We did a little trip to Kurri Kurri (about 100km north of Hornsby) and surrounds last month not long before we went into lockdown. Funny, how that feels like a million years ago now. I think one of the hardest things about life in a pandemic is that it deprives us of that ability to plan for the future without second guessing ourselves. But why is it that we are always thinking of the future or reflecting on our past, rather than being spontaneous and enjoying the present?
Years ago, I read Eckhart Tolle’s 'The Power of Now’. I became conscious of how important it was to be present in the moment. To live life now, rather than waiting. Waiting for the weekend. Waiting to retire. Waiting for that windfall. Waiting for lockdown to end. Waiting to leave home. Waiting.
In this new Sydney normal, perhaps we have to be better at grasping whatever opportunities there are within a 10km radius and continue to enjoy life. While Kurri Kurri is a little further than that, in a continent that is as big as Australia, this still feels like my backyard, when we are not in lockdown. Our friends in the area told us to check out the murals. It was fun walking around this outdoor museum and learning about it’s European history. But this was once the Traditional Country of the Wanaruah people and the word Kurri Kurro comes from a Wanaruah word meaning "beginning, the very first”. This was the first time I went around and took some images here. I hope they inspire you to discover something new in your neighbourhood too.
“Stress is caused by being “here” but wanting to be “there,” or being in the present but wanting to be in the future.”
~Ekhart Tolle