The Afterword

Tag: writing

  • A Conversation About Contentment Across Generations

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    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…

  • A Life Worth Listening To

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    I’ve always been fascinated by people—what makes them tick, what they carry, and how their stories unfold. My first job after university was in IT, automating a production line. Because computers were expensive and labour was cheap, system development had to wait until after 4 p.m. So I started late and stayed late, spending my…

  • The Writing Compendium

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    I’m not someone who accumulates much. In fact, I’ve come to want less, not more. Rather than shape my life around possessions, I’d rather shape my life to need less. And yet, the belongings I do hold onto tend to carry meaning. They’re not just useful—they’re threads in a larger story. One that comes to…

  • What We Keep

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    I used to have collections. Years ago, I was deep in the world of second-hand record shops, trailing my fingers across shelves stacked with dusty vinyl and history. My treasure hunt had a clear target: old comedy albums. There was something about them—tiny theatrical worlds trapped in grooves. I found Bob Newhart, Shelley Berman, George…

  • The Day Mackenzie Scott Emailed Me

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    (Or, How I Almost Became a Billionaire in .ru) It was a regular Tuesday. I was sorting through my inbox like a digital archaeologist—sifting through newsletters I don’t remember subscribing to, birthday discounts from cafes I haven’t visited since 2017, and the occasional existential crisis triggered by seeing “Re: Just checking in” from someone I…

  • You Know the Beauty of Cold; I’m Still Learning

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    COLD:I grew up in the silence of winter.The still kind of cold,the kind that creaks the trees at nightand lays a hush over the world so thickyou can almost hear the snow settle.It taught me how to listen.How to endure.How to know the differencebetween solitude and loneliness. HEAT:I was raised where the sun seeps into…

  • Let’s Talk About Tension

    —

    by

    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

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    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

    —

    by

    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…

  • You Saw Me

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    I was fifteen when I decided it was time—time to take my learning seriously. Not in the way school usually defined it, but in my own way. I had already learned that I didn’t thrive in traditional classrooms. I’m a visual learner. Spoken words dissolve into fog; lectures become a blur. I don’t absorb information…

  • Freedom, Desire, and the Mirage of Power

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    There’s a kind of freedom that’s easy to sell.It looks like confidence.It sounds like influence.It promises strength, wealth, admiration, and endless choice.But it’s a mirage. False liberators know how to speak to pain.They speak to young men:You’ve been ignored. You’re not wanted. You’re powerless.Take what you deserve. Be feared, not overlooked. Be served.It sounds like…

  • You Trust the Next Chapter

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    After 45 years across multiple careers — as a parish minister, university lecturer, and now principal of a university residential college — I find myself in the change-over zone of a relay race. I’ve spent my working life helping people grow and develop, and that won’t stop anytime soon. But the way I contribute will…

  • The Outward-Facing Heart of Community

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    At Robert Menzies College, we’ve always believed that being a residential community means more than simply offering services to students. Yes, we provide accommodation, academic support, and a place to belong—but if we stop there, we’ve missed something vital. Our calling is to be outward-looking. We are not a closed circle. We are part of…

  • A Job for One Day, A Longing for More

    —

    by

    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.…

  • Make Australia Nate Again

    —

    by

    Peter
    in ,

    A nod to the local bloke who ran for a seat that doesn’t exist Nate Newell, local mechanic and owner of Star Garage, made headlines this week—not for a scandal, not for a policy gaffe, but for throwing his hat in the ring for a federal seat that technically doesn’t exist. That seat? Mona Vale…

  • The Slow Productivity of the Morning

    —

    by

    Peter
    in ,

    There is a kind of productivity that moves fast —urgent, noisy, tangled in a web of demands.And then there is another kind:the slow, deep work of becoming.I find it most clearly in the morning. The house is still.The animals are fed.The world has not yet begun to press its needs against me.In those early hours,…

  • What I Can’t Stop Writing About

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    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?

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    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…

  • The Weight of Staying Silent

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    I’ve built much of my life on being reliable. Loyal. Dutiful. Self-sacrificing. These are strengths I’ve cultivated with care—virtues I’ve leaned on to be the kind of person others can count on. I take my responsibilities seriously. I honour commitments. I do what’s asked of me. And I like the respect that comes with that.…

  • On What Makes Me Nervous

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    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…