Island Women

I have just enjoyed a magical sojourn on North Stradbroke Island in Queensland. It's a fascinating island, made of sand and teeming with wild life. Fresh water lakes, sand dunes, bluffs, wild beaches and gorges excite the senses and re-ignite the ancient need to connect with Nature.

The spiritual home to its original people, it's easy to imagine what a paradise they enjoyed before being "visited" by white men. Abundant in food from the sea and land and with endless supplies of fresh water, this huge sand island was enjoyed by a number of tribes.

Today the presence of the indigenous peoples is still strong.  With some success to land claims, there is a sense of pride and the promise of a continuing future. I had the pleasure to meet some women actively involved in Indigenous art, culture and education programs: Island women.

I can't wait to go back next year and take some mainland women with me, on retreat. Together we will experience the magic of this island and the women who live there. Until then...

Review of my novel FINDING ARTEMISIA

Woke up this morning to a review of my book on page 25 of the link below

http://issuu.com/echopublications/docs/byronecho2816/25?e=2296014/4940959

Every moment counts...

Sitting in a cafe in Alice Springs

with my future daughter

When a young woman recognises me and says to my daughter-to-be, "I love this woman." She joins us and tell this story:

"Years ago at high school we had a substitute history teacher. We were a wild lot and had proudly burnt out several teachers. Then this woman came along and she just let us rabble on for about 20 minutes and then she came up to each one of us and introduced herself and shook our hands. RESPECT. After that we loved history and we loved her. And that teacher was Denise."

Why go on RETREAT?

A gorgeous woman in relaxation, at the Alice Springs Women's  Retreat May 2013

Why take a retreat...

" I think it is essential to sometimes go on retreat, to stop everything that you have been doing, to stop your beliefs and experiences completely and look at them anew, not keep on repeating like machines...

You would then let in some fresh air into your mind, wouldn't you?

You would become open to the mysteries of nature and to things that are whispering about us...

In a retreat.. you can have a complete break from the past and see what happens...vast expanses of love, understanding and freedom.

When your heart is open, then your own noises are not heard.

To take a retreat and go away and stop the routine - not only the routine of outward existence but the routine which the mind has established...."

J. Krishnamurti, Madras 1952