arse-shifting season

Been a weird and exciting few months here @ jeds backyard.
Lots going on in a variety of spheres, locally and globally … all grist to the mill, as always.
I've lost track of the number of times since June that I made a mental note to 'blog about that' – but then the tide of happenstance invariably swept in and my thoughts became so much flotsam.

Well, anyone who knows me will appreciate I'm a stubborn bastard who keeps his promises.
I've told a few mates that this blog will breathe again – just need to shift my arse! (and the aforementioned 'flotsam' has collected in a convenient wee whirlpool just outside the kitchen window).

But where to start?
Let's start with an email I sent to a mate on Tuesday.
It's been slightly edited for this context.


I got up early today as usual, feeling great, and thought I'd spend a couple of hours 'updating' my long-neglected blog.
Guess what happened? Nothing. I simply didn't know where to start!

There's so much going on in the world at present.
Copenhagen is a multi-layered joke.
Western society has started its traditional Xmas binge as the planet continues to buckle.
Billions still go to bed hungry (if they HAVE a bed), including maybe a couple of hundred thousand in Australia.
The banking system which brought the global economy to its knees a scant 12 months ago - and was bailed out by trillions of taxpayers' dollars - continues to profiteer off working people yet has the sheer audacity to demand 'the market' should never be regulated.
Peace-prize winner (and wannabe saviour of the world) Obama is - like Rudd - showing his true colours.
Locally, the forthcoming bushfire season looks increasingly nasty (see Copenhagen, above).
And so forth.

What's my point?
Well, going back to your original questions, sometimes the challenges appear so huge that we lose perspective and become a little paralyzed.
With so much that needs changing, where does one start?

In my heart, I know what the answer is: it's what I've always done –'start somewhere … anywhere!' - but occasionally we all need to set the 'big tasks' to one side and focus on simpler, more straightforward stuff.

Here's an interesting analogy. Our Conure parrots love fruit, so I put a couple of small green (unripe) apples in their cage the other day.
They were so tough that the poor birds couldn't bite into them and they got really frustrated.
So I went back in and carved a section off the apples, exposing the inside: once someone had 'made a start' they were fine.

More to come … this side of 25 December. Promise!