Dreaming a living

Filmmaker and curious mind

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It’s often what happens in-between the ‘action’ that makes the experience of being at Errinundra camp memorable. One of them has definitely been the jaw-dropping meals we’ve been having. Over 60 people have come through camp in the last five weeks. New connections, friendships and stories shared around the campfire. Ok, and one or two shots as well. #goodtimes #blockading #saveerrinundra #visiterrinundracamp https://www.instagram.com/p/CMOetyaH_tf/?igshid=iqiez2u7jz1k

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~ WINDBLOWN ~ Up in the tree, there was wind, rain, and on the third day, a hail storm. I thought I was a sailor in the middle of a storm, holding tight as the ship got stirred side by side by the gusts of wind. This is what sailors must feel, I thought, without anywhere to go, without escape other than pushing through the storm. So I kept holding, and I screamed for what seemed an eternity. But the storm slowed down, then I laid on the mat and tried to distract myself with a podcast in my ears. I laughed at something I heard, and I laughed hard. That was it! For a moment, just briefly, I was completely free. The weight disappeared. The fear was gone. And from then on, I was able to sit on the tree until the end of the days. Or as it would happen until the cops would take me down. That's what sailors must do, accept the fate of their life through storms and high seas. And that's what I did, up in the tree. (at Errinundra) https://www.instagram.com/p/CL-sKhLnLtg/?igshid=vxsh8wgx7r00

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It still strikes me every time, even after six months of living here. I step out at night, usually to wee in the bushes out front, and there it is, strikingly bright, the clear starry night. It envelopes me in the mantel of the universe warmth, that one we feel when witnessing the immensity of the stars and planets we share this time with. It tells me it is ok, you are part of it all. And I’m aware of the privilege that my city past has neglected for most of my life: an unpolluted night’s sky is one of the gifts of this remote little valley. I ended in a small loft, open, not tied up. Small, not constrained. Unfolding, not perfected. There is humility in living in unfinished quarters, the curtains tell. Convenience has put me to to the test here, evaluated. Witnessing the night’s sky brings me back at peace for those things that I think I lack of—every time. 📷 New moon 23/07/20 https://www.instagram.com/p/CE3oSC3nYbK/?igshid=4zuli2qo3e9u

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~ PRIVILEGED ~ I’m privileged because I am where I am due to the decisions that I’ve made. I quit my job over a year ago, and since then I’ve been traveling on a campervan. It was a dream of mine to own a van and travel without a return date. I’m privileged also because I was able to make a living while on the road. I have skills that allow me to work a bit and stretch the money a lot. I’m privileged to have these skills because over a decade ago I was able to quit another job and go on another journey that became the school where I learnt the skills I have now. But if I have been so privileged in the first place is because first of all, I was born in a family that loved and nurtured me in the best possible way; they gave me the freedom to make the decisions I considered the best for me and the support to fall back to when the outcomes weren’t the expected. Unlike other working families in Spain, my parents never owned their house. The most expensive item they always owned was the car. Instead though, they always preferred to use they’re hard-earned savings on going on adventures with me: overseas trips in summer, skiing in the winter, enjoying mountain restaurants on the weekend, and the gift of higher education for me, something neither of them had, but nonetheless wished they had. Reflecting on it now, I’m of the opinion that I find myself in this position thanks to the values my parents instilled and the sacrifices they made for me. I sometimes feel guilty and I wonder what have I done to deserve this freedom. What I can say for the moment is thank you to my parents and to all the parents out there making sacrifices for their children right now and always. I hope I can put my privilege to some good use in the days, weeks and months to come, so I can give back some of that hard-work in a positive and fruitful way. By the way, I was able to buy my van in part thanks to the little money my dad left me when he passed away. He had spent the rest of it enjoying his freedom while he was alive, of course. Gràcies pares! Us estimo! https://www.instagram.com/p/B-lslfWn3Uy/?igshid=73i2ygktbx6q

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‘Reduced to myself alone, I feed, it is true, on my own substance, but it does not run out...’ writes Rousseau in the Reveries. . . . . . #covid19 #solitude #murray #river #consolationsoftheforest https://www.instagram.com/p/B-eaxkVnDvP/?igshid=1oyuqt8osbiw2

