The Afterword

Tag: blog

  • A Reflection on Passion, People, and Quiet Convictions

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    Peter
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    A lot of my passions begin quietly, relationally, with a gentle nudge toward something or someone worth noticing. Over the years, I’ve come to realise that I’m passionate about a handful of things—though they don’t always shout their name. They don’t always dress up as “passion” the way the world defines it. But they endure.…

  • The Company You Keep: How Your Inner Circle Shapes You

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    Peter
    in

    They say we become like the people we spend the most time with. If that’s true, then who we’re with is not just a reflection of who we are—it’s a blueprint of who we’re becoming. For me, that influence is both narrow and broad. First and most deeply, there’s my wife.She’s passionate—about wild places, community,…

  • The Morning Delegation

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    Peter
    in

    It’s early. Ridiculously early. The world is still blue-grey and holding its breath. But I’m up—by choice, no less. Dog and cat fed. Coffee brewed. Brain only halfway online. I sit down to write, clutching the warm mug like it’s the last torch on earth. This is my hour. My quiet. My sacred little pocket…

  • A Brief History of Gainful Employment

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    Peter
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    Delivery boy — Technically, my first job. I was a prescription mule for the local pharmacy, zipping around on my bike like a budget courier with zero insurance. Kept me fit. Also gave me thighs of steel. Rifle range target marker — Nothing quite says “occupational hazard” like sitting in a bunker in front of…

  • You Make More of a Difference Than You Think

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    Peter
    in

    Every now and then, I try to take stock. Just an honest look in the mirror. What have I been given? What am I growing into? What can I offer? I’m not naturally comfortable answering the question, “What are you good at?” It feels like walking a narrow ridge between false humility and quiet pride.…

  • Let’s Talk About Tension

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    Peter
    in

    When I hear the phrase “work-life balance,” I get uneasy. It conjures images of perfect equilibrium—neatly arranged schedules, harmonious transitions, nothing out of place. But that has never felt real to me. My experience is far closer to a game of Whac-A-Mole: get one thing under control and another pops up. Harmony, if it comes…

  • The Ring I Never Take Off

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    Peter
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    The oldest thing I’m wearing today is my wedding ring. It’s been nearly 39 years since I first slipped it on—a simple gold band with a bevelled edge, unchanged by time, though life has changed around it many times over. New homes, different cities, changing routines. We’ve faced health scares, taken long-awaited holidays, chased goals…

  • Not Later, But Now

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    Peter
    in

    For a while now, I’ve carried a quiet intention:to spend more time in nature — not just walking through it, but working with it.To be part of something restorative, to give back to the land in small, steady ways. I’ve told myself that this kind of thing belongs to the “next season” of life.When things…

  • A Job for One Day, A Longing for More

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    Peter
    in

    There’s something meaningful about watching an animal return to the wild. After weeks or months of care—feeding, tending injuries, creating safe spaces—it comes down to a simple moment: a gate opens, and the animal walks or hops or flies back into the world. I’d like to be there for that. For a day. Maybe more.…

  • What I Can’t Stop Writing About

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    Peter
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    So here we are: blogging about my blog. A reflection on the reflections. I know—it’s a bit meta. But I think there’s something fitting about pausing to ask, What am I really talking about, underneath all this talking? Because the truth is, I like to write. And in all these stories and afterthoughts, there are…

  • Who will you be? How will you live?

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    Peter
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    What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a question I’ve heard all my life — first directed at me, then at the next generation. It usually expects a job title, something neat and impressive. But what if the better question is: Who will you be? How will you live? That question…

  • On What Makes Me Nervous

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    Peter
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    It’s not fear that shaped me, not really, not in the way some people mean it. I was never afraid of change, not even as a kid, though I didn’t chase it either. I’ve stayed where things mattered. By the time I’m done, I’ll have worked in four places over forty years, and that sounds…

  • When the Storm Came

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    Peter
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    When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Robert Menzies College (RMC) at Macquarie University, Sydney, found itself in a uniquely higher-risk setting. As a residential college, we faced a heightened potential for contagion. But rather than respond with fear or retreat, we chose to step forward—digging deep into our identity as a Caregiver institution. RMC has always…