Week 13, 2026
Threading an ancestral story
My ancestor David Cohen on my paternal side arrived in Australia from London in the late 1800s. My uncle Don has tirelessly researched the history and written a book about it. I took the chance while my dad was in town to drop off a copy of the book to the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia. I don’t have a strong connection with the Jewish side of my family history, and current affairs make it a complex and sometimes confronting thing to think about. But it is interesting nonetheless to learn about my ancestors. They lived very close to where I do now, even though the family line took them to Perth where I was born. Circles within circles.
Collapse
I got up early to attend a Poetic Self Development Circle hosted by Annalise Lewis on the theme of Collapse. There were seven other participants, and we explored themes such as the relational signals of collapse — how historic checks and balances feel like they’ve broken down, how political polarisation and scarcity mindset have replaced the togetherness of COVID only five years ago, the dissolving illusion of democracy, and the nervous system’s response to instability. What struck me most was how Annalise framed collapse not as catastrophe but as pattern — what happens when promises stop matching lived experience, when institutions lose legitimacy, when trust erodes faster than it can be built.
As I wrote in a LinkedIn recommendation for Annalise afterwards: “she weaves and navigates the very fine lines between structure and fluidity, depth and humour, listener and provocateur. Being able to hold these dualities in facilitation, coaching and writing is a rare gift — especially for those of us who don’t feel like we fit in one box or the other, whether that be artist or professional, or some other awkward construct foisted upon us.”
That quality was on full display in this session: heavy topics held calmly, collectively, without rushing to fix. It doesn’t solve anything, but it gives me hope and comfort that there are good people around, navigating this together.
It was great to finally meet Marti Spiegelman after years of participating in her training. There is so much indigenous wisdom available to tap into, and I feel very grateful to have access to Marti as a guide, and to the group of people she brings together. The only way I can see us collectively navigating the increasingly complex path before us is by tapping into different ways of thinking than the current system promotes.
