What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?
It’s been a tough year in places. My parents are going downhill fast, and my mother is now permanently in a nursing home. It’s stressful for them and stressful for us, yet I’m grateful that the whole family has shown up in ways that matter. We’re carrying this together. That alone is a kind of quiet mercy.
The college has had its own pressures. A lot of complex needs this year, and the load on staff and student leaders has been significant. Some seasons stretch you more than others, and this one asked a lot.
But in the middle of all that weight, a few unexpected things went well—almost without me planning for them.
I started writing again after many years.
A small win that became a big one. A short story published, a book launch at the NSW State Library, a second-place finish in a competition. None of that was anticipated. It just unfolded. And it reminded me that parts of ourselves don’t disappear; they simply wait.
I began bush regeneration.
Another long-delayed intention that quietly took root. There’s something grounding about learning the names of things again—trees, grasses, patterns of growth. It has been fun, and it has been good for me.
And then Antarctica.
A trip of a lifetime to celebrate a big birthday. A rare, astonishing gift. The kind of experience that gets inside you and stays.
These weren’t loud triumphs or grand achievements. They were the hidden wins—the unexpected openings, the things that grew even as other parts of life became heavier.
When I look back on the year, I see both the strain and the grace. And somewhere in the mix, I realise: it wasn’t all easy, but some very good things found their way in.
The Afterword 
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