Anita Heiss's Blog, page 16
June 21, 2018
June 15: Happiness is celebrating 110 years on planet earth
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This is my friend Sharon. She’s like my big sister in Brisbane, always looking out for me and there for me in good times and in bad. She’s turning 60 this year and I’m turning 50, so we decided we’d have a weekend away to celebrate our combined 110 amazing years on planet earth.
And so we came down to Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast for a couple of days. We had big plans for going out tonight, but we put ourselves in our matching ‘Love Yourself’ loungewear and didn’t get off the couch for hours. What a treat to lounge around and eat chocolate and watch telly on a Friday afternoon! The best birthday gift to ourselves for sure. Talk about being happy!
*Warning: there will be other birthday posts in the next two months because reaching half-a-century requires a few weeks of celebrations!
June 14: Happiness is sharing my knowledge with librarians
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I want to be a librarian in my next life. You know why? Because nearly every librarian I’ve ever met has loved their job. They are passionate about what they do. Quite often they are the favourite staff member in schools I visit. And they get to be around books and knowledge and creativity all day!
So today was a joyful day for me as I did a video conference from the State Library of Qld into public libraries all around NSW and the ACT at the invitation of the State Library of NSW. My task: to assist librarians in building their collections in relation to adult fiction written by Indigenous Australian authors. What a dream job for me. I hope I can do the same for librarians in other states, and even across genres. It’s amazing how much one can share in an hour when you’re riddled with passion and enthusiasm and have an audience that just soaks up everything you choose to offer.
This morning’s sharing of knowledge certainly set the scene for a happy day to follow.
June 13: Happiness is rowing to nowhere!
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My dad would joke about riding an exercise bike to nowhere. Tonight I smiled thinking about him as I took on the seated row. I like this machine. I don’t care that I’m not on the water heading upstream. I care that I’m building muscle strength, and reaching my fitness goals, so I guess that’s where I am rowing to in a sense, and that makes me happy. See that smile? It’s real!
June 12: Happiness is having the support of Better Read Than Dead
I’m truly overwhelmed by the positive engagement and reactions to the anthology Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia. The feedback and support has been pouring in from all corners of the country, and people are constantly telling me their local bookseller is sold out. Good news is the book is in reprint so there’ll be more in circulation as the year progresses.
Today I want to thank Better Read Than Dead in Newtown today, because their staff and their local readers have done an amazing job of supporting and promoting the book which as been in the shop’s Top 10 for a couple of week’s already.
A lot of work went into pulling this volume together, and nothing warms an author’s heart more than knowing their stories are touching readers. And today’s happiness is knowing that in Sydney, the book is doing just that. I’m grateful.
June 11: Happiness is not getting overwhelmed by the ‘silly things’
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I’m on a week’s respite and recovery after a massive month (well, year actually). So that means enjoyable runs, extra time in the gym, a spot of TV in the middle of the day, and a few moments to think about life. More specifically, ways to improve my emotional and mental well-being.
Today I read an article on line titled 8 Ways to Stop the Silly Things from Stealing Your Happiness. There’s probably nothing in it that many of you haven’t heard or read before, but sometimes it’s really helpful to get reminders. And so, my top 3 from the list that I need to remind myself of regularly, are:
1. DON’T MAKE A PROBLEM BIGGER THAN IT REALLY IS.
2. REMEMBER THAT LIFE IS FLEETING.
3. SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE.
If like me you can use a little reminder now then, then clicking on the to the article above might just help you today. It helped me.
June 18, 2018
June 10: Happiness is celebrating Sir Doug Nicholls round in Brisbane
What a wonderful day at the Gabba! I was blessed to be part of the Epic Pharmacy table at the Lions Chairman’s Lunch celebrating Sir Doug Nicholls round of the AFL. The highlight for me of course was seeing Aunty Lois Peeler. For those of you who don’t know, A/Lois was the first Aboriginal model, one of the original Sapphires and currently E.D. of Worawa Aboriginal College in Healesville.
Today she spoke to the gathered audience about the life of Sir Doug Nicholls and the inspiration and leader he was for the community, not only in Victoria but nationally, as a footballer, activist and governor.
“Don’t keep history a mystery” was this year’s theme of National Reconciliation Week, and by learning and engaging with history, I believe we can as Australians come to a better sense of who we are today, and move confidently into the future in a more unified way. Well, that’s my belief, call me naive if you must! 
