Diary week 2

By the end of 2nd week I realised what Lynda wanted us to do for the semester. She told us to grab our passion. The topic had to be something we are so passionate about that we absolutely bore people with it. I knew then exactly what to do but did not know how to make it into a successful project. I went to see Lynda privatley and told her I had already been working on building connections within a particular group from my home town of Cairns, and dropped ideas about a dance event since most of the people in this group were dancers. So it was already a warm market because I knew they were keen. Lynda and I spoke about the relevant places NGO’s or support networks in Brisbane to go and check out. She mentioned “A Place to belong”. Lynda also introduced me to Narita, a Torres Strait Islander PHD student in the Social Work field. I discussed my ideas and we bounced ideas there in her office that night till 10pm. I missed the last bus at uni and had to cab it home. But it was worth it. I had cultural context of a smart, intelligent and culturally appropriate person. Very, very useful stuff. She also reiterated and validated that my ideas were culturally appropriate and that it’s ok to take theories from “white people” not to discredit what I already new just because they were "white ideas”. But to combine things in an appropriate way. By the Friday night I was meeting a friend of mine Gianne who happened to be on last years So You Think You Can Dance TV Show. Spoke to Gianne about my ideas on the Friday and how I would be up in Cairns with my family for 10 days during Easter and wanted to implement this project then. She wanted to be a part of it. she told me she was available 10th April.. I straight away booked a plane ticket. At this stage I did not know how or where this event would take place, but I knew who would join me and when that had to be. So by Saturday I Started my blog. I investigated other places that we could perform and got in touch with other festivals happening around that time. That’s when I met Gaby. Gaby is keen to see what dances are available so she can involve people in her big project in July. I also spoke to Community Centre worker; Saga and got commitment from her to help with finding if not the comm. Centre then the park or the Tanks Art Centre. I also sent my blog to other Alcohol and Drug relief centres in Cains but haven’t heard back from them yet. I decided to make it into a culture connecting exercise instead of Alcohol abuse. I read the reading on Complexity Theory and butterfly effect. I found very much to relate to this. One of the ways is how the original people who were going to help me had their own issues and agenda’s and trying to deep communication lines with them with no internet, phone or address proved to be a problem. Time was of the essence as Gianne and I were already booked. And every day there seemed to be a new story of what they can and cant’ do. It has been a constant change of agenda for me. I like how Lynda states in the discussion board…Hold on to our agenda’s lightly. So true. I also have to mention that her content in this lecture gave me Goosebumps. The way she described community, connections, potential etc in a scientific, but spiritual, yet practical way. I loved how it all connected and I was feeling lighter and lighter when she was talking. It felt like little light bulbs went off in my head. But not new ones but ones that were already alight, by themselves but now a wire was connecting them all in parallel and they were shining so brightly together now.

Here's what I aspire to doing one day.