Running
In earlier newsletters, I wrote about my personal challenge to run sixty marathons. I completed my sixtieth marathon in November 2023. After the devastating results of the Voice referendum, I decided to run The Indigenous Marathon Foundation’s November challenge. My vote in the ballot was not enough to get the yes vote over the line so I chose instead to voice my opinion with my feet, running 42.2K on Turrbal and Jagera land.
This year, I wanted to give my body a break and while I continue to run regularly, I am now more contemplative in my runs, absorbing the environment through my five senses. Now I focus on my posture and my breathing and allow my feet to find their own happy running pace.
The real beauty of running without a looming event and strict schedule is that I stop and chat to people instead of flying past waving and smiling.
This morning, I stopped to pat a brown Cavoodle I have seen walking along my river loop. Roxy was thrilled to have her ears scratched and meanwhile I got to know her owner who just happens to be a physio. We shared running tales, stretching advice, and discussed bone density and menopause. And when I ran home, my feet were just skimming the pavement. It gave me such a lift to have such an interesting chat and to find a new physio who works from home and shares my interest in menopausal women’s bone and muscle health.
I recently added a short loop to one of my runs which includes fabulous views of the iconic Story Bridge. The first time I ran this detour, an elderly fellow stopped to tell me about all the plants growing along the river. And he had a camera with the biggest lens I have ever seen to photograph all the plants he finds. A woman does her Tai Chi here some mornings and there is an enthusiastic Border Collie who takes his owner for a walk regularly. I get to enjoy so many interactions and hear stories that really brighten my day and remind me that contrary to the horrors we see on news feeds, most humans are just lovely. Even thinking about my morning interactions gives me a warm, happy feeling.
The beauty of walking or running is that you see the community where you live up close and personal. You get to know the streets where the good bakeries, new cafes or wine bars are, you get to meet the people who live alongside you. In the last months, a new coffee shop has opened next door to my hairdresser and there is a new boutique bakery a kilometre down the road. When you explore your local community on your feet, you really become a part of it. If there was one positive from those pandemic lockdowns, it is that many people started walking and running regularly and meeting their neighbours. These connections are vital to wellbeing. In fact, human connections are as important to health and wellbeing as good nutrition and exercise with research suggesting that the psychological and physical benefits are so great, they can outweigh other harmful risk factors and improve life expectancy.
I encourage you to get out there. Say hi when you pass someone and smile. Human connection is a beautiful thing and something to nurture.
Writing
When I start reading a new book, I turn to the acknowledgements first. It reminds me that the published book I am holding has its own history. The story behind the story. By the time a reader gets to immerse themselves in the world between the covers, the volume of work and people involved getting the book to that stage is often as fascinating as the book itself.
The list of thankyous in the acknowledgments gives me a glimpse into the many people who shaped the book I am about to read. At every stage of a book, from initial idea to final proofread and marketing, there are the backstage crew, helping to bring the work to fruition. No matter how successful or famous the author, they have struggled and needed the support of family, friends, beta readers, editors, mentors, and other writers. It always encourages me and lifts my spirits to look at the network of people who were instrumental in helping the author get their book over the line.
I have had to write my own acknowledgements recently and I know they are woefully inadequate. It takes a village to raise a child and several to bring a book into the world. Every book starts with an idea, a prompt or nebulous thought without shape or form. It might be taken from the writer’s experience, an overheard conversation, a line from a movie or comment made at a family dinner. The idea starts to take shape over weeks or even years until the urge to put it into words prompts the writer to start the long process of creating a book.
My book, The Truth about My Daughter, grew from some of my own experiences but it was an Instagram post that was the lightbulb moment for me. Someone asked followers to post their worst Christmas experience and one of the replies just set a ball rolling in my mind, gathering all those earlier vague thoughts into an idea that later became my book. After the pandemic gripped the world, my initial lack-lustre story was rewritten incorporating some of the experiences of that surreal period. It was only then, a few years later, the scaffolding for my book became a solid, tangible thing.
I sent the earliest outline of the book to my first writing mentor, Kelly Rigby who gave me positive feedback that I have kept in a folder. It was the encouragement I needed to keep going. I wrote two other novels after I completed the early drafts. One of those novels, A World of Silence, longlisted in the Hawkeye Manuscript Development award but I turned back to the first story, knowing it was the one that I wanted to tell. With support from beta readers, a manuscript assessment with Lauren Elise Daniels from Brisbane Writers Workshop, feedback from a writerly friend and the endless patience of hubby and my three children, the novel improved. It became sharper, cleaner and the characters took on a life of their own. I lost count of the number of people who encouraged me, supported me, and played some role in getting my book to a publishable stage.
