It’s been a lazy weekend. I am resting before I return to work tomorrow. Any more rest and I’d be asleep. Hold on, I have been asleep for a good portion of this past week.

Here are some blogs of note that have been written while I’ve been sleeping. This is a bit of a community service edition of blogs of note. There are some really important messages in the blogs I’ve noted. I really encourage you to visit them.

Think Tasmania

My Dad has become a blogger! Sort of. He is now a contributor to Think Tasmania – a website dedicated to Tasmanian life and tourism.

My parents are regular visitors to Tasmania and will retire there. Dad has plenty of stories of their travel and food to write about – he is a very gifted writer. It has been great to read about my parents’ holiday adventures.

Read my Dad’s articles to date here and here.

Speak – from Under the Yardarm

Something has been going on in my life recently that I can’t find words to write about. It’s not my story to tell. It’s heartbreaking, worrying, and has taught me what despair and unconditional love means. I know how important it is to speak and listen to someone in need.

Naomi from Under the Yardarm has written a piece so beautiful that I had to share.

Here is an excerpt from Speak:

“I told him that so many men kill themselves because they think it’s not alright to admit they are not OK. That it can be so hard to admit you are depressed. But that all you have to do is reach out to someone. Family, friend, teacher, doctor. Speak.”

If there is a piece I’d wish I’d written, it’s this one. Thank you Naomi for writing what I’ve not been able to. I really urge you to read Speak and share it with those important to you.

James’s World

This young man, James, is amazing! He was one of the young people I mentored at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne. James is an enthusiastic activist and he is fast becoming a very influential person in the chronic illness community. He has incredible perspective about his own illness too. I am incredibly proud of him.

James has a dream to bring social networking to the RCH, and his blog details his journey to achieve this, plus information about his illness.

You may recall this funny story I wrote earlier this year.

There was a presentation of awards and they farewelled me during it. One young person made a little speech about the time I was concerned about his broken foot on camp in January 2009.

He was walking down the corridor, looking worn out and red. I asked him if he was ok and added ‘you’re a bit red’.

‘Hypocrite!’, he exclaimed!

Funniest. Moment. Ever. We laughed and laughed at that moment, and continue to today.

I paid him back this camp: he and I went to the kitchen to get milk for supper. As he reached in the fridge to get the milk, I put on his Woody from Toy Story mask, and when he turned around, he jumped so much! Very funny!

That was James. 🙂 James represents why I love helping people through my participation in the disability and chronic illness community. Not only can I impart my experiences, but I learn so much too.

 Whatever you wear tomorrow, make it RED for Daniel

Last night the terrible news came that a man has been charged with the murder of 13 year old Daniel Morcombe, who went missing on the Sunshine Coast in QLD in 2003. Nikki from Styling You is encouraging us to wear red for Daniel tomorrow.

 Nikki writes:

“[Daniel] was wearing a red t-shirt the day he was last seen waiting for a bus under the over-pass of a very busy road.  Heading to our region’s major shopping centre to buy Christmas presents. The red t-shirt has become the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s symbol.”

You can donate to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation which promotes child safety and teaches children about ‘stranger danger’.