From the Editor

When reading the diverse contributions to this issue, I was reminded of the concept of ‘returning’ – to a place, to an idea, to a state of being.
Tony Parkes’ life work, returning the depleted rainforests of our area to their pre-European splendour, is a rich and noble quest. In similar ways, local dancer/choreographer Robert Alejandro Tinning returns to his ancestral path, both literally and metaphorically, through the dismantling of dominant narratives in the arts (important work that has earned him a prestigious scholarship). Bangalow artist Ben Hellewell explains how materials returned from the sea are re-visioned into sculptures that capture the power, magnificence and fragility of local fauna.
Continuing this thread, Angela Saurine writes about living with snakes, an important reminder of the realities of summer in the hinterland and our responsibility to tread lightly, returning to equilibrium with the world around us. Meanwhile, Christobel Munson returns to a distant time in the history of her being where she revels in the playful fancy of a past life reading that leaves her feeling buoyant and energised.
Returning is all of these things and more. Of course, a new year is around the corner, the time when tradition urges us to make a vow to be better, do good. A revolution. A resolution. A promise. What will yours be? Returning a phone call, returning that long-overdue library book, or returning to a dream that you’d long given up on? There’s no time like now to review the world anew, to realign, reflect and recalibrate. But first, a rest. See you in 2024.

Sally Schofield

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