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When I arrived to Australia, people started to ask me if I was ‘busy'. Obviously, I quickly learnt that saying ‘no’ was looked down upon, as if you weren’t working hard enough or good enough to be able to fill your available time with work. Now, when someone asks me if I’m busy, I say ‘no’, and I subsequently add that I don’t intend to be. That I much prefer having time to wander around with Kalu or Georgie, engage in unplanned conversations, or to sit in a cafe instead of ordering to take away, and stay there until I just feel not staying there any longer. I like how somedays I look at my watch for the first time and it’s already past noon. Traveling in a van has helped me see work this way, and despite I don’t see myself living this way permanently, I’m scratching to find the way of living where 'work’ can mean not to be busy, but to simply enjoy my time as I see fit. https://www.instagram.com/p/B4HAVXbHGOv/?igshid=sriqz70jxyy5

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As the saying goes, when the sun rises, it rises for everyone. But despite how inspirational those words pretend to be, we know when talking about living, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In Avoca, in NSW’s Central Coast, the residents of the formerly small fishermen community with spectacular cliff tops and incredible sunrises, are lucky to call it their home. The current combination of young professionals that have moved in the last few years with the old time residents have changed the demographics of this tranquil and bush surrounded locality, with an increase of 30% in the last three years. With an average income per household of $1,837 per week (28% above the Australian average), Avoca and Copacabana is composed of mainly Anglo ethnic ancestry (77%), with just 24 residents that identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. It’s composition is a combination of young families of professionals that have moved to the area and the old-time residents, who see this tranquil cut-de-sac with a few shops and restaurants and mostly known faces around as a piece of paradise on Earth. However, from the 41.8% of people that own their house with a mortgage, 8.3% of those are doing so in a situation of mortgage stress, meaning their repayments are 30% or more of their total household income. In terms of rent, 10.7% of the 22.8% people that do so in Copacabana and Avoca Beach live equally in rental stress. What do you think of these stats? What other info would be relevant to you? . . . . . . . . #avoca #copacabana #central coast #nsw #housing #crisis #realestate #sunriseseries #cliff #sunrise #drone #video #housingaffordability #housingcrisis #rentstress #mortgagestress #living #australiandream (at Avoca Beach, New South Wales, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByyxHiNHk1H/?igshid=1l6zaz7x8ikkm

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It rains. It doesn’t stop for three full days, but it is welcomed out here. The wood heater doesn’t stop either. Gladly, a pile of red box from a standing dead tree is feeding it, keeping us warm. I am taught. Chopping wood with an axe and a chain saw. We change the oil of my van. It’s the best season for mushrooms, so we head out during the few breaks the rain gift us and pluck them from the earth, shaking the spores so they can re-grow again next year. We cook. There’s wild venison in the freezer. Deer are a pest in Australia. They change our forests. Hunters come here sometimes because Glenn was a butcher. They share the meat. I do not eat meat but I do want to eat this meat. We share. Life here is solitary, so neighbours become friends. We eat mushrooms. We party. We watch the bikes on tv. . . . . #Goongerah #EastGippsland #Australia #naturelovers #hermit #isolation #deer #mushroom #DreamingAustralia #selfreliance #selfsufficient #foresthouse #forestliving #fog #winterscape #manualskills #rainforest #futurehouse #Victoria #solitary #resilience #housegoals (at Snowy River) https://www.instagram.com/p/BylgYM5nR9p/?igshid=128u8sobprtvb

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“I hope that one day I will wake up, look in the mirror and see nothing”, John hopes. As he does with a smile, John takes care of a dysfunctional clientele: drug addiction, mental health, a bureaucratic system that stigmatises and buries people with difficulties with complicated application forms and government jargon. Refugees of a broken system, the people that live in this boarding house are often referred by community providers as a temporary solution for accommodation. He has lived there for the last six years. Coming to the front so I can take his portrait, John first combs his hair, arguing that he never looks good in photos. However, he accepts and poses with a proud and dignified stance, without any of my guidance, chin up and sight to the horizon, right where the buildings and the sky collide in this melting pot of Kings Cross, in Sydney. “I will come visit in a few weeks", I say as I’m already leaving. “I might be already death”, he muster with a smile. As I’m leaving, a question that has always intrigued me pops again in my head for Jonh: how do you find peace with death? (2/2) . . . . . . . . . . . . #DreamingAustralia #australia #sydney #kingscross #boardinghouses #australia_oz #australians #oldage #passing #homelessness #australianhistory #housingaffordability #housingcrisis #mentalhealth #elderly #australianhistory #mentalhealth #death #debtfreegoals #debtfreedom (at King's Cross) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByRwQOgH-tR/?igshid=mpvcfayvm2gt