Cambodia: Cycle. Sweat. End slavery.
This month Cambodia marked the fortieth anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge. It’s prompted me to finally share on this blog something of my visit there late last year. My 9-day trip involved a 5-day cycle tour (with law firm Wotton+Kearney in support of International Justice Mission), plus time in Phnom Penh and Kampot. * Day 1 Day 1 of the Cambodia Cycle Challenge … Continue reading Cambodia: Cycle. Sweat. End slavery.
Do what gives you life
Do what gives you life. That’s what some of my expat friends used to say, with tongue in cheek, when one of us announced we were going for a coffee, or staying in for the night, or some other kind of simple indulgence. I thought it must be one of those kooky lines Americans drop, but it’s a phrase that’s stuck with me. Do what … Continue reading Do what gives you life
On recovering Anglicans, vegetarians and nomads
I like to say my boyfriend is a recovering Anglican. He’s actually not even Anglican, he just happens to go to an Anglican church and I just happen to enjoy having a go at Sydney Anglicans. What I really mean when I say he’s recovering is that he is no longer doctrinal about his faith and how he practises it – in fact, he’s ardently against legalism.
Similarly … Continue reading On recovering Anglicans, vegetarians and nomads
Pinch yourself and hit send
One my favourite simple pleasures in life is rediscovering songs from the 90s – and in particular, the one-hit wonders. My most recent nostalgia hit is Pinch Me by the Barenaked Ladies. Remember them? Yeah!
Ten years ago to the day, I posted this brief status update to Facebook (in the third person – I guess that’s how we did it back in the olden days).
Intriguing! So … what was my youth all about again? Continue reading Pinch yourself and hit send
Made to wonder: string theory and the resurrection
What does string theory have to do with the Resurrection? What’s the difference between wanderlust and “wonderlust” (is that even a thing?)? Why do adverb particles matter?
This Easter I really went down the rabbit hole …
String theory and the Resurrection
I was listening to a podcast the other day, an interview with a physicist who was explaining the holographic principle. Based on string theory, one of the concepts is that our lived reality is two-dimensional data expressed in three dimensions. In other words, reality is a hologram.
It made me think about dimensions in general. If two dimensions can express three, and it’s generally accepted that we inhabit four dimensions (the fourth being time), what would 5D* projection mean? Because I’m convinced the material world isn’t all there is to existence.
As a person of faith, I believe we exist in more than four dimensions. But for most people – Christians, followers of other faiths and those of no faith alike – our active engagement in the fifth is limited.
This Easter I was reminded that the Resurrection invites us to walk beyond the four dimensions and live a bigger, richer reality. Continue reading Made to wonder: string theory and the resurrection
Embers eternal
Embers eternal but we’re a ways from raging with the fire Roll another one and take me back to other alleys, streets more lit other lives more lived, more alive when I soaked myself in rum-laced coke with lime, for you a line and we laughed oh the laughter it was intoxicating, wicked so fleeting yet so divine For the post-sober night prolongs your smile … Continue reading Embers eternal
Two thousand bucks on booze
At the start of last year, I made a commitment to donate as much as I drank. Now, in the interests of accountability and transparency, I’ll show you how I matched every cent spent on alcohol this year with donations to charity. Continue reading Two thousand bucks on booze
Dressember reflections
After Movember came Dressember, and suddenly it’s January 2018 and I’m in a pair of shorts. I won’t pretend that I have any new appreciation for pants, that it was somehow difficult to wear only dresses – all day, every day – for 31 days. It isn’t like the 40-Hour Famine, where you get a taste of what it means to go without. It isn’t … Continue reading Dressember reflections
The deepest dreams
I was never much of a dreamer as a kid. Forget being a princess, pilot, pop star or police officer. All I ever aspired to was to be an accountant – a short degree with strong job prospects.*
I’m not even kidding. To tell you the truth, I was an unambitious and cynical child.
The funny thing is that somewhere along the way into adulthood, I did start dreaming.
I dreamed of changing the world. Perhaps it was born of a desire to prove that my unambitious and cynical younger self was so, so wrong.
Changing the world hardly seemed a dream to me, though. In my early-to-mid-twenties, I started to appreciate that changing the world is within reach of each of us, that the smallest gesture can be a part of a bigger picture. That it doesn’t have to be dramatic or headline-worthy to be, well, worthy. To count as real change.
And since it was something I was already in the process of doing, it never seemed a far off reality. It never seemed far away enough to be called a dream.
So whaddya know – it seems I’ve been living the dream.
But there are also dreams I’m yet to live. These are not things I hope I manage to do before I die, nor will I feel unfulfilled if they don’t happen. Far from being a bucket list, this is a set of six longings that speak to the core of who I am.
I’m sharing them with you here, to encourage you to discover (if you haven’t already) and reflect on your own dreams. Continue reading The deepest dreams
Going for glocal
The other day my dad kindly informed me that if I ever stood for politics I’d need to renounce my Malaysian citizenship. This, of course, occurred in the context of the dual citizenship debacle that has kept Australia entertained for the last few months. Now I’m not sure how to feel about the fact that my father thinks a political career is a real possibility … Continue reading Going for glocal
