Dead Dad Dictum

  The idea, the notion, of God is something that’s been in my life from the day I was born. My parents were, and are, believers, and part of the early 70’s Pentecostal movement that sought to have a deeper, more personal relationship with the creator than what the traditional denominational church offered.   But from an early age, I never felt part of it. One of my dimmest, yet most enduring memories is from when I was four or five and I had my first existential experience. “Why wasn’t I born a cow?” I wondered. “Why am I a person?”   Questioning was and is part of my makeup. As time went on, and we went to church, were read Bible stories before bed, and prayed that God would intervene in just about every adverse situation, belief became something that wasn’t real for me.   The Bible, we were taught, was the infallible word of God, but I remember being told the story of Noah’s Ark and the flood that was supposed to purge the world of evil and thinking it didn’t make ...

  Drug use is a tricky topic to write about. It’s stigmatised, yet most Australians use drugs in the legal forms of alcohol, nicotine and caffeine.   It’s also tricky to write about drug use when you’re my age. People think it’s something you either grow out of or become so dependent on that your entire life becomes a form of mind altered slavery.   I say it’s none of those things, and the way our society approaches drug use is, at best, misguided and at worst, leads to life long criminal records and the ramifications that come with that, as well as disability and death. The reality is that people will always take drugs. In my experience, drug use has led to cioser ties and greater intimacy with the people I call friends and whom I love, as well as, to quote Aldous Huxley, opening the doors of perception. And, aside from those things, over the years, I’ve just had a great time. Music and literature hits harder; I’m transported by wonder and awe at this bizarre thing we ca...