Give Happiness A Chance
My latest project comes aptly after a year of not being able to return home. I was fossicking through the second-hand books at an op-shop in Yamba when one jumped out at me. It had funky green type reading "Give Happiness A Chance." It struck me immediately- last year was heartbreaking, tough and lonely but has taught me strength, love and happiness.
I found comfort in creating, being vulnerable and living each day as best I can. I learnt that freedom is a huge commodity for me and being able to go elsewhere is exercising that freedom. Even if it's not an overseas trip or a trip home.
"Give Happiness A Chance" explores my desire to document observations as a direct response to my surroundings. Over the next week, I will be posting imagery and notes from my camping trip on the coast of NSW. I am forever inspired by my mind when I disconnect from the world and slow down. This project was a way for me to fully indulge in a positive practice for a prolonged period.
Cabarita (1/9)
Why is the water so enticing?
It glitters,
I glide.
Little waves wink at me.
Cabarita (2/9)
A colourful butterfly hovers in the sky,
'Wana be a hero?' a nearby man asks.
Lost kites lined the trees of Cabarita, Woody Head and Sandon River.
Cypris Hill (3/9)
Tall trees stand in their place off the highway.
Eerie cicadas sing in unison.
You draw with a piece of a burnt tree.
I draw with a pen.
Trucks screech through the night,
It echos in our ears long after the truck passes.
Iluka Bluff (4/9)
We watched on the edge of the rocks as the swell gathered.
You signalled "This one is gonna be big"
As the waves hit the rocks, I pressed the button.
A big hand came from beside you,
It held power and vanished within seconds.
Sandon River (5/9)
On the southern shores of the Sandon River,
A long unsealed track prolongs our imagination while we arrive in utopia.
Plover Island sits in view as we rest under a pandanus,
the only two people on the beach.
Admiring the round shore-line,
like a wide-open hug.
Iluka Bluff (6/9)
Rockpools with shells as sand.
Waves filled with fish.
An abandoned collection of pink fragments on a rock.
I sat in the pools waiting for the tide to submerge me.
Woody Head (7/9)
Trees ripped apart in a storm offer us shelter from the wind,
as we watched 3 pelicans play in the sky
and spied crabs twinkling on the sand.
Yamba (8/9)
Spectacular views lie at the foot of the lighthouse.
I imagine living on the cliff in the old lime green cottage.
Lush with plants and endless scenes of the Southern Pacific Ocean.
Nevermore would you need television, only the changes in the sea.
Angourie (10/10)
Where water is abundant.
The ocean invites you
glistening in the sun
nestled nearby
the freshwater pools charm you
with their irresistible Green and Blue hues.
