The Afterword

Tag: life

  • What Excites Me Now

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    Peter
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    There was a time when excitement meant chasing new goals — building a career, learning new things, and taking opportunities as they came. I’m not someone who lives for travel, but whether for work, family, or leisure, we’ve ended up visiting every continent — including some very wild places. Antarctica earlier this year was a…

  • When Peace and Principle Collide

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    Peter
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    A reflection on ideological certainty and harmony I am known for being easy to get along with. And also, for being stubborn. It’s a combination that puzzles people. I don’t mind that. I’ve learned over time that harmony doesn’t come from sameness, and peace doesn’t come from everyone agreeing with me. I don’t need to…

  • A Medical Mystery (with All Original Parts)

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    Peter
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    When people start talking surgeries, medications, or hospital stays, I tend to sit quietly and wonder if I missed a rite of passage. I’m in my late 60s, and the only time I’ve been near a hospital bed was 20 years ago for an outpatient procedure. No overnight stay. No gown. No jelly cup. I…

  • A Day in the Life (With Minor Interruptions)

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    Peter
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    My days start early. I get up around 4:30am—sometimes earlier, sometimes later. I never set an alarm. It’s just when I wake up. I wasn’t always a morning person—in my 20s I was the opposite—but the older I get, the earlier I rise. The first thing I do is feed the animals. Both the dog…

  • A Royal Waste of Time: Why I Wish I Wasted More

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    Peter
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    This is an intriguing question: How do you waste the most time every day?Part of me wonders—do I waste enough? Marva Dawn wrote a book I’ve returned to often, titled A Royal Waste of Time. She suggests that much of our modern thinking—even in worship—gets caught up in outcomes and effectiveness. Did it connect? Did…

  • The Crush That Wasn’t

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    Peter
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    I was 17 and had just unlocked the holy trinity of teenage freedom: a driver’s license, a half-reliable car, and parents who happily filled the tank. Enter: her. Sixteen. Bright. Cheerful. Needed a lift home from youth group. Or outings. Or basically anywhere that I could feasibly drive without stalling. I had a crush. A…

  • What I Hold

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    Peter
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    Every so often, I find myselfreaching for the map again,not the one with borders and rail lines,but the one folded somewhere in my chest—creased with names I’ve never spoken aloud,warmed by places I haven’t stood inbut already miss. I hold England like an heirloom—my grandmother in Leeds,the streets she might have walkedwith a loaf under…

  • Kindness, with a Key

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    Peter
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    For me, it would be my car — a 2006 Honda Accord.It’s coming up for its 20th birthday next year and has 250,000 km on the clock. I’m the third owner. I bought it from friends I know well — the kind of people who are fastidious with everything they own. I’d dropped in to…

  • A Piece of the Past

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    Peter
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    I was running a memoir writing course for a group of older adults, including my mother and father. As part of a writing exercise, we laid out a range of objects on a table—simple items intended to spark memories. Each participant was invited to choose one and use it as a prompt for free writing.…

  • 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.…

  • Using Your Time Off to Draw Near

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    Peter
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    “What’s the one luxury you can’t live without?” It’s a question that often pops up in interviews or icebreaker games—lighthearted, maybe even fun. But the more I sat with it, the more uncomfortable I felt. The premise behind the question assumes a world of excess. It normalises indulgence as necessity. Yet the vast majority of…

  • Making It Happen—Without Making a Fuss

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    Peter
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    I was once given a “Make It Happen Award” at work. It surprised me. I’ve never been the “charge ahead and take the hill” type. I’m not the loudest voice in the room. I don’t pound the table or dominate the agenda. But making things happen can look different. Sometimes it’s a quiet conversation that…

  • Before the Days Draw Near

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    Peter
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    A reflection written for Robert Menzies College, Valedictory Dinner 2024 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth—when light poured freely, even in early mornings,and the world felt carved just for you,like soft clay in young hands. Before the hard questions come,before the weight of wondering presses in,find joy in laughter echoing down long…

  • Philosophers Baffled After Agreeing on Literally Nothing About the Good Life

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    Peter
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    A lively gathering of seven influential European thinkers ended in spectacular confusion this week, after not a single participant could agree on what it actually means to live a good life. The group—which included Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida—had reportedly convened at a private members-only…

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

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    Peter
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    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,…

  • Grandad’s Guide to Changing Your Name

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    Peter
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    Turns out, if I ever need to vanish—say, into a witness protection program, or just a quiet caravan park outside Dubbo—my grandfather’s got me sorted. Now, this is a man who spent most of his pay packet at the pub and left my grandmother with sixpence to feed three hungry boys for a week. Classic…

  • 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…

  • Compelling

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    Peter
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    I wouldn’t say I’m religious—at least not in the way people usually mean it. If someone asks, “Do you practice religion?” my answer is yes and no. Yes, because I’m a Christian.No, because I’m not drawn to religious routine or ceremony for its own sake. I go to church every week—not because I’m especially fond…

  • You Make More of a Difference Than You Think

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    Peter
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    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.…

  • A Conversation About Contentment Across Generations

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    Peter
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    We were five generations at the table—passing the bread, refilling cups, and circling, as families do, around big questions in small talk. Someone had tossed it in lightly, like a crouton into a bowl of soup: “Do you think it’s possible to have it all?” As the conversation deepened, the focus shifted. Maybe the better…