Polly's pages (aka 'Donna Williams')

Ever the arty Autie

THE ADVENTURES OF A WEED by Donna Williams

January9


The Adventures of a Weed by Donna Williams

Once upon a time, there was a weed who lived among the grass, in a patch by the road, in a street in the suburbs where nothing changed and things always stayed the same. The weed liked living here among the grass, in a patch by the road, in a street in the suburbs where nothing changed and things always stayed the same. Every day the weed would watch the sun rise. The cars would drive by. The birds would come down onto the grass. The people would walk past with their children and their dogs. Then the sky would get dark again and the moon would come out. The cars and the birds and the people and their children and their dogs would go home to dinner and to bed. Then the weed would go to sleep until the next day, when it would all be the same…


But one day, as the sun went down, a fierce wind began to blow. Stronger and stronger the wind began to sing, “Ooooo, ooooo, ooooo” blowing the weed from side to side. “Ooooo”, sang the wind once more. But the anxious weed said nothing.
Stronger and stronger, the fierce wind blew singing, “Ooooo, ooooo, ooooo”. The weed held on tightly to the earth with its roots. The weed didn’t want to go anywhere. But the wind pulled the weed out of the ground.

Higher and higher, the wind blew the weed, up, up, up into the darkness of the night sky, up, up, up, into the clouds. ““Ooooo”, sang the wind once more. But the weed said nothing.

Out of the darkness bright lights appeared. The weed was blown around the tops of tall buildings which reached right up into the sky. But the weed was too scared to enjoy the bright colored lights. “Ooooo”, sang the wind once more. But the weed said nothing.

Outside of the city, great black ocean waves rocked far below. Sparkles shone magically on the water, the waves moved to a rhythm. But the weed was too scared to enjoy sparkles shining on the water. “Ooooo”, sang the wind once more. But the weed said nothing. Where the dark ocean ended, rolling hills began. Up and down the hills went like a big green blanket upon the earth.
But the weed was too scared to enjoy the rolling green hills. “Ooooo”, sang the wind once more. But the weed said nothing.

The hills went higher and higher, until they were mountains. Soft gentle trees snuggled together in the forest below.
But the weed was too scared to enjoy the gentle, peaceful forest. “Ooooo”, sang the wind once more. But the weed said nothing. At the top of a mountain the green turned to blue and snow glistened like icing on a most delicious cake.
But the weed was too scared to enjoy the glistening snow. “Ooooo”, sang the wind once more. But the weed, of course, STILL said nothing.

But there, high above the mountain top was something familiar. It was the moon. The stars around the moon twinkled and shone and the weed finally felt the magic of the night. No longer too scared to enjoy seeing it’s friend the moon. “Ahhhh”, sang the weed with glee. And now… the wind said nothing. The wind calmed right down and the weed drifted gently down, down, down to the ground. The moon closed its eyes and went to sleep.

The next day the sun came up, cheery, warm and bright. The weed had settled its roots down into the lush earth in a lovely big field among many other weeds at the foot of a tall wise old tree… which never changed and always stayed the same.


Polly Samuel (aka ‘Donna Williams’)
Author, artist, consultant and presenter.
http://www.donnawilliams.net

I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of this country throughout Australia, and their connection to land and community.

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BALOOMBAWOP by Donna Williams

December22

What is it like living in a world that doesn’t fit you and being expected, even commanded to conform to a one-size-all ‘normality’ that doesn’t compute? Baloombawop, by Donna Williams, was originally performed as a one woman rock musical (though it could also be adapted as a children’s production with three leads, seven supporting parts and ensemble). The story is told in Dr Seuss/Roald Dahl/ Lewis Carroll like rhyme from start to finish. The land of Baloombawop and its crazy characters – The Gadoodleborger, Dame Grumpty Do, The Brookenstein Fox, Boogerlooger, Charlie Warmton, Bluster Mc Fluster, The Whirly Twirl Girl, The Gimmety Gimme can easily lend themselves to individual drama activities. The complete recording including music for the show is available at CD Baby/.

