Category: Daily Prompt
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Three Objects, Three Values
What are three objects you couldn’t live without? The three objects I couldn’t live without are not glamorous, but they do tell the truth about me. The first is my laptop. It is my library, office, writing desk, research assistant, and communication centre all in one. So much of my life runs through it. It…
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The Loss That Changed Me
What experiences in life helped you grow the most? I grew a lot the day I realised I had been scammed. I was older when I bought an apartment as an investment, and I trusted advice that seemed sensible at the time. A friend had recommended a financial adviser, and he showed me a number…
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More Than Destiny
Do you believe in fate/destiny? I don’t believe in fate, at least not as some impersonal force that fixes every outcome in advance. But as a Christian, I do believe in the presence and guidance of God. Fate suggests that everything is locked in and life simply unfolds as it must. Faith says something quite…
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A Season of Easy Belonging
Describe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to. It surprised me how hard it was to leave high school. I enjoyed those years. My world was small, familiar and full of good friendships, and many of those people are still part of my life. University was the opposite. It was big,…
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If Only for a Day
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why? I spend my life working with words and people, so if I could be someone else for a day, I would choose someone whose gift is to bring beauty into the world in a completely different way. Dale Chihuly is…
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Built with Words
Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on I’m not much of a DIY person. I admire people who are, and part of me wishes I could do projects like that. My father was an engineer and, over the years, put four extensions on our family homes. He likes knowing how things work,…
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The Word I’d Ban (For Now)
If you could permanently ban a word from general usage,which one would it be? Why? It’s just a word, right? A throwaway word.A quick word.A word people use all the time and think nothing of. So why get worked up about one word? Because words are not nothing. Because words shape what we see.Because words…
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What Leadership Looks Like Right Now
What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months? The next six months will bring plenty of obvious challenges: new student accommodation opening nearby, close to 2,000 extra beds coming into the market, newer buildings with better amenities, and the pressure that puts on occupancy, budgets, and planning. These are being…
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What He Needed Wasn’t a Lecture
What advice would I give my teenage self? I don’t think I’d give him a grand speech. I’d try to be a person he could trust. Older me: You don’t need a lecture.Teenage me: Then what do I need?Older me: People who will listen properly. People with wisdom. People who take you seriously and help…
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What bores you?
I don’t mind repetition. In fact, a lot of good life is repetitive: walking the dog, making meals, showing up for work, checking in with people, paying attention, doing the next right thing. Repetition can build trust, skill, and steadiness. What I struggle with is a different kind of boredom — the kind that shows…
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The Right Drink for the Right Time
What is your favourite drink? It depends on the mood and the moment. If I had to name one drink that works anytime, it’s water—fresh, satisfying, sugar free, and hard to beat. Out to dinner I usually go for beer, always something local or something I haven’t tried before. If we’re drinking wine, I’m happy…
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The People Who Make Others Bigger
Who are your favourite people to be around? My favourite people to be around are the ones who make other people bigger. They make relationship feel safe—no performance required, no fear that what you say will travel. They’re encouraging without being over the top, and you don’t come away feeling managed or judged. They also…
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The Pair That Goes Everywhere
Tell us about your favourite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you. I’m a bloke, so I don’t have a massive collection of shoes. I’ve got a pair of work shoes I wear most days, some walking shoes for the dog and pottering around the house, hiking boots for bush regeneration and the odd…
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The Gift I Didn’t Expect
Share one of the best gifts you’ve ever received. My grandfather died when I was seventeen. It was an industrial accident, and it came out of the blue. One minute he was there, the next minute he wasn’t. He died the day before I stared university, so the next few weeks were hard. Grieving on…
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Four Jars on the Kitchen Bench
Write about your approach to budgeting Imagine four jars on a kitchen bench. Needs: These are the weekly essentials. Groceries, clothing, fuel, health insurance — all the regular ins and outs that make life tick. We put these on a credit card for convenience, but we pay it off fortnightly so we’re not carrying debt.…
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Patriotic, Not Nationalistic
Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you? I’m patriotic, but I’m not nationalistic. Nationalism, as I understand it, is loyalty sharpened into superiority. It needs an “us” that feels threatened, and it often looks for a “them” to blame. Patriotism is different. Patriotism is love of home—paired with responsibility. It isn’t blind.…
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P Plates, No Plates
Have you ever unintentionally broken the law? At seventeen I spent a summer working in a used car yard. I’d only just got my licence, so I was on my P plates—back when they were wired onto the number plate, long before magnetic ones made life easy. The boss told me I could take whatever…
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Tall, Dark, and Silent
If there were a biography about you, what would the title be? The first thing that comes to mind is something someone said about me years ago: “Tall, dark and silent.” It was meant playfully, not cruelly, but it probably caught something true about how I occupy a room. I’m naturally reserved. I don’t speak…
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The Shape of a Conventional Life
What were your parents doing at your age? At my age, my father had been retired for about eight years. He’d spent decades as a civilian in the Australian Navy—dockyard work, public service, a steady and conventional path. But he didn’t retire because he ran out of things to do. He retired because he ran…
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Defaults Change Lives
If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why? Changing one law? I’d change the default on organ donation. Not by forcing anyone’s hand. Simply by making organ donation opt-out rather than opt-in. Because defaults shape what happens next. They don’t remove freedom, but they do remove obstacles. And…
The Afterword 