The School of Life Australia.

January is just around the corner.

So is this exciting project!

The first international School joins the UK's hugely popular space.

www.theschooloflife.com/australia

The Ocean is a Meadow.

Aren't these little North Pole sea-snowflakes utterly beautiful? They're called 'frost flowers' - little sculptures of ice that stretch for miles. A blossoming sea, what a sight to see.

(via NPR, pics by Matthias Wietz)

Leunig.

Oh, Leunig. He is always just so right isn't he?

I've Got a Secret...

This morning I woke up thinking about secrets.

About what makes us tell those sometimes questionable, often exciting and very, very personal snippets of our thoughts and lives to others.

I suppose part of it is about the ego, that little part in all of us that sometimes peers around the corner and says, "Hey! Look what I've got! Look at what I know!"

And part of it is just oral storytelling - a sharing, in a private moment in time, of a story or precious thought with a precious person.

I tend to view secrets as a testament to my love for others. The more I love and cherish a friend or lover the more I want them to know everything about me. And, I about them. There are those who know you in one dimension and others who know you, the real you.

It's a special thing watching secret-keepers work to keep yours safe, when they metaphorically jump in front of buses to change subjects that they know are hurting you and cutting a little close to the money-spot. A shared ritual that operates on a vice-versa basis.

But the older I get (ah, yes, that ole line) I'm growing more attracted to the notion of privacy and an awareness that happiness, freedom, confidence, acceptance and all of those things we seek through our time with others, can all be found within our own secret hearts.

A secret-keeper is a high office indeed, not one to be taken lightly, for the burden often outweighs the excitement of knowledge.

To those who know and hold my secrets: thankyou for continuing to keep them safe. And, merci for trusting me with your own.

Time to go out and enjoy the day, ok?

Ode to Summer by Kinfolk.

Hello, Summer. 

I love you.