My thanks to Terry McGivern, Peter Milligan, Richard Merrick, Liviu Caliman, and Claudia Brose for being in the room for what was the final episode in season one of We Need To Talk.
When I was boy I had an imaginary friend called Jack.
My mother used to tell people "he thinks he's real."
For me Jack was real.
Of course much later I discovered that our minds don't know the difference between what's real and what's imagined.
Jack and I used to imagine being eagles and being able to fly anywhere.
This was the beginning of me being in awe of eagles, a fascination and sense of wonder that is very much with me today.
In Sept and October 2021 I was forced to spend 10 days in hospital after my system crashed in response to immunotherapy. (the good news is that along with radiotherapy, the treatment worked).
During my time in hospital I invested energy meditating via music to aid my recovery. With headphones on I was often in a blissful state despite significant physical discomfort.
I played one of my favourite songs 'Up Where We Belong' the Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes version, many times.
I love all the lyrics, yet the following stand out
"Love lift us up where we belong
Where the eagles cry
On a mountain high
Love lift us up where we belong
Far from the world we know
Where the clear winds blow."
In meditation I go to what I call my FarSight place. There's no bias, prejudice or conspiracy theories in FarSight land.
This is the place where I can see possibility with crystal clear clarity and see who I need to become and what I can do next.
Farsight is a place of where there are no limitations and no feeling feelings limited.
Many people showed care and compassion in all kinds of ways while I was in hospital. One colleague in The Right Company Con Christeson saw me with an eagle and so I was overcome with joy when she let me know.
On that day I was reflecting on a long drive across Australia in 2001. I had been booked to fly via Ansett Airlines from Adelaide to Perth on Friday the 13th in order to be there for the birth of our first grandchild.
My wife Carol was already in Perth. Of course this was the time of the terrible 9/11 attack. Ansett airlines went out of business a few hours before my scheduled flight. I was unable to get a flight on another airline. Not a bus ticket or train ticket available either.
I decided to make the thirty-six hour drive which I had completed once before (not on my own).
Leaving home at 1.30 PM I drove seven hours on the first day and stayed overnight in Ceduna.
On the next day I drove fifteen hours only stopping for petrol and food. There's a straight stretch of road for about 150 kilometres. I was 'flying' along this stretch when I saw what seemed like a dark black cloud over the highway just ahead. As I slowed down and came to a stop I was amazed at what was in front of me - a giant wedge-tailed eagle with wings fully extended (about 2 metres wingspan) lifting a kangaroo carcass off the road.
The image has stayed with me and when I close my eyes I remember with great clarity.
A few days after returning home from hospital we purchased this model eagle.
This is something I've been going to do for several years.
Of course he's called Jack and we are currently making his new home comfortable.
I was thrilled on the day that the guy who made Jack, Ray from Bellarine Gardens Nursery, carried him on a sack truck and put him in the car on his own.
I was not yet physically able to help. On arriving home Carol and our neighbours Keith and Fran, their daughter Sian and her boyfriend Nathan were all involved in getting Jack into place!
Now every day I get the opportunity in the morning sunlight to meditate in the land of farsight with help from Jack.
Most recently farsight has led me to modify and nuance how I show up in the world. I'm taking myself less seriously. I've changed my behaviour in how I respond to things that piss me off. I still have strong opinions, I'm holding them lightly and sharing them very differently.
As a consequence of farsight I'm getting better at keeping my mouth shut and my heart and mind open when I'm in conversation with other people.
In April of 2021 Carol and I holidayed with our son Lukas and daughter-in-law Sarah on Kangaroo Island where they have a holiday home. We visited Raptor Domain while there and I was able to hold onto this eagle. It astounded me in one way yet not in others that this eagles name is Jack.
If you were to go where the eagles cry, far from the world below, what would you see about who you can become and what you will do next?
Become the wise leader you want to be.
Ian
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