When I write online whether it be on some form of social media, or on a blog or website, a question always enters my mind which is ‘Am I just screaming into the void here?’ Nobody would be wrong for thinking that in the age of a never-ending carousel of social media influencers and content creators. Millions of them, in fact. It can be very easy to get lost in the crowd, to falter, to convince yourself that you are somehow insignificant.
And then something unexpected happens, a moment of confluence.
I live in a part of Sydney next to a park that is of great historical and ecological significance. It contains 19th century buildings that are heritage listed and more species of trees than there are in Central Park, New York. There are Aboriginal sites in this park dating back thousands of years. The park flows down to a bay that is part of the Sydney Harbour foreshore. The park is called Callan Park.
I walk in Callan Park every day. I take lots of photos, many of which I post on Instagram along with my myriad musings on life. My posts were seen by a local community action group who advocate for protecting the park from being sold off for development, conserving the unique ecology and history of the park and to educate the community about the irreplaceable value of Callan Park. This group is known as Friends Of Callan Park.
Last week it was NSW History Week and Friends Of Callan Park ran an exhibition following the theme of Keeping Stories: The People Of Callan Park. It was a beautiful exhibition held outside in the park, beside trees and heritage buildings that you could look at and enjoy as part of your daily walk. Through Instagram, I was asked to participate in the exhibition.
I forgot to mention that Callan Park used to be a Psychiatric Hospital, so many of the exhibition panels were about former patients and medical staff. I wrote about the wonderful Australian poet, Michael Dransfield, who was a patient in the hospital in the 1970s. Due to popular demand, the exhibition is continuing until the end of October, which is fantastic and reveals that people still value learning about history. The fact that I was involved in the exhibition just goes to show that when it comes to the creative life, you never really know what lies around the corner and that you should always keep an open mind and not give up.
slowly, ever slowly, we edge forward
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