Recent stories

Am I not pretty enough?

I am not a huge fan of deep introspection. I’m totally happy for others to do it but I like to skate on the surface of most things, especially feelings. But this weekend, I was forced to think a little too deeply for my liking about myself. Ryan, my podcast co-host, is completely responsible because he questioned the validity of a comment that I have frequently said to him and to a number of our podcast guests.

The comment is this:

“I have come to the environmental party a little late in life and I don’t know that much.”

Ryan called bullshit.

And so I spiralled.

I lost my wedding ring and a sports bra on summer break. Are these two events connected?

I’m going to start with the ending. The answer to the question in my sub-heading is yes, but. Putting the conclusion here does not mean you should stop reading. I think you should, especially if you are intrigued by how connected two seemingly disconnected things can be. But you should also continue because of the but. Everyone wants to read about the but. So please read on.

Craving community. What life in the Solomons taught me

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Solomons recently. I moved there in 2009 so I could work as part of the civilian side of RAMSI. Apart from a vague idea of its location (somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean, kind of near Papua New Guinea), that it was really hot and that you had access to young green coconuts every day, I knew very little about the country and the environment that I was walking into. Foolishly, I thought I was going there to help them. A little self-conceited I admit now, coupled with a whole lot of naivety, because, when I look back now, I realise that the Solomons gave me more, way more, than I gave it.