January 1st 2026

Never perfect

Never perfect

Nine years ago today, I started writing this daily blog. I made a commitment to write every day for one year.

I have missed a few days, here and there. I may miss more going forward.

Many times, the articles I hesitated to post are the ones that get the most comments. I have learned to write and publish. Never perfect.

I know the power of small steps taken every day. The accumulated effects. Last year, I wrote 102, 028 words. Easily a good-sized book.

Why do I write?

I have written all my life. I love words, and the magic they can weave. Last week I threw out diaries going back to when I was 11 years old.

Writing is my sorting hat. I take a thought and unpack it. Or I feel the emotions bubbling, and I dig deeper. I see a word combination, and it inspires me to add perspective.

This morning, returning home after a surf, I was acutely aware, again, of the violence of my anger. It sits like a hungry tiger, ready to strike at the smallest provocation.

Its flames are nurtured by the increased injustice towards certain groups of people, while other, mostly minority groups, get all the goodies. Our indigenous Australians are at the very bottom of the pecking order. Ten of our First Nations people died in custody in 2025 in the state of New South Wales alone. Where is the news for them? Where is the one-minute silence? Where is the symbol of their hundred years of tragedy, genocide and exploitation on the Opera House?

I want all racism to end. I want all people to be given the same rights and dignity, no matter their race, religion, gender or costume. But to advance one group over others is to increase the division, rather than heal it and unify.

But that is not the world we have. Rather than progress, it appears we have gone backwards.

I will take the medicine of this daily blog. Small actions, repeated, even when I do not feel like it, even when it feels like an empty cry into a void. I will write to untangle. To give voice to the torrent inside. To speak for those you cannot. Never perfect.

Thank you for reading. May 2026 bring the world closer to peace for all.

Photo Taken January 1st 2021, Article published January 1st 2026

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