2015-06-16

6/16:Our daily community...

Over the past week I have had a spontaneous stream of visitors - new friends, old friends from many different age groups and walks of life.
It's reminded me of my community - of the kind of community many of us global wanderers and campaigners share - a network of people who, although we may meet rarely, but are friends for life.


I have been grateful to have been able to offer my humble shelter and the little offerings of time and sustenance I have to share. 


Almost all of this is spent with my children these days - which feels right as I watch them grow and shine. It's so important to let your children be your teachers in the world...it has taken some time to really trust this process, but now I am learning it's value.

Pacha is a natural leader. I watch her as she nurtures the young and vulnerable, jokes and plays with friends around her and questions and challenges the brash and the powerful.
This week she will do a long paddle challenge with her surfer friend Kiani to raise awareness of protecting the coastline where we live through a designated World Surfing Reserve. It's an idea they came up with by themselves and it has inspired and enlivened local decision makers to pay attention to future generations and the values that go beyond quick profits.
Here on the Gold Coast where I grew up, there has been a constant struggle to protect nature from high rise developments, marinas, casinos, cruise ship terminals...the list goes on. You can see the difference as you land at the Gold Coast airport, with the southern end lush and green and the northern end all glitzy and gaudy high rise developments - so tall they shade the beach after midday. This has largely been due to local grassroots activism - people like my parents who joined protests with surfers 30 years ago to declare their love for the area left as it is.


Now, the southern end of the Gold Coast not only glows in green, it bustles with positive community initiatives; local markets, Lohas precincts, community groups and shared food gardens, wildlife groups, a works famous Eco-village - somehow there is more engagement and involvement - more local, participatory democracy.

Here's the local TV coverage of Pacha's paddle campaign:
/Paddle for the Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve

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