This morning I made Matt get up early so we could walk down to the beach and watch the sunrise. We’re lucky to be at Skenes Creek, just outside of Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road at my in-laws beach house for Easter weekend. We visit Skenies probably about four times a year like Matt has been doing so for his entire life. We’re incredibly lucky to have access to this free family accommodation. If it wasn’t free, we wouldn’t be here, especially considering it cost us $200 to fill the car up before we’d even left Ballarat.
As we walked along the beach this morning we got to see an incredible moon setting. It must have been a full moon recently because it was impressively round. As it neared the horizon it was getting bigger and brighter in a last-ditch effort to remain the hero of the sky as the sun came up behind us. It felt more poignant witnessing this remarkable display today as four astronauts are on their way up there right now. After hanging out with Astronaut Dr Jeanette Epps, I have a new appreciation for the effort and work required to be part of the crew up there, the four astronauts with literally thousands of people on the ground who are supporting them.
All going well it will be the furthest humans have ever travelled from earth. It is a huge achievement for humanity. This morning, as we marveled at the moon, it dawned on us how paradoxical life is. On one hand we have this incredible feat of space travel and on the other we have restrictions on domestic travel due to skyrocketing fuel prices. There are lots of people I know who have changed their holiday plans to reduce travel or cancelled them completely. As I mentioned earlier. We’re lucky we get to stay here for free.
Australia had waited with baited breath this week as Anthony Albanese addressed the nation to say very little at all in the end. Other than removing the fuel excise we are to continue on as normal, keep your holiday plans but maybe catch a bus or two if you can. I’m not sure what people were expecting Albo to say but I’m pretty sure most people felt just as uncertain after the address as they did before it.
Having spent most of our adult lives living in uncertainty as entrepreneurs we’re quite resilient when it comes to navigating change. While the increasing fuel prices will mean we’ll be able to drive less, we’re also used to not being able to afford petrol anyway so we’ve become a bike family with the majority of our daily travel done on two wheels. We still need the car to do the groceries, but most weeks, we only drive on Saturday mornings.
Restrictions force you to adapt. The only guarantee in life is that nothing lasts forever. Much like Neo in the Matrix, when you realise that we live in a paradox, it becomes clear that we have to be able to hold multiple perspectives to get anywhere close to seeing the full picture.
It's fine to fly to space but it's not fine to drive to the beach. Drive your car if you must but don’t drive if you can avoid it. Being able to hold your ideas and expectations lightly is pretty much the best course of action. Always. I heard a great analogy the other day, that we should hold our ideas like you might hold a handful of crisps - tight enough that you don’t lose any but not so tight that you crush them.
We have no idea what the next couple of months will look like for livability in Australia (or the world for that matter) - after Albo's address, obviously the government has no idea either. What we can do is be grateful for what we have access to today - our people. Our family and friends who need nothing more than our attention to flourish. Even if we can’t travel to see them in person right now - we can still call. We should also be grateful that we don’t live in Iran, or in any country that Trump has set his sights on conquering.
We still get to marvel at how incredible the world is while making a conscious effort to lessen our impact on it. Happy Easter y’all. Enjoy your eggs.
