African Hearts

Story Bridge, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - © Noela Cowell 2019

It’s been some time since I wrote a blog. In fact, it’s been three years. A lot has happened for me during the three years and I just want to share with you what I have been doing. I have moved house twice. Yes, I am still living a fluid lifestyle, allowing the wind to blow me around like a dandelion flower seed.

I moved to the gorgeous country town of Maleny, where I worked for an accountant, and wrote and learned to paint on the weekends. Unfortunately, I felt extremely isolated in that environment. I missed the city buzz. A lot of people can’t believe I left the country to return to the city. Everyone has their special place.

I came to Brisbane, right in the middle of the city. Immediately, I felt as if I had come home. I worked for an accountant again for a year and then realised I needed to get back to my writing. Since writing Kate’s choice I felt as though I was blocked creatively. I have been called to write, that’s a no-brainer, but doors opened for my technical skills, helping other writers revise and edit their writing for ebooks. So I started my coaching and editing business to dovetail with writing fiction.

This decision has unblocked the creative juices and I am again back to writing. These two years have involved a lot of soul searching and digging deep to find the person I am. There were times when I was lost, alone and confused. Why was I in this position? I was undergoing transformation and I didn’t know it. All I knew was that I was lost, and unsure of where to turn to next. I have come through the fire and have renewed enthusiasm and commitment for my future writing life.

So what’s next? I am settled, for the moment, here in the heart of Brisbane, until the wind picks up and wants to take me elsewhere. This stability for the moment means I am writing the sequel to African Hearts and I am loving it. This is Justin and Kizza’s story. They are off to university to study medicine so they can return to Gumboli and help Kam in the hospital. Living in Australia in Gold Coast in Aunt Gina’s apartment is not easy for them. They are tempted by the fun and easy lifestyle of the Gold Coast. Will they be able to handle the temptations put before them and the influences of the young people who have grown up in Australia? For those of you who have read African Hearts, you will be aware Justin and Kizza are orphans. Each of them struggle with their identity. Justin more than Kizza.

Our identity is important to us. Identity assures us of our existence, who our parents and grandparents are and where we got our hair colour, eye colour and body shape, what diseases run in our genes and the different parts of our character can be traced back to our forefathers. Identity is important to all of us.

Identity for Justin is important because his father was Marco, Gina’s brother who was of Italian descent. Marco married Ella who was German, so Justin’s identity is mixed up with Italian, German and Australian cultures. it’s no surprise Justin is confused about his heritage.

Identity for Kizza is different. She was born in Uganda of indigenous parents, so naturally her skin is dark. She was raised by elders of the village, Moses and Lulu, but who is Kizza really? What’s her identity? Who were her parents? Where did they live? Who were her grandparents? Kizza doesn’t know. She was raised in the culture of her parents, but still she has no identity as to who her parents were.

I’d like to refer to the movie, Lion, about the Indian boy who got separated from his brother and got on a train in the hope he would find his way home. Saroo was his name. This little boy, having grown up in a poor area of India had survival skills. He was lucky, he found his way to an orphanage and from there he was adopted by a couple in Melbourne where he lived with a loving family until adulthood. But Saroo knew he had another life, and he hungered to know where he came from. He spent twenty-five years searching, first for his mother. By searching in his free time with the help of Google maps he was able to finally reconnect with his mother. To date he is still searching for his father. Saroo is tenacious, he will find his father, I hope sooner rather than later.

Justin and Kizza’s parents are dead. How will they find out the important information about their genetic make up? The African Hearts sequel is about the search for identity. Are you comfortable with your identity, or are you searching for answers? Have you completed your search to find who you are? Did finding the answers help you to understand yourself? I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a message.

Gold Coast - sunny one day ...

During the past year I have been wondering about why I live on the Gold Coast. When I decided to buy a house I didn't have any clue where I wanted to live except the climate had to be warm. During the past twelve months I've been distracted with thoughts of why I chose to live in this area and I am so glad I live here.

