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AMAA: With Saltwaterdreamtime
This month formerly Ask A Pro Live is getting a makeover - welcome to Ask Me Almost Anything. Same event but different name which highlights the value of having these discussions with peers as well as professionals.
This month we are doing something super special. We are really excited to kick off the event name change by talking to a leader in our community here on the forum. This is someone who has been part of the ReachOut family for a very long time and someone we are really proud of.
Our very own @Saltwaterdreamtime is our guest for this months Ask Me Almost Anything! Shoot through your questions as we will be chatting about their journey with mental health and experience as a proud Arrernte man. Read saltwaterdreamtime's bio below:
"I go by saltwaterdreamtime and I am a 25 year old Arrernte man living in Wadawurrung country. These two places are so different but mean so much to mean in different ways, and I can’t wait to be able to tell you more about why they are special to me. I’ve been using Reach Out for about 6 or 7 years now, it has been a really big part of my journey through difficulties with my mental health. I’ve lived with a number of mental health issues for a long time, and although I still have some bad days sometimes I know how to look after myself and what I need to do to manage my wellbeing, and keep on top of it.
I feel my time with ReachOut has been a huge part of that. I’m really really looking forward to being a part of this chat, NAIDOC week is a great opportunity for me to show off one of the things that is most important to me which is my culture."
I'm looking forward to this one and I bet you all are too. We will be chatting this Thursday the 12th of November, so get your questions in fast and set a reminder to join in.
Join us LIVE November 12th 7pm - 9pm AEDT
Awesome! I’m looking forward it. Make sure you send in those questions, this is how I will be answering them.
HAHAHA who I am kidding!? It will definitely be more like this.
Hahaha @Saltwaterdreamtime that's taking multi-tasking to the next level
@Bre-RO Which one? Both those GIFS are pretty accurate representation of my life. I have been home the last few days doing my admin/child entertaining because my partner is not well and I just had a plastic toy fishing rod shoved up my nose, i though the covid test went far up there.... oh no I was wrong.
Get your questions in! I’m keen as a bean, also just had a coffee and it generally sends me a little bit wacko for a couple of hours. I definitely DO NOT require energy stimulants and I should be banned from buying them.
Good evening everyone! We’re going to be going live in about half an hour for our very special NAIDOC week Ask Me Almost Anything with our very special guest @Saltwaterdreamtime ! We’ve had some really interesting questions come through that I can’t wait to hear the answer to.
I’ll be logging on tonight from Gadigal land and want to pay my deep respects to the longest living culture, tonight, this week and always. Always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
I'm going to tag some peeps here who might be interested in joining our chat tonight @Ladybug @Tiny_leaf @techperson2020 @D4vids0n1997 @hunginc @kutekitty01 @MB95 @Hozzles @WheresMySquishy @Tay100 @November13 @StormySeas17 @sunnygirl606 @wanderingwasp @panda_6940 @James99 @Bento @Maybel9595 @featuringme @Sunnybear @Wolfie_ @squiggly @recharging_introvert @JullyBean @Bingo1234 @Anzelmo @A_Friend @Emlo @GioDes @chillspace @belski @beabea @mol1912 @Macaria @Liliann @Shazam @Spicypumpkin
Speak to yáll soon!
@Hannah-RO @Saltwaterdreamtime ahhh sorry I missed this one- it looks a great chat, I'll have to aim to join the next one!
Hey @Saltwaterdreamtime, I'm sorry to have missed this chat! Your connection to your culture is really inspiring and something which I believe we can all learn from.
I'm a bit late catching up with this one, but just had to say how freaking amazing this chat was - @Saltwaterdreamtime thank you so much for being so generous in sharing your knowledge and experiences here, I have learned so much reading your words and this AMAA is an absolute gift for everyone reading.
THANK YOU
Also wanted to Jump on and say this was bloody tops! Thanks for being so generous with your time and allowing us into your world and culture! You are a legend @Saltwaterdreamtime !!!!
@Claire-RO @Janine-RO @mrmusic @Tay100 Just catching up now...
Thanks so much for your messages everyone.
I just had a though for the CM’s/Mods, NAIDOC week is over but it doesn’t mean we abandon chats like this, how can we keep the conversation going?
I just caught up on your thread. It was really touching to read. I hope you are proud of yourself as you sure as hell deserve to feel proud! You've gone through so much and you got through it all. I honestly think you have a great story to tell and I encourage you to continue to do mentoring like you mentioned in your post, as I believe many others can learn from you.
You raise a great question about keeping the conversation going. ReachOut will keep this here as a resource for anyone who would like to read it, and then we can potentially post relevant content here as it comes up. Otherwise, you are of course, welcome to create your own thread on this topic which you can update as you please. What are your thoughts on this?
It would awesome to keep this thread up but apart from that I’m just not sure what else to do at the moment, I think it’s just disappointing for me sometimes and this isn’t anything to do with what Reach Out has done but I find sometimes the conversation stops after NAIDOC and people resume their lives like it was just a trend. So I wonder what can be done the other 51 weeks of the year?
Thank you for bringing this up Saltwater, this is such an important point, it would be really shit for this conversation to end just because NAIDOC week is over for this year. Our content team put together this piece about being an Ally to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which has some ideas of how to move beyond being an ally just in NAIDOC week, and incorporating being an ally into our lives. One of the things from this I’m really keen to do is check out some of the podcasts and documentaries suggested, (I just started listening to Debutante: Race, Resistance and Girl Power, which is a podcast by Nakkiah Lui and Miranda Tapsell which is super interesting!) maybe we could have a new ongoing thread where we can chat about what we’re watching/listening to and what we’ve learned from these?
That is just one idea, I’m really keen to hear and talk about other ideas!
It sucks that this is the case with a lot of awareness days/weeks 😞 It's like people just forget.. @Saltwaterdreamtime
Let's try our best to make awareness an ongoing thing!
I like the idea of making a new thread to share things we've learned as Hannah-RO suggested 🙂
@Lost_Space_Explorer5 I’m going to make it and will post here when it’s done
Thanks for sharing that @Saltwaterdreamtime it's cool to be able to see it on a map! It's so deeply messed up how basic the education about indigenous culture is in schools - it's truly not enough.
It's really incredible that you've been able to learn about your culture as an adult, it's amazing that you started with 0 information! I'd love to know the answer to our next question...
3. What are some things that make you proud to be an Arrernte man?
3. What are some things that make you proud to be an Arrernte man?
I think being part of the oldest living culture in the world is one thing to be proud of, I mean, look at what we’ve dealt with and gone through, but we’re still out here fighting for what’s right.
Belonging to somewhere, belonging to a community is something I have very rarely felt in my life.
I’m proud to call the lands of Arrernte people home, even though I no longer live there in location, I know it’s a really vague answer, but I’m proud to be of a culture where the land, water, people, the sky, flora and fauna are all interconnected and live in harmony together. All of those things play a part in our lives everyday.
@Saltwaterdreamtime That's such a great response! It's awesome that you find ways to connect with your culture everyday.
I think it's wonderful that schools are providing young Indigenous people more opportunities to have their voices heard and their needs addressed.
I think it’s awesome that YOUNG PEOPLE are fighting to have their voices heard and coming up with ways to spread the knowledge.
No disrespect your answer was awesome, but it’s often lead by young crew themselves.
@Saltwaterdreamtime It always makes me so hopeful for the future seeing young people advocating for themselves, doing what they love + working towards a better future!