The Afterword

Tag: dailyprompt

  • The Word I’d Ban (For Now)

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    Peter
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    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…

  • What Leadership Looks Like Right Now

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    Peter
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    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…

  • What He Needed Wasn’t a Lecture

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    Peter
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    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…

  • What bores you?

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    Peter
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    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…

  • The Right Drink for the Right Time

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    Peter
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    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…

  • The People Who Make Others Bigger

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    Peter
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    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…

  • The Pair That Goes Everywhere

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    Peter
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    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…

  • The Gift I Didn’t Expect

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    Peter
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    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…

  • Four Jars on the Kitchen Bench

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    Peter
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    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.…

  • Patriotic, Not Nationalistic

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    Peter
    in

    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.…

  • P Plates, No Plates

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    Peter
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    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…

  • Tall, Dark, and Silent

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    Peter
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    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…

  • The Shape of a Conventional Life

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    Peter
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    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…

  • Defaults Change Lives

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    Peter
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    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…

  • Dream Home

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    Peter
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    Write about your dream home. I have never really dreamed about a home. Maybe that’s because I value other things. Maybe it’s because I’ve been out of the market for most of my life. More likely it’s because a home, for me, isn’t meant to carry the weight of aspiration. A home embodies values. It…

  • The Day Radio Beat Homework

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    Peter
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    You get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do? I tell the right person first. Not by email. Not by text. No social media announcements. If it’s truly great news, it deserves a voice. It deserves someone on the other end who can hear it properly — and share the moment…

  • Hunting for Gems

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    Peter
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    Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrownor lost interest in over time? I used to spend hours in the city, moving from one second-hand record store to another, scanning the shelves for comedy albums. Not music this time—comedy. Victor Borge. Peter Sellers. Shelley Berman. Bob Newhart. They were old even then, and that was…

  • Sour, Please

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    Peter
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    What’s your favourite candy? I’ve always liked things that are sour. In high school a friend of mine had a big lemon tree in his backyard. When it was in fruit, we’d climb up and perch in the branches and eat lemons straight off the tree. It sounds ridiculous, but I loved it. Ever since…

  • On Being “On”

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    Peter
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    Do you need a break? From what? I live with tension. Some days I’m tired and I long for a break. There are always things happening for people: students facing mental health challenges, students in financial crisis, the organisational imperative of keeping things running smoothly, strategic decisions that can’t be put off. It can be…

  • Abundance

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    Peter
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    The most important invention in your lifetime is… When I compare life now with my younger years, the difference is extraordinary. As a student, research was slow, local, and uncertain. You spent hours in the library working through abstracts, hoping you were even looking in the right place, and then hoping again that your library…