As a service wife, I've lived in Sydney, Wollongong, Canberra, Wagga Wagga, Brisbane, Townsville, Canungra, USA, and as part of an around Australia trip, in Melbourne for several months. I didn't handle the cold weather too well. Just ask my family. So somewhere warm was number one on the list.

I wanted to be close to the beach and the rainforest. I visit these environments when I want to let the stress of my day drain away. I wanted to feel the energy of the city and its people who aren't afraid to live life their way and get on with it. I wanted a progressive city that looks to the future; Gold Coast is hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games and to me this means they are looking forward. I don't dig sport...at all, so sport wasn't one of the reasons why I live here.

I like the great eating places and tourist attractions that I love to share with family and friends  when they come to visit from out of town. There are also the great film and theatre productions and writers whom I like to meet with, talk writing, sip coffee and swap ideas.

There are long walks along lots of beaches and I've just discovered the Botanic Gardens is a great place to start my day with a morning walk, and a coffee of course. I'm never lost for anywhere to take time away from my writing and blow the cobwebs away.

These are just a few reasons why I live where I live.  I'd love to hear why you live where you live. Leave me a comment below.

Celebrating Christmas

Kate's Choice

Christmas is here in less than two days. Every year I think about where I've been during the year and where I might be headed in the coming year. I prefer to leave my goal planning for after Christmas though when all the reminiscing about the past year has settled down with family and friends. The Christmas celebration for me is the culmination of the year's activity and time to unwind and let it go.

As an ex-army spouse, Christmas was usually associated with posting time. We would pack up our home early in December and our belongings would be sent to our new posting and then into storage while we waited for our new home. So Christmas was usually spent with extended family or friends while we travelled to our new location. That's army life.

When my then husband left the service we celebrated Christmas at home. It was a lot of fun preparing by baking, buying presents and decorating the tree with my son. We had my sister and her family over for Christmas Day and had a great time reminiscing about the year behind us. Somehow, we never wanted to talk about the year ahead and that is probably why I don't think about the coming year until after Christmas. In the army days there was always the settling in to our new home to be done and learning as much as we could about our new location.

After eleven years of marriage, my characters in Kate's Choice, Kate and Dusty understand the stress separation puts on a marriage and how living away from family can leave a hole deep inside that feels as though it will never be filled. It can be especially difficult at this time of year when the soldiers are serving overseas. My first wedding anniversary and Christmas was spent alone in Brisbane. It was the first year I lived in the city and I found it difficult to make friends. I had to change a few things about myself in order for me to meet new people. I joined as many interest groups as I could and this helped immensely. From then every time we were posted, joining interest groups and looking for work were my priorities.

Kate and Dusty's Christmas after Dusty came back from Afghanistan was difficult. Both had much to deal with personally, and in their relationships. This is the fallout of army life and it puts so much strain on a marriage. If you are with a service family this year extend patience and grace toward them. If they exhibit unpleasant behaviour, it is because there is something deep inside them that they are battling and are not sure how to deal with it. Emotionally they could be fragile. Take the time to listen to them and hear what they are saying. They could be calling out for help. I have been in the pressure cooker and said and done things I wished I hadn't. It was a call for help that those around me understood and I am so glad they practised forgiveness toward me to help me get through that difficult time.

We all make mistakes. Sometimes all we need is a listening ear. Take the time and you might just make a friend or save a life.

Have a wonderful Christmas break wherever you are and whatever you are doing. See you the other side of Christmas. By the way, if you haven't already liked my Facebook page, click here: https://www.facebook.com/authorLauraOConnell/

Merry Christmas!

Migraine buster for 1 billion people

Debilitating migraine.

Along with 1 billion other people on this planet, I have suffered with migraine. This debilitating condition started when I was fourteen years old. One morning I walked to school as usual. A couple of seconds after I had placed my school bag in the port racks I started losing my peripheral vision. At first, I chose to ignore it thinking it would go away, but the brown squiggly shapes began to grow and they started to block out more and more of my vision until I could hardly see. At the same time the right side of my forehead started tensing, I felt nauseous and a tingling sensation was forming in my mouth. Within twenty minutes I had excruciating pain in my head, my tongue and the left hand side of my body were numb and the brown squiggles had turned to jagged shapes of black, red, blue and grey. What was happening to me?