June 9: Happiness is remembering Hamlet
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Today, for some reason I was remembering learning Hamlet in high school. And while I have openly criticised the teaching of Shakespeare over more relevant, living Australian authors in a modern curriculum, I am glad of my exposure to the writings of the man thought of as the greatest English writer. I still have my copy of Hamlet from all those years ago. It marked a time in my life that was both challenging and enriching, and while I had no desire to be an author back then, perhaps his work did come to understand the value of sharing stories. I can’t be sure.
I smiled when I thought of the most famous of Hamlet’s soliloquy today, and although a dark thought, “To sleep perchance to dream”, it did make me smile at the memories of school days and a group of girls in Sydney reading this famous play.
June 8: Happiness is finding new joy in an old setting
Today was the second last long run on my program for the Gold Coast Marathon. I’ve trotted along this same path many, many times. From West End along the river to Kangaroo Point, over the Story Bridge, onto New Farm, back via Eagle Street Pier, through the Botanic Gardens, along Coro Drive, then back up and over Goodwill Bridge towards the final leg home. I can almost do it on auto pilot.
The thing that keeps me sane and makes me happy on long runs – this one taking over three hours – is the beauty I always see along the river. I am like a tourist running in my own city. I have photographed the same bridges and stretches of water many times, but I always find a new beauty in it. Every time. And so the boredom, and sometimes the body pain, is alleviated by the pics I take along the way.
June 12, 2018
June 7: Happiness is sharing the joy of the QLD Memory Awards
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Tonight I attended an event at the State Library of QLD in Brisbane. It was a fabulous night celebrating a range of research fellowships and awards that are available annually as part of the Queensland Memory Awards. The Awards recognise the valuable contribution of individuals and organisations across Queensland to the investigation, preservation and celebration of Queensland’s memory – past and present.
State Library invites applicants to imaginatively respond to our unique collections and resources including manuscripts, maps, music, newspapers, oral histories and rare printed material. Researchers and creatives from all backgrounds and disciplines are encouraged to apply.
2018 Queensland Memory Award recipients
Ian Poole (deceased), 2018 recipient of the John Oxley Library Award. Read more about Ian’s contribution.
Yugambeh Museum, Language and Heritage Research Centre, 2018 recipient of the John Oxley Library Community History Award. Read more about the museum’s contribution.
Hilary Davies, 2018 recipient of the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame Fellowship for her project Putting Queenslanders on the Road: The Canada Cycle and Motor Agency Ltd. Read more about Hilary’s project.
Dr Martin Kerby, 2018 recipient of the Q ANZAC 100: Memories for a New Generation Fellowship for his project A war imagined: Queensland and the Great War. Read more about Martin’s project.
Dr Anastasia Dukova, 2018 recipient of the Q ANZAC 100: Memories for a New Generation Fellowship for her project Queensland Police and the Great War Effort. Read more about Anastasia’s project.
Deborah Lee Terranova, 2018 recipient of the Q ANZAC 100: Memories for a New Generation Fellowship for her project Queensland women and war: a multicultural perspective of the experiences of female civilians during World War II. Read more about Deborah’s project.
Elaine Acworth, 2018 recipient of the Q ANZAC 100: Memories for a New Generation Fellowship for her project Put out into the deep. Read more about Elaine’s project.
Dr Jennifer Moffatt, 2018 recipient of the John Oxley Library Fellowship for her project The story of Queensland’s selectors. Read more about Jennifer’s project.
Professor Peter Roennfeldt, 2018 recipient of the Letty Katts Award for his project Brisbane’s Albert Hall 1901-1968. Read more about Peter’s project.
Pic of me is because none of mine from the event were any good – and the point of this blog is about images related to happiness, so aside from the awards, I am happy about the gorgeous earrings gifted to me by my publisher Aviva Tufffield and the stunning necklace I’m wearing was an audience gift from Oprah when she visited Sydney a few years ago. Hard not to smile
June 6: Happiness is your feet kissing the earth
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I’m having a week out to recharge my body and recalibrate my life generally. It means I am giving myself extra time to exercise, rest and not be crazy rushing around all day like a chook with it’s head cut off (where did that saying even com from??). I’m also in an online walking group and while I run more than I walk, I love being part of other people’s journeys as they reach their walking goals.
Tonight I found this quote by spiritual leader, poet and activist Thich Nhat Hanh – and I really loved they thought of imaging my steps as my feet kissing the earth. What a gentle way to think of something we do without generally thinking at all.
