The Afterword

Tag: Daily Prompt

  • Late to the Party

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    Peter
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    Write about your first computer. I was late to the party, at least compared to the people around me. In 1981 I worked for a major bank as a computer programmer. Even in a small team, I was the odd one out. Everyone else seemed fixated on coding. They talked about it at lunch, took…

  • The Threshold Room

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    Peter
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    You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like? There is a room in the house that isn’t quite a room.Too small to be a bedroom, too lived-in to be storage,too full of sunlight to be forgotten.It sits on the edge of the family room,like a hinge in the house—a…

  • What Arrived This Year

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    Peter
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    Is your life today what you pictured a year ago? Is my life today what I pictured a year ago? The answer is yes and no. I lived on the beaches for thirty years, so my worldview is shaped by surf culture. One of the first things you learn is that you don’t control the…

  • The Quiet Thread I Would Change

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    Peter
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    What is one thing you would change about yourself? Someone once told me that when I get up to preach, it’s like watching someone flick a switch. One moment I’m my usual quiet self, and the next I’m fully present—clear, confident, grounded. Here’s the funny thing: that version of me on the platform is the…

  • History in Black and White

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    Peter
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    What major historical events do you remember? The first world event I remember is the death of President Kennedy. I was a kid in infants school. The news came through our black-and-white television — one my father built himself, his engineer’s pride sitting square in the corner of the lounge room. We were among the…

  • A Day in the Diary

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    Peter
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    Your life without a computer: what does it look like? 7.00am. The desk feels emptier without a screen in front of me. Essays take forever. My pen scratches against the page, and when I need a reference, I head to the library, combing through indexes and card catalogues. Progress is measured in hours, not minutes.…

  • Three Jobs if Money Didn’t Matter

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    Peter
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    List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter. If money were no object, I’d choose work that feels less like a job and more like a way of honouring what matters. Each of these roles is about restoration—of stories, of people, of things we might otherwise lose. The Story GathererI imagine a workstation…

  • Terra Incognita

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    Peter
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    The furthest I ever traveled from home was everywhere.A round-the-world ticket—you can’t really get further away than that.I left with research in my bag and Duke Universityas my compass point. Duke was extraordinary.Magnificent buildings, gothic archesdesigned to look older than they were.Exceptional students and world-class teacherswalking polished halls that had been paid forby Methodist tobacco…

  • Conversations with a Restless Library

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    Peter
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    I don’t curate.I don’t pre-select.I don’t build productivity playlists. I just hit shuffle on my entire music library and wait to see what sort of mood it’s in. Some days, it’s a model colleague — thoughtful, supportive, gently nudging me into creative flow.Other days, it behaves like a caffeinated record-store assistant with a point to…

  • A Job for One Day, A Longing for More

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    Peter
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    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.…