The show is available to perform at no cost under a Creative Commons Licence as long as I am credited as its writer and I would ask that my husband, Chris Samuel, to be informed of any performances so he has a chance to experience the show.
Creative Commons License
Baloombawop by Donna Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Read the rest of this entry »

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“ELVIS, MY FATHER” by ‘Donna Williams’ 2016

December21

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Which world do you live in?

December14

My World = One’s Own World. This is our first world. Before all of its later cladding and contortions, it is at first a place of sensing, beingness, the preconscious mind and unknown knowing. It is the place where we understand self in others and others in self through the skill of mergence.

The External World = The physical world known through our sensory experiences as processed through our bodies/brains and experienced as sensations, thoughts, emotions, connections. This is a directly hands on world where sensing and beingness may be relatively strongly intact.

The Interpretive World = the world of applied (visual/verbal/kinesthetic) meaning to incoming experiences that progressively builds mental structures and frameworks that ultimately filter our direct sensed experiences of the physical world and develops conscious mind as the primary guide.

Ego World = Ego contortion that further clads, alters and filters the logical meaning we get from experiences of the physical world and further buries our original capacity for sensing and beingness. This can be indoctrination, culture, economics, identifications, rewards, honed addictions and competition for social, economic, cultural ‘currency’. Read the rest of this entry »

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Dying With Dignity – nothing about us without us

December6

Polly and Chris Samuel Before anyone self righteously takes a stand against right to a dignified death, keep in mind dying with dignity has strong clear guidelines… the person must have no more than 6 mths to live and this must be confirmed by two doctors and the person must be living with unendurable suffering…. then consider this… Read the rest of this entry »

On living, dying and metastatic breast cancer

November18

Consequence by Donna Williams I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in Sept 2016. It had metastasised to my liver with innumerable tumors and no chance at resection. This is expected to most likely be my last year. I have made this video to explain to people how I feel about it all, why I have no bitterness and no regrets. Read the rest of this entry »

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Facing death with positivity

November18

Transition by Donna Williams Facing death… I keep hearing how brave, how positive I am. But is it all about positivity, or is it broader? I’ve been trying to understand what has shaped my perspective to see if it really all came down to positivity… or something else. I wanted to know this because facing death is so hard for many people, so why was this transition relatively ‘easier’ for me? Read the rest of this entry »

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The Language Of Death

November18

Polly and Chris Samuel As a person with metastatic breast cancer facing what is expected to be my last year with a body, I wanted to explore the language surrounding death, dying and end of life… Are we ‘the body’… do we end when we lose conscious awareness of our thoughts, feelings, experiences….Is it possible part of us doesn’t die, somehow lives on…
This is what I explore here, as a Taoist, as a humanist. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Incidental Mirror

November11

Circus Hoops by Donna Williams The battle between those who see humanity, dignity, equality, inclusion and those who see preservation of a self interested status quo is the age old battle between change and resistance to change, flow and stagnation, openness and self righteous certainty, a clear mind and one boxed and limited by fiercely defended (often culturally inherited) dogma.

And this battle has some ugly faces, for defensive people self righteously protecting self interests can be as soul-ugly as any Nazi. But eventually even everyday Nazi’s protected by their own self righteousness, narcissism and whitewashed history and self image, nevertheless catch an undeniable glimpse of their ugliness in a mirror. So, without hatred, without judgement of the Nazism you cannot imagine being your guide, strive in your art, in your writing, in your living, to be the incidental mirror.

Polly Samuel (aka ‘Donna Williams’)
Author, artist, consultant and presenter.
http://www.donnawilliams.net

I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of this country throughout Australia, and their connection to land and community.

posted under Donna Williams, psychology, sociology | Comments Off on The Incidental Mirror

Yesterday’s Hero

November5

Donna Williams aged 12 Remember the song, Yesterday’s Hero by John Paul Young… It was a hit here in Australia in 1975. I was 12 years old at the time. Read the rest of this entry »

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