Human Chapters

It was an incredible honour to have this open and generous conversation with Serana Hunt-Hughes about her Chapter, Multidimensionality. Serana takes us through an interlaced journey that showcases her past, present, and ties to the future. She discusses a number of points and some of these include - her feeling like the last bird of her kind; discovering her Native American ancestry (Shoshone Trib...

I was honoured to have this incredible conversation with Nathan about his Chapter, Silent Poet 6. Nathan takes us through a dense journey from his first profession in the Corporate world to his current profession/s, where he is an Artist, Coach (mindset and leadership), and Author. Nathan delves into a range of experiences including his health struggles, internal conflicts, transformative practice...

It was an enormous honour to have this gorgeous conversation with Bella Ainsworth about her Chapter, Refinding Home. Bella takes us through a wonderful journey of her childhood, move to Melbourne, return to Shepparton, discovering her purpose and passion at Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Project, and refinding home. She beautifully intertwines a portion of her love story, the love for her hometown...

It was an absolute privilege to engage in an open conversation with Thomas Devlin about his Chapter, My Ancestors Aren't Happy With Me. I recently attended an incredible pop-up art exhibition (My Ancestors Aren't Happy With Me) in Shepparton and my personal experience was one I found difficult to fully describe in words. It was cathartic, inspiring, thought-provoking, emotional, and deeply moving....

It was such a privilege to have this open and generous conversation with Abbey about her Chapter, Return to Self. Abbey kindly shares the life experiences that have led her to learn more about herself by connecting deeply with her tribe. Abbey discusses her personal trauma during the birth of her second child and how this experience forged a number of different paths in what she would like for her...

It was an absolute honour to have this wonderful conversation with Praveen about his Chapter, Making a Difference in the Lives of People in the Slums. Praveen openly shares his journey, the event that sparked the idea of the feeding programs, connection to human dignity as well as challenges in his personal life. Praveen also expresses the growth of these feeding programs, their sustainability, an...

It was an absolute privilege to unpack Lachlan's Chapter, My Personal Political Life. Lachlan (he/him; they/them) generously shares with Human Chapters about his childhood, gender, his career in Social Work, political life (positives and challenges), and the hope for the future. Throughout the conversation, themes of compassion, openness, and curiosity were evident. There are numerous points in th...

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to openly discuss and unpack Atul's Chapter, Decolonising the Curriculum. Atul generously shares the journey of his Chapter and in particular, includes his childhood, career, the Jain culture, colonisation within education, the books he has authored, the importance of historical roots, and so forth. During this Chapter, I found myself intrigued by the Chapt...

I was privileged to have this incredible conversation with Shikha about her Chapter, Freedom in Shikhazuri. Shikha is the founder of Shikhazuri (a conscious jewellery brand) SHIKHAZURI and their tag line is, 'jewellery with a story'. Shikha's energy was wonderfully infectious and her passion for her craft is awe-inspiring. During this conversation, Shikha takes us on a journey of Shikhazuri from c...

It was an absolute pleasure to have this conversation with Khalid about his Chapter, The Contribution of Martial Arts to Life. Khalid takes us on a journey of his childhood and passion for Martial Arts. Khalid has generously shared about his training, coaching, people he seeks inspiration from, and how Martial Arts has contributed to his life. A huge thanks to Khalid for taking the time to have th...

Sule Kangangi's Human Chapter, Cycle Through Life, was an absolute honour to host and engage in. I stumbled upon Sule's charity bike ride story (on social media) in December 2020 and this generated a heap of questions for my curious brain. Sule takes us on his remarkable journey from a novice to a professional cyclist (in Eldoret, Kenya). Sule generously shares his personal experience of what insp...

It was an absolute honour to have a conversation with John Hall about his Chapter, John's Journey at Cactus Country, Australia's largest cactus garden. John takes us on a journey of his childhood experiences, pivotal moments, his journey at Cactus Country (Instagram - @cactuscountry), other roles he contributes to, and what drives him. A number of points deeply resonated with me; however, one that...

It was an absolute honour to have an opportunity to discuss Chandni's Chapter, Transition into Motherhood. Chandni takes us through her unique journey of what Motherhood had in store for her. Chandni's journey includes a number of medical diagnoses, her response to these, the challenges, the pregnancies, her passion for health and fitness, and so on. During our conversation, one thing (amongst the...

