When you’re a place maker like me – there is a challenge and need to be authentic – that is, practice what I preach!  I’ve long known this and I’ve supported my key skill as a facilitator by lots of personal development work.  It is hard to work with other people, understand and be sensitive to their needs without being clear about yourself and how you communicate.  Of course, I am open to more learning every day but I also understand the need to put learning into action.

I’ve long been pondering my own home – where I live.  I’m in a beautiful apartment on the river in Mount Pleasant.  Very spoilt with dolphins occassionally floating by and lots of bird life.  I wake up to beautiful sunrises and the full moon on the river is absolutely stunning.  I’ve also enjoyed a sense of being ‘cocooned’ from the world and our 1st floor apartment is a little like being in a houseboat – which has been fun.

I am all for density and low to medium rise dwellings which add to vibrancy and offer different housing types – however in my experience it’s harder to create your own space and place.  Apartments tend to be ‘codified’ and highly secure.  From the outside everything looks the same, neat, pretty, architectural.  Security means safety but also a certain amount of being ‘cut off’ from the surrounding community.  One of the things I have done during our 4 years in the apartment was to join the Corporate Body.  I tried to act as the community connector and through this we have had the occassional newsletter and quarterly sundowners including at xmas.  Some lovely people live here and we have made great friends.  We have however had a niggling feeling of frustration over being able to reshape our space and put into place new and sustainable ideas that reflect our values.  For example, if we wanted a rainwater tank or solar cells we would need to convince 31 other apartment dwellers.  We know there are some folk here with similar desires but our sense of urgency about putting such things in place probably wouldn’t get met easily.

A few days ago we were successful at auction in securing a mixed use space which we move into in a month or so and where we are keen to have a go at practicing the authenticity I’m talking about.  It will allow us to think about and implement more sustainable solutions eg. we will have a vegie patch for the first time!

It’s in Fremantle and for those of you who know that City – it is diverse, active and fun.  Being landlords of a mixed use space will also give us an opportunity to create a place others want to come to.  There is a shop which is leased to a graphic designer and 2 studios where we intend to welcome visitors for short term stays.  We are looking forward to the adventure and I’ll keep you posted as to how we go with things.  I love this picture of my husband John at the gate – it’s symbolic to me of a new way forward with lots of plans and I’m sure unknown surprises.  Much like place making projects!