Last night the residents of IHH watched the first episode of the First Australians documentary on SBS.

It has stimulated some interesting discussions around the house and I'd be interested to hear how the documentary was received...

Here's what I'm curious about:
1. How many people watched it?
2. Was the audience people who were already interested in indigenous issues, or did it reach a wider audience?


I think the film was both entertaining and informative... And I think that acknowledging history and validating how people feel about the past (for example Marcia Langton's evident and understandable anger) is an important step towards reconciliation and healing.

I do have a fear though... that if the next steps aren't taken towards "what's next" or "how do we move forward from here", that First Australians may be left feeling angry and white Australians are left feeling guilty.

So, my hope is that the next two episodes will move beyond an acknowledement and validation and give some insight into how we move forward together.

Peace,
Renee

Episode 1 is available to watch for free on the SBS website at http://www.sbs.com.au/firstaustralians/

I thought it was a great documentary too. Not least because of the discussions that it's triggered with other people who saw it.

My reaction in terms of an overall lesson was that two things really came out:

1. The real wedges driven between the 1st and 2nd peoples' cultures were due to angry or fearful emotional reactions, resulting in strategic mistakes.

E.g. The reaction of Gov Philip to the killing of his murderous gamesman was a grave mistake. Likewise the reaction of the Waradjuri leader Windradyne to the killing of his family was also a grave tactical error.

2. When reacting, the British response tended to be far more aggressive, often featuring indiscriminate brutality. The Indigenous response tended to be more humane, targeting for the most part perpetrators and property.


These two lessons are notable for their resonance with more recent events in international affairs. The attack on the twin towers, for example, might be seen in some ways as parallel to the killing of the gamesman. What was the USA's response? Escalation. What did that achieve? Nothing but more bloodshed and hatred.


Another thing that the documentary drew my attention to was the anger of the indigenous leaders and academics who were interviewed. They displayed their anger by taking strongly cynical views of British motives, sometimes even flying in the face of what evidence is available (e.g. the "germ warfare" hypothesis).

It was interesting to see this anger in the context of the story being told. I think it is clear why Indigenous people feel so angry about their lands being taken from them, and their culture destroyed. But I was moved to ask: what does that anger achieve? Does it make the audience feel sympathetic or antipathetic?

Like Renee, I hope that there are some more positive message that come through this series in the end.

There were a couple of references from one academic who did not identify as indigenous, saying things like, "This is the longest continuous culture in the history of the world, and we are kidding ourselves if we think there's nothing we can learn from it."

Yes, I agree! And surely this series is a great oppourtunity to give us some beneficial and positive information.

OK, some more useful thoughts.

I liked the languages map at the start. We have it at our place, but I wonder how many peopel have seen it.

I liked hearing some more individual stories, especially about people like Pamulwuy. You get a sense of characters (the fiery hotheads, the gentle ones, the wily negotiators) rather than an undifferentiated mass of 'natives' and Governor Phillip as the stand out individual. And the variety of ways of relating that were possible. I didn't know that anyone had taken the time to learn and record some language at that early stage, and I think it makes a difference that the impetus was a relational one, not as a more academic field of study.

We had an interesting chat in the house after the show about anger! How do we respond to hearing anger? When and for who is it helpful to express anger? When is it helpful to appeal to the 'head', and when do we primarily want to convey emotion? I think it depends on context - who is listening? Who is watching SBS on Sunday nights?

Interested in oher people's ideas!

Studies have shown it takes a physician about 18 seconds to interrupt a patient after he begins talking.

It was Sunday. I had one last patient to see. I approached her room in a hurry and stood at the doorway. She was an older woman, wow power leveling, sitting at the edge of the bed, struggling to put socks on her swollen feet. I crossed the threshold, spoke quickly to the nurse, scanned her chart noting she was in stable condition. I was almost in the clear.

I leaned on the bedrail looking down at her. She asked if I could help put on her socks. Instead, I launched into a monologue that went something like this: "How are you feeling? Your sugars and blood pressure were high but they're better today. The nurse mentioned you're anxious to see your son who's visiting you today. It's nice to have family visit from far away. I bet you really look forward to seeing him."

She stopped me with a stern, authoritative voice. "Sit down, doctor. This is my story, not your story."

I World of warcraft Power Leveling, was surprised and embarrassed. I sat down. I helped her with the socks. She began to tell me that her only son lived around the corner from her, wow gold, but she had not seen him in five years. She believed that the stress of this contributed greatly to her health problems. After hearing her story and putting on her socks, I asked if there was anything else I could do for her. She shook her head no and smiled. All she wanted me to do was to listen.