And the need for support didn’t stop once I had a publishing contract. My daughter used her artistic skills to help me create a mood board when it came to designing a cover. Her creation led to Natalie Chen at Hawkeye books designing the beautiful cover that is now the face of my novel. I then had to reach out to other writers to get endorsements for my novel, one of the hardest things I was required to do but also one of the most rewarding. Author, Cass Moriarty even inspired me to have BrisLitMafia badges made to give out to local authors when she welcomed me to the Brisbane writing tribe. Now that I have a launch date, I am reaching out to friends, colleagues, and other writers to really bring my book to life. A book only happens once it is read and enjoyed by others and so the acknowledgements continue, this time to thank my readership.
In preparation for the launch of my novel, I signed up to do the excellent course Nailing Author Interviews, by Claudine Tinellis. The take home message, that a writer needs to be a good literary citizen, really resonated with me. This starts not when you have a publishing contract but in the years that precede it. Attend festivals, book launches and join a book club or writers group and listen to podcasts like Claudine Tinellis’ excellent Talking Aussie Books. Become an active member of the writing/reading community.
Do enrol in this excellent course even if you are not about to launch your book. The authors Claudine interviews are so generous with their own processes. The prompts that led to an idea becoming a novel, their research, the support provided by their networks. And she interviews so many of the writers who inspire me. Sandie Docker, Holly Ringland and Cassie Hamer to name a few. There were so many aha moments, some laugh out loud anecdotes and the recognition that getting a book published is a hard slog requiring input from many people along the way.
Writing can feel isolating, but if you want your words to shine, you need to reach out to your support networks. The writers whose books you love to read, the aspiring writers who are doing the same courses as you, your beta readers, your writing group. Every book is a collective effort, a summation of feedback and ideas from multiple sources. And you know your book baby is truly in the world when you read a beautiful endorsement or review by a reader.
Never forget that as a writer you are not alone. You are part of a community. Become a good literary citizen and enjoy the benefits of belonging to a tribe. It will give your book the best chance of doing well when it is finally released into the world.
GP wisdom
At last year’s Byron Bay Writers Festival (this festival just keeps on giving throughout the year), the final session I attended was called The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. And if you weren’t lucky enough attend this session at Byron Bay, tune in to the TED talk by Robert Waldinger, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Waldinger shared some of the fascinating findings of what really makes people happy. It won’t surprise you that it is not money, or prestige or power, all the things we know don’t add to our happiness despite the prodigious energy we expend collectively to attain them. I left that talk full of ideas and promises to myself and yet, still have difficulty with even the most straightforward of his suggestions.
It should not be a surprise that happiness is the result of our connections to other people. Not just our close circle of friends but the brief contacts we have during the day. The hello and smile shared with the barista who makes your morning coffee, the thank you to the fellow commuter who shuffles along to make room for you on the train. With most of us buried in our phones the minute we are not occupied, we miss countless opportunities for these small but significant connections.
I recently read a delightful book Ikigai – The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles. The authors had read each other’s work and met up in Tokyo to discuss the concept of logotherapy, a psychological concept developed by Viktor Frankl – that the individual’s purpose is to find meaning in life. They spoke about the Japanese equivalent, Ikigai which translates as ‘the happiness of always being busy.’ I’ll be quite honest, I did not find this idea of being busy very attractive to begin with, but when the authors went on to study the reasons there are so many centenarians living active, healthy lives in Okinawa in Japan, it became clear that busy does not mean a life filled with tasks that don’t bring joy. I will write more about this in the next newsletter, or you could purchase this fascinating little book yourself.
One of the secrets to the longevity of the Okinawa residents is being part of a tightknit community. There is a word, moai, which means connected for life. A moai is an informal group of people who share the good times and bad and regularly meet up for social occasions and celebrations. They all contribute financially each month, and this goes towards funding these gatherings where they eat together, enjoy festivals and celebrations, or play games like chess. Even better, if one of their members is experiencing tough times, they receive money from this pooled fund. This security and sense of friendship and belonging is as integral to their longevity as their healthy lifestyles.
Research shows that social isolation significantly increases the risk of premature death and is greater than the risks of smoking, obesity, and lack of exercise. Lack of social connection is associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% risk of stroke. (see citation below).
Waldinger made two suggestions. The first was to think of a friend you hadn’t contacted for a long time and to send them a text just asking how they were and then following this up by connecting with them by phone regularly – once a fortnight or even once a month. The second was to sit next to someone next time you commute. Say hello and follow up with a smile.
Waldinger advised that people who connected regularly with friends or said hi to a stranger reported greater levels of happiness when surveyed. It does seem that the more connected we are electronically, the more disconnected we become socially. With the statistics for social isolation so dire, perhaps it is time to put our phones down, to smile more, say hi more and to regularly meet up with our tribe.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25663.
