We honour this beautiful Bunurong/Boon Wurrung Country and the Old Ones who have cared for it for thousands of years. We thank today’s Traditional Custodians for continuing that care and we send love and courage to the future generations of this ancient lineage. We recognise the wisdom of First Nation peoples here and across the world who have taught us the importance of being in relationship with Country and listening to the natural world with deep love and respect.
| By Dr Laura Brearley We live close to the natural world in Bass Coast. It surrounds us and is part of us. Our senses are full of it. Over the last few weeks, as part of the Coastal Connections project, our community has shared a great gift with us by responding to our creative invitation to write about the special blue and green places that they love, their “places in the heart”. Coastal Connections is a community-based project which has been funded through the Bass Coast Shire Council’s Business and Community Resilience Grants Program COVID-19. The project is weaving together creative writing, photography, painting, musical composition and film-making. It is designed to support community well-being by connecting people to each other and to the natural world. | The Post will publish all entries to the Coastal Connections project over the next 12 issues. First up, Shack Bay by Judy Vrandenburg; Corinella, by Lyndell Parker; and Rhyll, by John Buttrose.  |
Coastal Connections is a project of its time, when our lives are restrained through the pandemic and when we, and the Earth, are so fragile and in need of loving care.
It will result in publications, an exhibition, original music and the development of a series of short films about local people and their special places.
Environmental writer Michael McCarthy contends that at the very deepest level, “we have a link to the natural world which goes to the essence of who we are”.
It will result in publications, an exhibition, original music and the development of a series of short films about local people and their special places.
Environmental writer Michael McCarthy contends that at the very deepest level, “we have a link to the natural world which goes to the essence of who we are”.
  | He does not see our identity as humans as separate from the natural world from which we emerged. He believes that if we realised what nature means to us and how “essential it is to our spirits, to our souls, to our very beings … at a time when it is being destroyed all over the world”, our love of nature can become a powerful force. In his view, “ordinary people’s feelings are the beginnings of political will”. Overview of creative submissions In the first stage of the project, the Coastal Connections Working Group received 36 pieces of descriptive writing, poetic text, photographs and paintings, all full of love for special places in nature. The creative invitation went out through the Bass Coast Post, The Waterline News, Phillip Island Advertiser, South Gippsland Sentinel Times, Phillip Island Vibe, Community Radio 3mFm, posters on windows of West Gippsland Libraries and through social media and newsletters of local creative and community groups. |
On seeing all of the submissions, Catherine Watson commented that the project had “unlocked the deep spiritual connection people feel with their places and the joy and solace they provoke in uncertain times … What a portrait of Bass Coast they add up to, with the geographical spread and the different approaches of writers, photographers and artists”.
Local environmentalist and author Sue Saliba wrote, “I feel very moved to think of all those people so immersed in a special natural space in our community; it makes me think about what, at any time, is going on around me but which I don't always realise. ie. people quietly and personally connecting with our local natural world in their own meaningful way … What a wonderful project … such a gift to the community and to our natural world.”
Local environmentalist and author Sue Saliba wrote, “I feel very moved to think of all those people so immersed in a special natural space in our community; it makes me think about what, at any time, is going on around me but which I don't always realise. ie. people quietly and personally connecting with our local natural world in their own meaningful way … What a wonderful project … such a gift to the community and to our natural world.”
Participants in the project expressed their gratitude in being involved. Margaret Lee from the Gurdies wrote, “I have looked and wondered at all the amazing submissions you have received and feel we are blessed to live in the wonderful Bass Coast. My late husband Ron would be deeply touched by this”.
Gay Findlay said that she was “astounded at the richness of the responses both in content and medium’ and Edith Wilke expressed how good it was ‘to see how much this beautiful coast means to so many people”.
John Adam, much loved artist from Surf Beach, simply said, “Contributing to the preservation of the Earth is the most important thing we can do right now”, and quoted Henry David Thoreau’s enduring insight, “In wildness is the preservation of the world”.
Gay Findlay said that she was “astounded at the richness of the responses both in content and medium’ and Edith Wilke expressed how good it was ‘to see how much this beautiful coast means to so many people”.
John Adam, much loved artist from Surf Beach, simply said, “Contributing to the preservation of the Earth is the most important thing we can do right now”, and quoted Henry David Thoreau’s enduring insight, “In wildness is the preservation of the world”.
The creative submissions have given a voice to what love of nature looks and feels like.
Here is an overview of what the community has shared …
The places we love, love us back
With generosity and grace
They offer us space to reflect, remember and imagine
We go to them when we need rest and renewal
When we are broken, depleted or confused
When we need to be restored
The places we love feel our presence
They hear our questions and our longing
And they send us signs
A gust of wind
A blazing sunset
A new idea
The places we love welcome us when we return
When we are empty, they inspire us
When we are lost, they hold us
Birds and animals share the places we love
When we take the time, they invite us into their world
Revealing their songs and their secrets
The places we love are dynamic
They evolve and unfold with the seasons and cycles
The ebb and flow of the tide
They teach us to listen deeply
Opening our hearts, enlarging our perspective
Reminding us who we are
Here is an overview of what the community has shared …
The places we love, love us back
With generosity and grace
They offer us space to reflect, remember and imagine
We go to them when we need rest and renewal
When we are broken, depleted or confused
When we need to be restored
The places we love feel our presence
They hear our questions and our longing
And they send us signs
A gust of wind
A blazing sunset
A new idea
The places we love welcome us when we return
When we are empty, they inspire us
When we are lost, they hold us
Birds and animals share the places we love
When we take the time, they invite us into their world
Revealing their songs and their secrets
The places we love are dynamic
They evolve and unfold with the seasons and cycles
The ebb and flow of the tide
They teach us to listen deeply
Opening our hearts, enlarging our perspective
Reminding us who we are
Invitation
Creative contributions from the first stage of the Coastal Connections project are being serialised in the Bass Coast Post. They can also be seen at https://cmvic.org.au/projects-programs/coastal-connections
Over the next few months, the Working Group of the Coastal Connections project will continue to share more of this creative work, in an exhibition being hosted by the West Gippsland Libraries and through a series of short films.
We would love to hear your responses to these creative gifts from the community. Maybe they will stir memories or feelings in you about your own special place and what it means to you. We invite you to join us in this community conversation and explore these ideas further. Share your comments and contributions with Dr Laura Brearley, Chair of the Coastal Connections Working Group at [email protected] They will be warmly welcomed and woven into the fabric of the project.
The Coastal Connections project is currently commissioning original musical compositions to accompany the six short films about people’s special places in the natural world.
For more information about the commissioning process and the scope of the films, go to ... https://cmvic.org.au/projects-programs/coastal-connections
Creative contributions from the first stage of the Coastal Connections project are being serialised in the Bass Coast Post. They can also be seen at https://cmvic.org.au/projects-programs/coastal-connections
Over the next few months, the Working Group of the Coastal Connections project will continue to share more of this creative work, in an exhibition being hosted by the West Gippsland Libraries and through a series of short films.
We would love to hear your responses to these creative gifts from the community. Maybe they will stir memories or feelings in you about your own special place and what it means to you. We invite you to join us in this community conversation and explore these ideas further. Share your comments and contributions with Dr Laura Brearley, Chair of the Coastal Connections Working Group at [email protected] They will be warmly welcomed and woven into the fabric of the project.
The Coastal Connections project is currently commissioning original musical compositions to accompany the six short films about people’s special places in the natural world.
For more information about the commissioning process and the scope of the films, go to ... https://cmvic.org.au/projects-programs/coastal-connections