Meet our youngest guest (yet), Asher Yearout. It was a wonderful opportunity and my absolute honour to have this open conversation with Asher about his Chapter, Empower Dyslexia Student Edition. Asher takes us through his journey of receiving a Dyslexia diagnosis, the causes for concern, the remediation, and his current accommodations. Listening to Asher's insights and personal experience added to...

TW - sensitive material Having the conversation with Saloni about her Chapter, Stay At Home Mum was an incredible honour. Saloni generously shared insights, details, and experiences about her journey before and during motherhood. She particularly shared about her career before becoming a parent, the various decisions she and her significant other were required to make when they decided to have a f...

The history of International Women's Day commenced in the 1900s and has sought out to highlight and act on a number of pertinent issues including women's rights to work, gender equality, education, human rights, and so on. I had the absolute honour of engaging in conversation with my grandma, Vijaya Ben and mum, Nina to discuss grandma's story. Gran discussed her childhood in India, her limited fo...

I was privileged and honoured to have had an opportunity to discuss Allan's Chapter, Discoveries. Coincidentally, Allan's hometown, Dundee (in Scotland) means The City of Discovery. Allan takes us through his journey of Discovery by articulating a time when working in various careers lacked meaning; a clear moment of what fulfillment looked like when he was an observer; his opportunity to migrate...

It was an absolute delight and honour to host Heshan Fernando for a conversation about his Chapter, The Model Man. This conversation sought breadth and depth by connecting Heshan's current Chapter to past experiences and future aspirations. Heshan takes us on a journey of his childhood experiences, challenges at home, the relationship with his dad, unique spiritual experiences, and the conception...

TW - Sensitive material. I have frequently wondered about an individual's journey in embracing their sexuality and in particular, ones from various ethnic groups and cultures. A huge vote of gratitude to Arjun Haria for sharing his Chapter, Complexities of Culture and the Birth of Dancing Queen. Arjun openly shares his journey in embracing his sexuality, the complexities tied to culture & comm...

"Save the childhood and reclaim our parenthood" stood out strongly amongst a forest of deeply meaningful ones. It was an absolute delight having an in-depth conversation based on Jinita Desai's Chapter, Bless the Mess. Jinita delves into a few aspects within this broad chapter - her passion for providing her son with a simplistic yet holistic childhood enveloped with creativity, nature & envir...

Engaging with Tania Capel instantly transported me to my birth country, Kenya, and brought about a rush of heart-felt memories, feelings, passions, and goosebumps. It was incredibly delightful to hear Tania's Chapter, The Migration Journey. Tania lived in 8 different countries prior to settling in Germany. Despite the number of locations, Africa is home to her. She beautifully expresses her love f...

It was an absolute pleasure to discuss Ami Lauren’s Chapter, Animals and Lifestyle Choices. We delve into Ami's passion for animals, when this calling began and how it's unfolded for her in terms of opportunities (as a child and adult), lifestyle choices (nutrition, material consumption, etc), health, and so on. I personally loved some of Ami's key takeaways - educating ourselves about the environ...

Having this wonderful conversation with Alia Datoo was a true honour. Alia talks to us about her chapter, Women Who Hike Africa (Women who Hike - Kenya). During this conversation, Alia takes us through her journey from conception through birth and beyond for her chapter. A couple of points that strongly resonated with me were: - Her first mountain climbing experience. - Her Chapter aims to connect...

Have you ever heard of the phrase, 'School to Prison Pipeline'? I was introduced to this concept approximately 3 years ago (in my profession) and I've been curious about it since. The School to Prison Pipeline generally tends to describe the journey a student with learning difficulties may experience (metaphorically and literally). The conversation with Hilderbrand Pelzer III (@hilderbrandpelzer3)...

TW - rape, suicide ideation, violence This is a beautiful chapter, Rebirth of a Queen, narrated by Akinyi Juma. Pauline grew up in the Kibera Slums (one of the largest slums in Kenya) and she generously shared about her life (formative and teenage years), struggles, and aspirations for the future. Pauline is the founder of an incredible space for young women, Rebirth of a Queen (@rebirthofaqueen)....