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A strategy for change: using the transtheoretical model to think strategically about change in Australian society

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Hello friends! In this post, I’m going to have a good chat about strategies for making change in Australian society. We know that there are several problems that need solving. We know that climate change is a threat to the survival of the human species. We know that white supremacy in Australia is responsible for some of the most atrocious breaches of human rights, from the moment Captain Cook arrived, to today when even as we speak, PC Spud continues to lock up Australian-born children in detention. And may I even venture that these are connected - that Indigenous nations cared for this continent for many thousands of years successfully, and then within just over 200 years colonisation destroyed language, culture and made genocide a government policy - and the land began to suffer through our lack of knowledge and care, and racism ran rampant, and continues to do so. We need to make change. But our government is not interested in making change, or at least not to the point that is ne...
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Summer solstice 2020

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The light lingers. The days begin to stretch. Sunlight greets us in the early, quiet hours And is slow to leave at the end of the day, As though trying to have one last conversation Before saying goodnight. Fire rages through the bush, Destroying everything in its path.  We battle the relentless flames While not far away, rain pours  And winds batter houses. In this tumultuous weather, we live. Jupiter and Saturn, two giants, move together in the sky Jupiter ever urges us forward and pushes us to expand our horizons While Saturn pulls back  And demands that we respect our limits. In this tension, we live.  In the bitter disappointment of plans undone And in the joy of the season; In the grief of loss and In the comfort of togetherness; In the trepidation and hope of what tomorrow brings; After the year that was, and before the year that is to come, In this transition, we live. May your summer solstice be filled with wonder at all you have endured, and hope for all th...
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A short introduction so you know who the eff this actually is, I mean, I'm on the internet, I could be anyone!

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My name's Nicola, and I live on Yuggera land (south of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). I'm aware that this land I live and work on is stolen land, that sovereignty was never ceded. I acknowledge and pay my respects to the elders past, present and emerging.  I'm a drug and alcohol counsellor by day, and an activist working from the assumption that "the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem" (Michael White, social worker and co-creator of narrative therapy).  My journey into activism began in high school when our chapter of Amnesty International allowed me to play music for a cause. My own ups and downs in life, particularly with my own mental health, taught me a lot about putting yourself in someone else's shoes, and my studies in counselling taught me about thinking beyond the individual to the system and how it perpetuates issues that so many people face. My journey into motherhood taught me that everyone is someone's child and has great...
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Welcome!

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 Welcome, and thank you for joining me. If you like: - thinking about issues on a systemic level - dreaming about a better future - showing solidarity to people in their struggle for human rights (e.g. equality across race, gender and/or ability, housing rights, food security, climate security, freedom/peace/safety for all) - mutual aid - talking about how capitalism as a system is destructive, and dreaming of new alternatives - plants, ecosystems, animals, or solarpunk - science - music - caring about people in general then you might feel quite at home here, and that is my hope.  If you're hoping to scramble to the top of the heap, leaving everyone below you for dead, or if you think climate change is a hoax, racism isn't real and capitalism is a perfectly fine system, you probably won't like it here. Just a heads up.  A manifesto of sorts, because it's always nice to be clear about what kind of space you're stepping into before you decide if you actually want to b...
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