Growing towards 2017
4change coaching will be moving from Studio 309/10 as of January 1st, 2017. Adventures await as we settle into Studio 4.09 on fourth floor as a base and also spend more time in our lounge studio at the Pullenvale Red House (for those of you who have transport). I will continue providing counselling and supervision to our community at a discounted price.
Sitting at my desk, looking out at the green, I contemplate the growth of trees, of shrubs, of seedlings, of flowers...and the conditions required to keep them thriving. If I miss watering the new seedlings they begin to droop and if I leave them alone for too long they die. And then I am thinking about how this applies to us. Do we attend to our needs in a way that keeps us thriving? Perhaps that is the very thing that we could concentrate on as we move into 2017, The Year of Thriving. UN calls it the year of Sustainable Tourism for Development:
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has approved the adoption of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. recogniz[ing] the importance of international tourism, and particularly of the designation of an international year of sustainable tourism for development, in fostering better understanding among peoples everywhere, in leading to a greater awareness of the rich heritage of various civilizations and in bringing about a better appreciation of the inherent values of different cultures, thereby contributing to the strengthening of peace in the world.
http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2015-12-07/united-nations-declares-2017-international-year-sustainable-tourism-develop
I like "fostering a better understanding among peoples everywhere", a terrific beginning to our new year here at home. As we move into our "soon to be most creative year yet" lets keep in mind the inherent values in all cultures that make up our community. I know that Niz Jabour returns to Brisbane to develop his project "Rain" as part of Queensland Theatre Independent Residency. A few years ago he developed an aspect of it at La Boite. He kept developing it in Iraq and now has returned to Brisbane after a few years away to grow a community project that will foster "better understanding among peoples everywhere".
There are also other terrific projects throughout Brisbane that are scheduled for next year, stories we often do not hear, stories of reconciliation, of longing, of the complexity of living in a multicultural community, the joy of living a rich and varied life. I look forward to all of these plays and experiences and urge us all to open our hearts just a little bit wider as we create a complex and loving community to counterbalance what is happening in the rest of the world right now.
Link to Queensland Theatre Season:
http://www.queenslandtheatre.com.au/Whats-on/2017
Link to Metro Arts:
Link to La Boite season:
Link to Brisbane Powerhouse: