If you could do one thing to make a difference in the world, I think something really achievable would be … .to be kinder to others … and kinder to ourselves.  And maybe if bullying and abuse and neglect and things like that still went on, kindness might be the one thing that makes those suffering feel more hopeful about their future - and feel less alone in the world.

Previous posts on Black Dog about about the role of kindness in society here …..and teaching children about kindness here.  What would it be like if we were kinder to our children here.  A story about a boy who changed with world with the simple idea, ‘Pay it forward’, here.  And how Clunk & Jam notes you can collect and share from the Black Dog website might be able to make a difference here.   And passing this on to others could quite possibly make a difference too….

Next Tuesday morning (15th) I’ll be attending a ‘Community Conversation Seminar’ about research on stress in pregnancy at the Telethon Institute for Child Health and have been asked to extend this invitation to others who might like to join in and contribute.   It’s an opportunity for community members to share their own experience and put forward their ideas on how the researchers can best share research information with the community.  If you’re interested in attending click here for more information and contact Monique to let her know you’re coming.  To read the pictured Army of Ink #47′s story click here.

A couple of posts back I introduced you to this new Army of Ink trooper but didn’t post her story to allow you to have your own.  So I’m back with my interpretation of this ink.  The short version goes….

Nothing seemed to fit .

Having tried on so many ways of being herself, she finally reached the exhausting conclusion that maybe all the things she was trying on were just way too big for her.  And maybe she’d just have to tailor make her own little world where she could be her entirely unique, odd and small, good self.

Click the typewriter for the Clunk and Jam note to print.

Then I went on to explore her some more – and captured the lines below.  To read this terribly long but quite interesting explorative piece click on the girl.  And pass this on to your friends too….

A rainy Friday afternoon story – true though.    A friend and I have just returned from a spontaneous sleepover on Rottnest Island.  Before catching the ferry home we took a bus ride around the island and at one particular bay we noticed some odd wooden structures on the beach.  One was a single rail (above) but with posts beautifully carved and shaped.  The other (situated about 2 meters behind) was a taller structure with what seemed to be 3 logs roped together to form a top surface.  We both began guessing what they were….something to scale fish on (no, the surface of the 3 logs wouldn’t work) ….tie a boat to (first one maybe but why the second?)….an art scultpure (no, not in a marine sanctuary) ….or maybe a replica of something historical?

My curiousity getting the better of me,  I ducked in to historical museum before leaving the island to ask for some assistance.  This lovely old man (in his late eighties for sure) was equally puzzled as to what this object was, so he invited me through into another room where….

… four more volunteer workers gathered, all ears, as I described this strange thing we’d spotted.    All were completely puzzled.  So I proceeded to draw a sketch.  Still nothing.  Equally as curious, one of the ladies volunteered to hop on the first bus in the morning and see if she could find and identify this strange thing no-one knew about.    I left her my phone number and asked if she’d be so kind as to call me and let me know when she’d discovered.   So I got a call today….Here’s what she told me …..

She’d found what I’d been talking about in Salmon Bay but hadn’t seen it before.  “Most interested”, she told me, “I asked two Coach Captains and showed them your lovely drawing and they didn’t know either, saying they’re weren’t there the day before or they would have seen them.  So we called the Ranger to investigate.” she said.  The conclusion?   “A temporary structure, probably erected by some silly young people – maybe to play volleyball?”  But they were too small for volleyball I thought.   And too specifically hand crafted.

She said the Ranger had told her another story about how he’d received a call about some young lads who were spotted drilling and constructing something on the jetty.  Apparently they’d made a ramp and were riding their bikes off the end of the jetty into the water.    So the conclusion was, that these lads armed with drills had to be the same culprits that erected these ’temporary structures’ in Salmon Bay and therefore they would have to be removed immediately (the structures and the lads).   This Island’s convict history so far and yet so near.  Disappointed, I asked if someone could take a photo perhaps but it was too late apparently, they’d been removed.

She finished by thanking me, saying they’d all had such a wonderful adventure solving the mystery.   And I couldn’t help feel slightly regretful that I’d blown the cover on these really interestingly crafted objects of such mystery and fascination.  But the beauty of the island is it’s natural state.   It’s a good story for keeps I think and that’s what I love about stories, they’re in abundance everywhere  …. if you look, and listen - wonder and ask.   Enjoy the weekend.  You can read my previous funny Friday afternoon stories here.

Click the arrow at top of your screen if you’re not sure how to get back.

Sit back, press play and watch Michael Shapcott do his beautiful thing - and in that moment, cast a wish that every child be born into such caring hands …

View the Drawing and Drawing 365 project by  Michael Shapcott too. Thanks to Harley for finding this one.   You’ll find  another beautiful clip previously featured on Black Dog of Stormie Mills in a mesmerising act of transformation here.  And he flunked art … so draw even if you think (or they tell you) you can’t.  Stormie’s story here.  Pass it on  …

“Don’t forget them, Son,” 102 year-old veteran Bill Cotgrove and his grandson at a military cemetery, Belgium, 1998.  Photograph by Brian Moody.

Nothing seemed to fit .

This ink arrive this morning but just for something different I’m not going to post her story … yet.   I’ll leave a few days space and maybe your own story will arrive – then we can compare.  Back soon.  Oh, and pass her on to get the ink flowing in various proportions ….

Nice follow on from the previous post (a few down) about being enough (or not).

Following on from the previous Army of Ink trooper about being ‘enough’. Check out ‘Grounded Researcher’ Brene Brown’s website and particularly her talk on TED TV about the power of vulnerability, not being ‘good enough’, worthiness, connectedness, shame, authenticity, courage and more.  It’s a must see, must think more about one …and you’ll find an interview with Brene in the latest Dumbo Feather Magazine too.   Pass it on and you just might hear the world take a quiet sigh of relief as this courageous woman shares her story, her ideas, her vulnerability …