Dying in Mississippi

In a recent read, the question was posed: "Where do you call home?" .... and instead of it being the place you were born, the author considered it more the place you want to die. Hmm...I don't often think about dying, so that was a bit difficult for me to immediately answer. However, after musing on it for several days, alas....I am confident that Mississippi is my home. At least for now; most likely in some respects, forever.

As my cousin's Facebook page proudly displays:

"Growing up Southern is a privilege. It's more than where you're born, it's an idea, a state of mind that seems imparted at birth. It's more than loving fried chicken, sweet tea, baseball, bibles, and country music. It's being devoted to screen porches, magnolias, coca-cola, and each other. We don't become Southern, we're BORN that way."

Despite the soaring heat and the humidity, I love being home now. I am so lucky that coming home each and every time still feels like the first time (at least for me, not for everyone who is now 'over' my comings and goings) and the excitement is always there.

In true fashion, I was welcomed this time with a remarkable Mississippi summer -- hot as hell! The moment I stepped off the plane, to even be able to catch my breath, I was forced to inhale deeply to compensate for the invisible bucket of humidity that floated in the air. That, on top of the soaring temperatures, made for a rude awakening home. It's all quite ridiculous really and certainly a factor I consider as I am actively thinking 'where I want to live' (Do I really want to live in a cauldron?).

I immediately relate the heat to increasing global warming, siting the fact that it was never this hot when I was a child & point out the same to my mother as she thinks back on her childhood two generations ago. Also, in true fashion of the South,  I was immediately shot down for being the 'green hippie' : "No way! I don't believe in global warming", I was told. (what the?!)

Anyways, aside from the weather, home has been fantastic. I arrived at the height of the garden so nutrition has been the least of my concern (which is often a worry in this fat laden state). Daily consumption of our tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelons and berries -- not to mention fresh pesto, creative basil concoctions, plus okra, peppers & the like have satisfied me to no end. Somehow Southern summers always pair good food with good friends in a we're-so-hot-so-we're-just-going-to-sit-here-sort of way, so enjoying porch sitting, cooking out and just sitting around talking has comprised most of my days. It's been great! and as per usual, I already hate to think about leaving again soon. .....

What I Ate Tonight...

Heirloom Tomatoes with Fresh Peaches, Goats Cheese and Pecans.

And it was oh so good....so good that I'm actually blogging about it!

Awesome.

Find the recipe here!

I'm in Love.

There is nothing better in the whole wide world than sweet puppy dog kisses. The Holcombe's officially have acquired two more -- Onyx & Sampson -- and I couldn't have had a better welcome home gift! Officially I'm now in love. (again)

My Next Latest Initiative: Domestic Violence Shout Out

After living in such tight knit communities and witnessing first-hand the atrocious domestic violence cycle that most of my patients were in, I was beyond motivated to bring attention to the subject. I knew no better way than to send it to the media, as well as International and National bodies for Indigenous Affairs.
Here is the short list who heard from me:
UN Human Rights Committee
Australian Council of Social Service
Aboriginal Social Services/Affairs
Australian Human Rights Committee
Aboriginal Families Support Services
National Aboriginal Committee for Community Controlled Health Organizations
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs,
plus a couple of magazines and newspapers.

I guess in this instance, I way over used my freedom of speech, but I hope I'm at least heard!

You can read the whole document here.



 

Starving Children in Remote Australia

This might give some perspective on where I've been living/working....

Read this!

Leaving? Coming? Home Again

My bags are packed and my provisions are loaded. I am now to the end of my remote Aussie adventure. In 5 short hours, I will board my 4^th trans-Pacific flight this year, which will ultimately be the last to take me away from the country that has become my second home. Since 2005, as a very naïve Graduate student and now as a Remote Area Nurse, I have spent about 3.5 years in this place. Which, given my transient record, is quite a feat in SJH’s world. I feel very comfortable and confident now in all things Aussie -- the land, people, culture and place & I dearly hate to go. However, I leave with a huge smile, even if ultimately I have no idea when I will return. I am smiling because after saying for so long that I wanted to work in Aboriginal communities, I can finally chalk the experience up as on of the greatest in my life thus far. And so, on this balmy Darwin evening, I sit here now reflecting on what the last 10 months of being in remote Australia has meant.

