I fear, that soon, I’ll be standing naked for all the world to see, and what’s left of me, may not be what I thought was there.

As each box, bag and item is sold or donated, or thrown away, the searing reality of what we’re doing starts to fill my thoughts.

There’s 30 years of excruciating pain, and undying love behind us, and in each of the possessions we own, those experiences still breathe. Now, we’re sending them out the door, and our experiences will breathe and live only within us, our hearts, each other.

I wish we were all stripped back, stripped bare and standing naked in front of one another. Not in a literal sense obviously, but I guess, so that we can share that raw, amazing essence that truly defines the human spirit.

Simplicity Is Lost:

My brother lives next to an 80 year old man. Some of the crap in society thought it would be a good idea to violate this elderly man’s home in the hope of gaining a few dollars. Thankfully he was not home at the time, and so the scum came and left without any real incident except a broken window latch that proved they were there.

As my brother took his phone number next door to offer the gentleman some sense of safety net if anyone should try something similar while he is at home, the 80 year old walked my brother through to show him exactly what these idots had done. They’d been looking for money, shuffled through his sewing kit he keeps at the top of his wardrobe in his bedroom. He couldn’t however understand why they didn’t steal his tv (a small 34cm), or any of his wirelesses he has in each room of his house to listen to the radio.

My brother said his heart felt a little broken, that this elderly man stood there, vulnerable, with his simple belongings, living his simple life, and these bastards had ruined this mans sense of safety within his own home all for the sake of nothing. This mans pride in his belongings that were looked down on even by theives for their simplicity. It was however, that simplicity which had served the man well in his 80 years, and perhaps made him a more secure man than those of our generation searching for larger, flashier, better, options.

The Purpose of Being Naked:

When people ask “Why” as people always do, I haven’t really had an answer to give them.

Why sell everything? Why leave it all behind? Why live from job to job on the road? Why have nothing left?

The best answer up until now has been “why not”?

I’ve written before about the most important thing I’ve discovered while travelling Australia. It’s those feelings of wanting to drive change that are personally driving me to do something out of the ordinary. It’s only by changing the rules, questioning our beliefs and breaking out of the mold that we can do amazing things.

I hope, that while educating our children, experiencing this amazing country, and living a nomadic life that we get to share with you all, that I can share the stories of our country that are so often misrepresented in traditional media.

I hope we get back to simplicity. The true essence of why we are here. To love and be loved.

On Being White

I had a discussion with an Aboriginal friend. I spoke of my pain about the disadvantage I’d seen on our travels to the Northern Territory. I spoke about my heartache at a special and amazing culture slowly slipping away before our eyes. I also spoke about my own struggles with being white and yet so desperately wanting to make a difference to the struggles of Indigenous Australians, worried that my passion would be perceived as misplaced arrogance. I struggled for 3 years from when we’d first travelled to the NT, up until recently to find a way.

At a recent blogging conference I attended, there was a clear message, to find your purpose and your voice. I was also lucky to meet a lovely lady from World Vision Australia, and gain a little bit of an insight into the work they are doing within the Indigenous community, something I hadn’t really been aware of but am very keen to support.

Thinking back to that conversation with my friend, she had said to me, go out, and on your blog, share your stories. Your stories and your experiences can make a difference. If only one person truly hears your stories, if only one person changes their thinking on Indigenous Australia because of the stories you’ve shared, and the passion you have, then you’ve truly made a difference.

Let The Stories Begin

So, very soon, I’ll be standing naked, setting off around Australia, to find my simplicity, to find the stories that matter, to share them with you all. Because in the heart of this country there is a beauty. There is a beauty that is there in front of our eyes every day that we ignore. Things are not more important than that beauty, so I hope you find your way to find your inner essence, look past the things society enforces upon us, and I hope you join me on my journey.

 

Loreena x