection, collaboration and honouring the waters

The year that has passed was eventful and full of learning. In many ways, there was a sense of Ground Dog day as we navigated the Delta and Omicron strains of COVID-19.

It was also a year of significant change for our family – moving from the mountains to the sea. This evocative poem titled Fear by Khalil Gibran captures some of the feelings as well as the shift from river country…

It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.

Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

Khalil Gibran

There were some wonderful highlights in 2021:

• The year started with a new contract as a user researcher with Services Australia to focus on Life Events and the content for the public website.
• Liz Sweigart and I presented a paper at the BEST Conference which focused on social entrepreneurs and ethical leadership, using Treecreate as a case study
• I continued my Reiki training with Diana, completing Reiki Shinpiden Level III. This means I can now both be a practitioner of Reiki as well as a teacher if I decide to. At the moment I am working with a couple of clients and plan to build on this in the future.
• The Rivers Edge exhibition at the Link Gallery Ginninderry happened in real time after in 2020 it went online as the first web based exhibition for the gallery due to COVID-19.
• My exhibition Talking with Trees was presented at the Australian National Botanic Gardens as part of Tree Week and the Urban Tree Festival. There was also a Treecreative walkshop as part of the program.
• It was wonderful to be a part of the Nordic5 Arts exhibition Water at Vesterheim Museum in Iowa in the US. Here is the online Artist conversation about the exhibition
  www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-5XCqc_uuo
• My work as a user researcher shifted as I took on a role with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment in the Digital Trade Initiative focusing on Taking Farmers to Market.
• A quick escape to Aotearoa to work with my friend and mentor Maata Wharehoka at Puanga was really fabulous. I also spent some time with another couple of great friends and collaborators based in Wellington – Josiah Jordan and Kate Genevieve.
• It was great to join some of my DAWE colleagues in the Digital Trade Initiative in documenting the journey with weeknotes.
• A big highlight was Treecreate and Supercluster collaborating to bring together Meeting of the Waters: Locative Media Oceania with the support of the Centre for Applied Water Science.

When I reflect back on the year, it was a time of growth, change and emergence.

Emergence is the word I will meditate on in the year ahead.

All the best for 2022. Stay safe, love each other, care for the earth and hold hope close to your heart.