Each story is different. Some are detailed; others are vague. Some have a beginning, middle and end. Others wander without a clear conclusion. Some are true; others not. Yet all those things do not really matter. What matters to the storyteller is that the story is heard — without interruption, assumption or judgment.

Listening to someone's story costs less than expensive diagnostic testing but is key to healing and diagnosis.

I World of warcraft gold, often thought of what that woman taught me, and I reminded myself of the importance of stopping, sitting down and truly listening. And, not long after, in an unexpected twist, I became the patient, with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis at age 31. Now, 20 years later, I sit all the time — in a wheelchair.

For as long as I could, I continued to see patients from my chair, but I had to resign when my hands were affected. I still teach med students and other health care professionals, but now from the perspective of physician and patient.

I tell them I believe in the power of listening. I tell them I know firsthand that immeasurable healing takes place within me when someone stops, sits down and listens to my story.

I believe listening is powerful Medicine

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I'd be twins!" He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. wow gold, Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don' t get it. You can' t be positive all the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied, each morning I wake up and say to myself 'Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right. It isn't that easy." I protested.

"Yes it is, " Michael said. "Life is all about choices. wotlk gold, When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line is: It's your choice how you live life. " I reflected on what Michael said.

Soon thereafter, I left the big enterprise that I had worked in for years to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often though about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling off 60 feet from a communications tower.

After l8 hours of surgery, and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my soon-to-born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, remembered I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live." wow gold, "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued, "... the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the operation room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, l read 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me" said Michael. "She asked me if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I said. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled", 'Gravity'" Over their laughter, I told them, 'I'm choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day we have a choice to live fully. Attitude is everything.
Life is about choices

Last week I talked about why a strong web site is crucial to your business. Today I’m going to talk about five components your web site needs and why you need them. Bear in mind, however, that these five aren’t the only components you need. At the end of the article, I’ll mention a couple of other things you may want to include. Now, you can’t just slap these components on a web site and have something great. You’ll still need some solid graphic design, good usability and ease of navigation, plus you definitely want to make sure your design, copy, and code are developed using principles of search engine optimization. With those cautionary notes aside, let’s dive in to the five components you need for a successful web site.
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1. Opt-In Box

If you’re not capturing your visitor’s details with an opt-in box, you’re missing one of the greatest marketing tools available online today. An opt-in box is a place where people enter their name and e-mail address (or just their e-mail address, but I’ve found it’s useful to have more information), and then they subscribe to your e-mail newsletter or e-zine (pronounced “EE-zeen”). You can start building a relationship with your subscribers with regular, useful contact (defining “regular, useful contact” is a separate article in and of itself).
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2. Who you are

Generally speaking, if you’re selling either a product or a service, you’ll want your customers or clients to trust you. Part of building trust is sharing a bit about you and how your company got started.

3. What you do

Obviously, if you want to sell your products or services, you’ll need to talk about them. This is where good marketing copywriting comes in handy. If you’re not good at writing marketing copy that converts visitors into buyers, hire someone who knows how to do it well. Investing in good copywriting can make all the difference.
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4. Sticky content

Sticky content refers to any content on your web site that attracts people and keeps them there, kind of like flypaper. Consider your blog, articles, audio and videos, and other resources, to be the flypaper that keeps visitors “stuck” to your site. The longer they stay at your site, the more likely they are to convert into buyers. There is, however, a point where your content will hit critical mass and can be too sticky. If you give too much away, your potential buyers won’t need to buy. They’ll settle for the freebies and never convert into sales.

5. Contact Information

Potential clients and customers will want to know how to contact you for several reasons. If they can contact you, they can buy from you with the assurance that if they experience any troubles with the product, they’ll be able to ask questions or process returns easily. Also, they can ask you questions before they buy. There’s a long list of other reasons customers and clients may want to contact you, and they’ll feel safer buying if they can contact you easily. So provide at least phone and e-mail, and if you can, provide a physical address as well. If you work from home, don’t post your home address. Instead, get a P.O. box or a box at the UPS Store and post that instead.
If you’re selling products or services online, in addition to these five components, you’ll do well to invest in a shopping cart system and a payment processing system. Forcing potential buyers to contact you to get purchasing information ensures that those buyers will go elsewhere most of the time. We live in a high-demand, instant gratification world. If someone is shopping in the middle of the night or on a Sunday and they want what you have to offer but they can’t get it when they want it, they’ll buy it from someone else who can deliver instantaneously. Don’t give your potential buyers a reason not to buy from you.
So how do you implement all this stuff? How do you get a web site with these components, plus good design, good usability, and strong SEO? Next week, I’ll talk about how to hire a web firm to design your site. I’ll tell you how to educate yourself so you know enough to ask the right questions and know when you’re getting the right answers, how to balance value and price, and what red flags to watch out for.