The opportunity for us to be with the Quakers for a week provides a respite to focus on and find smoother pathways so that we may journey through life with more balance. With a journey, if things go wrong it becomes an adventure, however, if you become swamped by constant adventures your life becomes chaotic.

My two boys Darcy 13 and Dante 10 at Yearly Meeting in Melbourne enjoyed seeing the other people who they knew from last year’s meeting…  and the pool table. But this doesn’t capture how special it is to learn songs, play Lego, climb walls or just be with wonderful people. It’s like gravity; it’s hard to see the weight of change that is created. This occurs via small interactions and the small steps that are taken on that journey of the filling growth  towards adulthood.

To truly appreciate what it means to be surrounded by, to share and learn from people that are living a conscious life, is hard to grasp. The weight of your presence goes beyond leading by example. It profoundly expands the compass and navigates our children forward into a less chaotic life. You only need to look at the graph of development patterns over a lifetime to realise that the start of a child’s life is critical.

A 0- to 5-year-old experiences exponential growth in development. They learn to crawl, walk, talk and think. From 5 to 10 they experience so many emotions that they can contextualise, both for their internal and from the external world. For my boys it was more than just learning how to play pool for the first time or seeing kind people again, or experiencing a community that is considerate, supportive and encouraging. In this environment my boys are developing with a sense that a community is made up of giving.

Those sacrifices that allowed this to happen are not taken for granted by me. The meals, care and accommodation are subsidised by all the people within the meeting houses nationally. When I considered what was the cost, it roughly equated to over 30 people paying for a meal, to make up the expense of two boys to have a life changing experience. Some people are unemployed, as I have been, on pensions and/ or have made some sacrifice to attendees at the yearly meeting.

It doesn’t go without saying that there are people that zoomed in, who couldn’t make it in person due to wide ranging reasons- many of whom didn’t have the privilege that my boys experienced. There are so many Quakers dedicated towards giving, volunteering and going far beyond what is expected of them. It is the sheer number of people that bring light to the words: ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. 

For me personally this Yearly Meeting was more than a time to reflect, it was a time to engage with many people I had met last year and with whom I had built a level of trust. To be able to share vulnerable ideas and exchange perplexing notions in a short period of time over many conversations is very enriching. This cannot be had in a smaller one-on-one meeting weeks and months apart. The Yearly Meeting provided the possibility of sustained engagements considering a multitude of issues, inspiring new thoughts and debriefing complex thoughts.

Thank you sincerely for being the village/s that I had lost and offering me and my family the opportunity to grow learn so much from you all.