The pain was so bad I couldn't stand up. My friends took me to the school sick bay and I stayed there all day with my head feeling as though it was going to explode. There was no way I wanted to live that day. I thought I was going to die. That night a doctor's visit confirmed I had migraine. He gave me an injection and I went home and slept for the next twelve hours. I awoke feeling washed out. It was as if someone or something had stolen my vitality. With another twenty-four hours of disturbed sleep, I woke feeling more like me.

This pattern of migraine occurred at erratic times and I was unable to isolate a trigger for them. When I was pregnant with my son, I had them every day from the fourteenth week of my pregnancy until he was born. That was definitely no fun. The gynecologist told me the migraine was triggered by hormones. If that was the case why didn't I get them the same time every month? Also, I could eat all the supposed foods that caused migraine and I didn't get one. There was no way I could find a reason for these debilitating headaches.

Last August, the migraines started coming every day, and some days I was having two a day. Writing just wasn't happening and I was ready to jump off the balcony of my fourth floor apartment. Life was no fun and if I was to continue living, something had to be done about these wretched headaches. I googled "Migraine Headaches". There were heaps of links to help in the USA. I wanted help on the Gold Coast. I persevered and finally found The Brisbane Migraine Clinic. I was elated and was ready to travel Brisbane.

It is now 21 October and I haven't had a migraine since 29 August. How incredibly amazing is that! I have my life back. My treatment started with lots of questions about my migraine history. Bertrand was thorough in his questioning and I felt confident he covered every aspect of my migraine before he started my treatment. He asked me to lie down and the first thing he did was bring on a migraine. Ouch!! But within minutes he also was, to my relief, able to turn it off. Bertrand was de-sensitizing my brain stem. There was no manipulation only pressure that created a migraine which he held for several seconds until the pain gradually disappeared. This treatment continued for about twenty minutes. It was painful, but manageable. Bertrand gave me homework. I had exercises to do four times a day. It took a while for me to get into the rhythm of doing them but a reminder on my iphone helped me remember. Thankfully, I travelled by train to Brisbane for my appointment. On the way home I got another migraine and continued to have them for the next few days until my next appointment.

Was this treatment working? Was I wasting my money? The guiding voice inside of me said keep going. I continued my exercises and my appointments twice a week for several weeks and as the migraines became less frequent so did my appointments. I am now attending Bertrand's clinic once every three weeks and I have been migraine free since 29 August.

What a life changer!

I am continuing with my exercises. I believe they are working. Even my tension headaches have disappeared. So now I can say I am no longer one of the 1 billion people who suffer with migraine.

How about you? Have you lost productive hours because of migraine? Have you lost leisure hours because of migraine? Have you suffered with migraine for too long?

QUT Helping Humanity

Our future is in safe hands! Last week, I travelled by train to Brisbane for a meeting. Catching trains is a fun way to refill my creative well. I talk with many people and it's interesting to hear their perspective on life. Although this trip was different. On the way home, I decided to sit quietly and eavesdrop on interesting conversations happening around me.

Two young people sat in the seats in front of me. They wore navy blue uniforms with silver safety stripes and Qld University of Technology and some other words I couldn't read monogrammed on their shirts. These young people spoke confidently about what they had learned that day; how they related to the other students; what knowledge they gained and how they might put that learning into practice in the future. They were paramedics in training: enthusiastic and keen to share ideas and discuss differing points of view.

We often hear some people saying our young people are wasting their lives or they don't have respect for their teachers or other adults. Yesterday, those young people reassured me they do care, not because they're hopeful of being employed in a high-paying job, or because the role has status, but because they truly believe, in their lifetime, they will be able to make a difference to people's lives and the world we live in.

For those people who seem to be losing their way, I hope, in time, you will be able to overcome the challenges in your life, find out who you are, and take hold of the opportunities in a positive way that may change your life forever.

Helping others is what life is about.

Thanks QUT and all other learning institutions for inspiring young Australians to be all they can be to make our world a better place.