Koala

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

A few cafes, shops and yoga studios in my neighbourhood are raising money for Australian wildlife. I’ve never seen such a collective response to what’s happening so far away. Yesterday, one of those business owners told me that people were much more generous than she’d expected. But you know, she added, who doesn’t love a cute koala? 

My purpose in writing this blog is to help me identify the light in a moment with so much darkness. Less than three weeks of this daily exercise has proved its effectiveness in so many ways. I can already sense a less biased version of myself emerging; and yet, ignoring the darkness in favour of the light would deliver another incomplete picture. 

My heart is moved by my neighbourhood’s reaction. Like many others, I’ve participated. It’s a deserving cause and I’m not immune to peer pressure. But in the middle of this collective spirit, I wonder why a beautiful animal on the other side of the world stirs us more deeply than, for instance, the refugee crisis.