By: Susan Joy
A delicious and tasty vegetable curry that the whole family will love. Dress it up with sliced hard boiled egg, spring onions, coriander leaves, fresh chilli and cashews. Yum yum!! Continue reading “Vegetable Curry”
Content Provision for Member Stations
By: Susan Joy
A delicious and tasty vegetable curry that the whole family will love. Dress it up with sliced hard boiled egg, spring onions, coriander leaves, fresh chilli and cashews. Yum yum!! Continue reading “Vegetable Curry”
By: Rachel Doherty
What started as a weight loss goal became a journey of self-care. 20kg later, and its not just my body that’s changed, but my whole life! Continue reading “Making Self-Care Work: 10 Things You Can Do Right Now”
By: Duncan Robinson
Late on a Friday night a few of weeks ago, I read of Anthony Bourdain’s passing. I was gutted. I spent days wanting to pen something to explain the feelings of depression. Trying to figure out a clear description for the cloud, the weight, the grind, the sadness and the isolation.
How do you explain easily how a man who is brilliant, talented and gifted finds himself at a place that death feels like the one and reasonable option. I just don’t think you can.
My connection with Anthony is non-existent. We both do Jiu Jitsu, and love food. I was a big fan of no reservations. It felt like the first non-bs food series I’d ever seen and I loved it.
I have even less of a connection with Kate Spade, although I’ve given my wife a Kate Spade bag, an epic, great, gorgeous handbag, that makes me smile every time I see it.
I remember reading a bio on Anthony and thinking this guy has had a hard life, but to find himself where he is now, is a real testimony to his character and strength of resolve. When I learn of his relationship with Asia Argento, I thought here are two people coming from a broken and tumultuous past who have found love, purpose and hope.
Asia’s insta post was a real insight into the character of Anthony Bourdain, who for all intents and purposes was unanimously loved in the Jiu Jitsu community.
“Anthony gave all of himself in everything that he did. His brilliant, fearless spirit touched and inspires so many, and his generosity knew no bounds. He was my love, my rock, my protector. I am beyond devastated. My thoughts are with his family. I would ask that you respect their privacy and mine.”
So how does depression get you to this point?
Firstly celebrity doesn’t protect you from depression. It more than likely enhances it. If all you want to do is feel normal, happy and live a normal life, celebrity is going to stand in the way of that. Celebrity enhances isolation, separation and exclusion. There is a reason why celebrities have big houses in isolated communities with small groups of friends.
Secondly the entertainment industry is filled with relentless rejection. There is a constant reminder around every turn that something is lacking, something is missing, or you just aren’t right. All the interviews that I’ve conducted with semi-famous people only confirm that the experience of rejection is heightened the more famous you become.
Thirdly, depression could be chemical, spiritual or environmental. It could be a product of some of these, all of these, it could happen as a result of any combination at any time. There is no predicting when it might happen and how it might strike you.
In Australia there is roughly 65,000 attempts at suicide a year. The push up challenge #22KILL was a result of a campaign to highlight in the USA the 22 veteran suicides that happen every day.
I once heard suicide described as a bomb blast. It hurts the people closest to the detonation, with a gradual reduction in carnage the further away you move. It’s ugly, messy and unpredictable.
Each day roughly 10 people wake up and make the decision to take their own lives and successfully do it. Roughly 180 people wake up with the same motivation and fail. They won’t ever get the same media coverage as Anthony, Kate, Chris Cornell or the 28 other celebrities that have committed suicide in recent history.
RUOK is a great initiative. It’s Okay not to be Okay is a great initiative to be aware that people deal with this every single day.
Indulge me for a moment…
I work the best job, I’m a radio host and get to sit on a microphone and talk to thousands of people every morning. To a small select group of people in Australia I’m a F-Rated celebrity. I’m also reminded almost daily of how awesome my job is and how special it is to be in this position.
It doesn’t stop depression from affecting me. It doesn’t mean I don’t have days where I literally want to lie in bed, cry and do nothing. It doesn’t stop the feelings of melancholy from interrupting my awesome days. I have had weeks sitting in a fog, pretending to be happy and knowing inside I was really hurting.
Here’s what happened though.
The right people at the right time checked in on me…
My wife is a rockstar and I share with her regularly about how I’m tracking and I’m open with where I’m at mentally and what state I’m in. She knows the difference between cranky tired Duncan, and depressed miserable Duncan.
I was open with my colleagues about my struggle. They check in on me regularly and know the signs. My co-host Sam and my producer Ally are legends and I’m open with how I’m feeling.
I’m in an amazing Church community that checks in regularly and cares for me. It also requires that I be open and honest with how I’m feeling which requires the need to be vulnerable.
Depression drives you towards isolation, so I surround myself with community. People who remind me I’m LOVED, I have PURPOSE and I’m CHERISHED.
If we had known, we would have surrounded Anthony with Love. If we had known, we would have embrace Kate, or Robin Williams or Chris Cornell right!? The mother of Assumption is the great tragedy of the moment. The 22 soldiers daily would have been embraced with love, steering them away from a tragic decision….if we had know.
All this to say, there is a community of people around you right now. Not all of them are doing well, and very few feel like they have it all together. It’s winter, people feel the weight, take a moment and phone a friend and give them some encouragement and check in.
Depression doesn’t care about success or celebrity, it’s an indiscriminate witch. Check in on your strong friend, and remind them they matter and you care.
Article supplied with thanks to Duncan Robinson.
About the Author: Duncan Robinson is a radio host, pastor, husband and father of two.
By: Sabrina Peters
Adam and Eve could be the poster children for what NOT to do when you stuff up, but they’re not the only ones who’ve eaten a few apples of disobedience and missed the mark big time. Continue reading “What “Not” To Do When You Stuff Up”
By: Duncan Robinson
In a media saturated world there is a war for people’s attention. I’m in radio, it means that I have an audience that is not captive, they can change the radio station with a simple click of the button. Continue reading “Making Friends in Seven Seconds or Less”
By: Clare Bruce
It’s hard to deny that Christianity has contributed great good around the world, in the centuries since Jesus walked the earth. Continue reading “Facing the Worst Moments in Christianity: Sweeping New Film in Cinemas Now”
By: Tim Popadic
If you have children, you’re no stranger to the countless things that kids will ask of you – including the roles that they expect parents to play in their lives. Continue reading “Winning Your Kids’ Hearts Starts At Home”
By: Sabrina Peters
God is far more interested in who we are when no one’s looking, than the image we present to others. Character always trumps reputation. Our character is the sum of our values, our thoughts, our words and our actions. Continue reading “Build Your Character Not Your Reputation”
By: Akos Balogh
Many Christians feel we’re losing the ‘culture war’.
From SSM to euthanasia, the traditional Christian perspective has lost ground in much of mainstream society. We’re a minority. Continue reading “How Christians Can Go Beyond The ‘Culture War’”
By: Anne Rinaudo
Sensors in public spaces can help create cities that are both smart and sociable. Information from smart technology in public spaces could soon transform the way such areas are used and also managed. Continue reading “Smart Street Furniture Improves City Life”