Hey gang,

 

Well I’m back in Melbourne after a fabulous visit to family in Tassie.  I love that state.  And anyone who hasn’t been to Tassie simply has to get off their bots and go.  It truly is stunning… but maybe I’m  a bit biased because the temperature was more than 18º C every day.  Quite something for the island state I have to say.  The cold weather has always been my only real gripe against living there permanently.

 

For those of you who care about such things… I FINALLY got back on the salsa floor today and am feeling fabulous for my efforts.  It seems that the Cuban Dance Academy run an awesome little session down at the St Kilda Sea Baths with lessons 4-6pm and a bit of a party afterwards.  I was most impressed with the calibre of the dancing I must say.  So I highly recommend any Melbournians to check it out.

 

But… today I want to chat about something incredibly inspiring I read on the plane back from Tassie.  Just after I had finished reefing my boots back on after the security adventure  (note to self: do not wear zip up boots on air travel days- amazing how you forget the basics when you haven’t been at an airport for three weeks!)… anyhow, I had finished dressing and I was waiting for Greg who seemed to be taking an eternity to get through security; and the latest edition of Time caught my eye.  It’s all about “Environmental Heroes”.  So I scooted into the news agency and picked it up, and once I was safely nestled into seat 22F (having paid attention to the flight attendant’s safety demonstration I promise), I dived into the magazine and devoured the whole thing in the 50 minute flight. 

 

You see, the people in this magazine epitomised the exploration I find myself on currently.  There are vignettes on a variety of visionaries, activists, innovators and entrepreneurs who Time are celebrating as Heroes of The Environment.  These are people who have found something grander than themselves and throw their energies into it completely.  For these incredible human beings it didn’t take much to make the decision to turn their talents to the challenges facing our environment and many of them describe a critical moment… a moment that changed their direction and drive forever. 

 

Christine Loh, a former trader who now heads up a unique think tank in Southern China where business is of course booming, described this moment in a way that really impacted me.  Like me, she used to spend a lot of  her time at 35,000ft and she recalls: “I was reading the newsmagazines one would find on airplanes and there was a spate of major articles on ozone depletion, and a couple of articles on global warming and deforestation.  I remember thinking that if only half of this was right then we were in deep trouble.”  From that moment she was overwhelmed with a deep hunger to improve things.  My guess is if she ever feels it can’t be done, or feels she’s not the right person for the job, she would only have to remind herself of why she made the decision to make a difference in the first place and she’d get recommitted and back on path. 

 

Hers is one of many stories that were like wave after wave of inspiration as I read them.  Finally, we are at a time when our world leaders are not ignoring the question of climate change and the environment any more (sure there’s lots of platitudes and posturing and promises, but still, a step at a time I guess).  But here are dozens of individuals making a big impact, and who have been doing so for sometime. Thank God for these people, and the fact that they didn’t get distracted by Playstations, breakups with boyfriends or acne scarring.

 

Someone once said to me: “you’ll always have problems, so find a HUGE problem.  Find yourself a problem worthy of your life.”  I hope in some way the size of my problems is increasing.

 

I promise I’ll talk about improbability soon (it is a mindblowing thought experiment I assure you)… I just keep coming across other things I need to tell you about… I have to say I am shocked by how many noteworthy occurrences there are in every day!!

 

Til we speak again… keep on the lookout for big problems!

 

Love Joey xx