Inked in Colour logo

Inked in Colour

  • About
  • Blog
    • Common Threads
    • Community
    • Culture
    • DIY
    • Food
    • Ford Thinking
    • Life
    • Music
    • Nothing new
      • Recycle
      • reduce
      • Reuse
    • Our Story
    • Parenting
    • Parenting Politics
    • Photography
      • The 52 Project
    • Politics
    • Sponsor
    • Travel
    • Uncategorized
    • women
  • Nothing New Project
  • TEDxPerth
  • Media
  • Contact
  • ABOUT
  • FEATURED
  • To listen is to learn.

    There has been a lot of noise lately. A lot of it

    A compassionate revolution.

    We concern ourselves so often with how we look, with

    A simple exchange

    “Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called

    pictures of you.

    In the past 12 months I’ve been doing a lot of

    Dear Bo – 50 things I want you to know.

    Dear(est) Bo, My sweet challenging, headstrong

    When no one is watching.

    I seem to find myself in this place every three to

  • Search
Dec. 2. 2014

Remembering

DSC_7069-18PIN IT

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it,
I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

You don’t have to look too hard these days to see the social and personal activism that has been going on for quite some time just under the surface of the modern consumer machine. I’ve been talking about it here in this space for years now, the hope that lays just under the surface, the communities of people who are transforming the way that they approach the world, the people who are challenging the norm, perhaps even challenging their own social conditioning, their own upbringing, pushing back against a world order that is so wasteful, so damaging and at the end of the day, so lonely.

It can be daunting to step forward and say, ‘after all these years, here I am. I am now ready to make a change.’ It can be scary to step out of your comfort zone, because even when you are morally opposed to certain societal norms, sitting within them can still seem comfortable because it’s familiar – and familiar feels safe, even when we know it isn’t. Ever since I moved to Indonesia five years ago I have been on the long and winding path that moves me away from the world I lived in before, and toward to the world that I dream for us for the future. It’s easy to begin to feel disheartened, as if we aren’t doing enough, as if we aren’t doing it all… because we still buy items wrapped in plastic from time to time, because sometimes I forget our backup containers, because I drive more than I should, because I still haven’t achieved the communal dream… like everything else in life it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of it all and it can feel too big to even try. We live in a world that is very much based on an all or nothing approach, we either have it ‘all’ or we have ‘nothing’… we seem to approach most areas of our lives like this in our culture. It’s a nasty habit of my inner voice that I’ve been consciously trying to break.

When you are making conscious choices to change the way that you live your life, conscious choices that change the way that you approach the people and the land on which you live, one thing at a time is more than enough. We all do the best we can with what we have, there is no use getting twisted up in knots over things you have done wrong in the past (or even yesterday) as long as you make an active effort to change the choices you make for the future. When something new becomes an every day part of your life (ie. composting, recycling, water saving techniques, gardening, engaging on a personal level with strangers) then you can feel comfortable to move on to the next thing. It’s sustainable, gentle change at your own pace… and it works.

We are all capable of so much more than we think we are, if we are patient and give ourselves the time to learn.

On Sunday we were lucky enough to car pool down to Margaret River for the Forgotten Skills Festival that is held at the very beautiful Fair Harvest Permaculture property. A day of workshops held showcasing and teaching local skills that promote sustainability and community – from cheese making to basket weaving, from herbal tinctures to weed identification, from worm farming to hula hoop dancing – there was truly something for everyone. It inspires me to be around so many barefoot, smiling, genuinely community minded people who offer their time, their skill, their whole self to give and to share and to come together. It’s something that we have been really working on in Bunbury to foster more community energy… and to access something like this broadens our scope and inspires our minds.

There are bloody wonderful people everywhere – with tonnes of skills that should never be forgotten… in fact, coming together to remember skills long forgotten is an amazing way to cultivate strong, powerful and resilient communities.

I know not all of you will have access to amazing festivals like this one, but you all have access to people – and I guarantee you, those people have skills. Why not set up a little skill swap within your group of friends? If you’ve still got grandparents get them to teach you the skills of their times, things that we take for granted these days. Offer some free workshops teaching something that you love to do, share your knowledge, reach out to your community, nurture strong connections and learn some amazing skills in the process.

Alone we can only do so much. Together we are unstoppable.

This is a seriously photo heavy post… 🙂 Enjoy.

DSC_6885-1PIN IT DSC_6900-2PIN IT DSC_6916-3PIN IT DSC_6924-4PIN IT DSC_6950-5PIN IT DSC_6976-6PIN IT DSC_6983-7PIN IT DSC_6994-8PIN IT DSC_7021-13PIN IT DSC_7038-14PIN IT DSC_7046-15PIN IT DSC_7053-16PIN IT DSC_7056-17PIN IT DSC_7077-19PIN IT DSC_7164-22PIN IT DSC_7173-23PIN IT DSC_7195-24PIN IT DSC_7202-25PIN IT DSC_7205-26PIN IT DSC_7209-27PIN IT

Similar Posts:

  • To listen is to learn.
  • The end of the Nothing New Project
  • Community Timebanking: Bringing communities closer.
  • A community driven by a mothers heart…
  • Week 48: Communal Responsibility.

Life, Nothing newTags: community, cultivating community, skill share, social change

« Week 48: Communal Responsibility.The “No Buy” Gift Guide »

3 comments
  • December 2, 2014 - 10:38 pm

    Life With The Crew - This looks like an AWESOME event! (And you captured the great array of colors and textures in your photos.) I know that it takes all types to make the world go round – we need people working in banks, on computers, doing “brain stuff”, but for me, there is something so satisfying about seeing something done with a pair of hands. Or multiple pairs of hands.ReplyCancel

  • December 3, 2014 - 7:42 am

    Alicja - I love the values that you have brought back from your trip to Indonesia, Inked in Colour. I am so happy that you are writing this blog to share and popularize them. I am learning slowly but eagerly from you and I really like the potential that I discover in my immediate environment. Thank you.ReplyCancel

  • January 5, 2015 - 11:27 am

    Cassie - Holy shit that sounds amazing.ReplyCancel

Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked *

*

*

  • Favorite Places

    ProPhoto Blogs
    La Lune Creative
    Pinterest

  • Archives

    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
  • Categories

    • Common Threads
    • Community
    • Culture
    • DIY
    • Food
    • Ford Thinking
    • Life
    • Music
    • Nothing new
    • Our Story
    • Parenting
    • Parenting Politics
    • Photography
    • Politics
    • Recycle
    • reduce
    • Reuse
    • Sponsor
    • The 52 Project
    • Travel
    • Uncategorized
    • women
  • Legal Stuff

    Copyright © 2012-2014 Inked in Colour. All photographs and words, unless otherwise noted, by Sash Milne. No words or images are to be taken from this space at any time without written permission from the author.

    This blog accepts very limited sponsorship. Any sponsored material is expressly noted. If you are interested in sponsoring this blog please contact us for our rates.

    If you would like to use any of the stories or images please don't hesitate to get in touch.

    Contact: 115,97,115,104,64,105,110,107,101,100,105,110,99,111,108,111,117,114,46,99,111,109moc.ruolocnidekni@hsas

© 2023 Inked in Colour|ProPhoto Photography Blogsite | La Lune Creative