It’s meant that I ….

1. am comfortable with silence
2. and have grown to love terrible coffee!
3. have experienced a kick-ass sunset (if not also sunrise) every day
4. and have been profoundly educated on a culture far different from my own
5. have often been one of only a few ‘whitefellas’ anywhere within a six hour radius
6. and have seen massive amounts of desolate landscapes, only the scrub and the cattle to account for
7. witnessed births and deaths and violence and tears … and been solely responsible for rectifying each
8. understand even more so how precious a letter or package addressed to me actually can be
9. am accustomed to living with the basics, eating very blandly and being extremely happy for the small things
10. was blessed to get to share 6 weeks of it with my sister when she came over for a medical rotation. Aside from her, I’m pretty confident that no one will really understand this job and what I’ve been doing this year
11. am a better person for having to deal so intimately with a people and place where I am the outsider & the ‘whitefella’ which embodies so much negative history
12. will forever smile when I think of special people who have generously taken me under their wing to teach me about their culture and their land…and gently directed me when I made my mistakes
13. am extremely comfortable with my own company
14. have achieved my goal of working here, affording me to not have to work for the rest of the year
15. have been able to visit lots of friends and new places, such as the Great Barrier Reef with my sister, Devils Marbles and Brent & Paul’s hobbit home
16. have a deep respect for the community members who have made a positive life for themselves despite the odds
17. have grown tremendously as a clinician, having now been thoroughly exposed to all things tropical medicine across the entire life spectrum
18. trust myself and know my boundaries when it comes to what I am capable of and what I need
19. feel a bit slack on creating videos and slideshows and posting snapshots and such. No matter my desire to share my experience, I don’t feel like I maintained my steam.
20. have met some really incredible people, notably being Peter, Prue, Dallas, Emma, Sonia, Mat and Martin. I think I have gained lifelong friends from many, if not all, of these people… 
21. am a stronger, more resilient, less sheltered human being. I have been exposed to an incredible amount of ‘new’ that has filtered through me and left it’s mark. Forever, I have been touched by this land and these people

Aboriginal Australia from Stephanie Holcombe on Vimeo.

Made For Goodness

Made for Goodness

Desmond Tutu & Mpho Tutu

In preparation for the Fall voyage with this man, I thought it only appropriate that I read his latest book. This way I can be geared up to ask him why he doesn’t support condoms in a country that has one of the highest rates of HIV than anywhere in the world (this, I’m quite confident, will probably be one of the first things out of my mouth to him, regardless of how I realize it might not be the best ice-breaker…)

It’s a good book, don’t get me wrong…just a bit too Christian focused for my tastes. It’s a very positive portrayal of the true nature of humans: goodness. And, for a man who was the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee after South Africa’s apartheid, this is quite a profound conviction that he has. I can’t say that I disagree with him, I just have not witnessed near the amount of evil he has, hence my opinion comes from quite a safer place…

Ubuntu recognizes the interconnectedness of life. My humanity, we say, is bound up with your humanity. One consequence of ubuntu is that we recognize that we all need to live our lives in ways that ensure that others may live well. Our flourishing should enhance the lives of others, not detract from them.  P. 47

What does it mean to be at home in our own lives? Ideally, our physical homes are the places where we shed all striving and pretense. They are the places where no artifice is required in our self-presentation. Being at home in our own lives is a kindred experience. When we are at home in our lives, thought and action are all of a piece.  P. 53

I often say that God would rather we go freely to hell than that we be compelled to enter heaven. P. 67

Life is more than breath and a heartbeat; meaning and purpose are the life of life. P. 75

We help people to construct a life that they can inhabit from the mosaic tiles of their experience. P. 75

In the Bible, depravity does not enter creation in a tidal wave of wrongness. It comes in as a slow, silent leak, drip by quiet drip, until the earth is flooded. P. 89

The practices of goodness—noticing, savoring, thinking, enjoying, and being thankful—are not hard disciplines to learn. But they are disciplines, and they take practice. P. 92

Sometimes things are not right of wrong; they just are! P. 149

We can choose goodness no matter the circumstances. We can always ask, “What is the answer my best self would give? What is the action my best self would take?” p. 190