I think I’m
going to stop writing this blog. I have lost interest and want to spend less
time on computers and gadgets. So this
may be my last post.
Since our
return from such an amazingly beautiful week at Heron Island, I have felt unsettled.
I sulked for a week once we got home unable to accept suburban living, we all
did.
Now I am
left feeling like the way we all live our lives is so out of whack with nature
and what is really important. Self-obsession, celebrity, vanity, greed, consumerism,
keeping up with the Jones’… It’s all wrong. I am craving a more simple life.
I’m not into
religion or spiritual bollocks, but I do strongly believe that as humans we do
feel more fulfilled and we have more sense of purpose, when we are living surrounded
by and appreciating nature. When we take time to actual feast our eyes on the
real beauty of what is all around us - trees and clouds, the stars and sea. The
world is an amazing place and the animals and marine creatures that live on it
are incredible. They are inspirational and humbling. And it breaks my heart
that we are destroying their habitat, killing them for trinkets, ‘medicine’ or
health supplements. That we are enslaving them for our amusement in zoos and parks,
and we are polluting the environment so that in years to come there will be
nothing left and the sea will only contain slime.
Seeing hundreds
of baby turtles hatch multiple times a day, and having the privilege to witness
turtles lay their eggs, swimming with reef sharks and diving with a huge majestic
manta ray, watching eagle rays soar into the sky and dive into the ocean, being
surrounded by schools of beautiful fish, spotting bizarre alien-like marine
creatures, watching shooting stars and walking in electric blue moonlight –
these are the things that make me feel alive!
I want my
kids to be influenced by people who are making a difference with their lives,
who support causes and fight for change. People, who follow their passions and
dreams, not people who are just motivated by money, power and a career in an
office. At Heron Island we met young
people who had done more than most people do in a lifetime – participating in
research trips to view wild Orcas or tag sharks and manta rays, spending time
in Antarctica volunteering on environmental programmes, crewing on Sea Shepherd
boats to save whales and dolphins from being slaughtered by the Japanese…
I want to
make a difference. I want to be a role model for my kids and introduce them to
another way of life. While living in the UK for my formative years, I was so
ignorant of world issues and environmental causes. Travelling opened my eyes
and now living here in Australia, living by the sea and being able to see the
difference people can make (good and bad) makes me want to choose a different
life - one that makes me feel fulfilled, one that matters.
Or, maybe I’m
just having a mid-life crisis and turning into a hippy!
