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Cracking The Dream: The Brisbane Rooftop Hideout

I’m actually surprised how much I’m enjoying writing Cracking the Dream, I thought I’d get a couple of sentences in then forget about the whole thing and delete the previous blog post. To keep myself committed to finished this story I’m going to try and post something I’ve really enjoyed writing every week or so.

The story is more or less primarily set around a rooftop at East Brisbane, just up from Mowbray Park, looking straight down the river toward the Story Bridge. This is where my main character, Jake and his best mate Lachlan hang out. It sets the scene for some of the most thought out, heart felt conversations in the book as well as some of the more classically male moments. The story opens on the rooftop.

“I feel like I’ve reached 25 and realised I’ve just spent 10 years believing if you follow your dreams it just all works out in the end, except it doesn’t”

I knew I was being dramatic, worse than that I knew that no matter what the outcome of this conversation was I wouldn’t end up changing how I see the world.

I looked up at Lachlan, he was staring straight down the river to the flashing lights of roadworks
on the Story Bridge. This had been our spot for years, his parents first bought the 8 story unit block when we were in year 12 and the final week of school we found our way to the run down rooftop entertaining area and the flight of stairs that leads up to the top of the elevator shaft. We’ve sat on these stairs probably 500 times since then. Even though the city was right there – so close you could hear ambulance sirens running through the streets, it was our secret spot, a place to work out where life was at.

“Just cause it sucks now it doesn’t mean it hasn’t been an amazing journey” Lachlan spoke, almost on the verge of a whisper, now staring at the stars.

We’ve only ever come up here at night, and I like that – I imagine it would seem totally different, maybe to the point it would be ruined if we saw it in daylight.

“Have you ever spoken to Charlie since the whole plagiarism thing?” Lachlan suddenly questioned, now with a much more interested tone.

“Ha, There’s someone who’s long gone from my life” I replied in a way that I always hoped made me sound wise and in control of the crap parts of my life, but Lachlan knows me, friends since we were 7 and the smile on my face was an easy give away for him that the mention of her name sparked up a hope in me that made everything else seem so irrelevant.

 

I’d love to know your thoughts on the story so far, remember I’d love it if you kept up with the process on my facebook page and by subscribing to the newsletter, friend!

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Cracking the Dream

When I was in early days of primary school I used to write books, I can’t imagine they were great but every adult I grew up around tells me stories of the amazing picture books I used to write. By the time I reached high school I never really excelled in the whole short story writing english assignment world… which makes what I’m writing about here a surprise for all of us.

I’ve decided to write a book.

I’ve always wanted to create a story that moves the people who read it. I’m sure I’m not the only person who gets to the end of a TV series like Scrubs or How I Met Your Mother and feels a certain desire to have been more deeply involved with the characters. I guess I want to create that. Something that makes people look back and go “Wow, that would have been amazing to be part of.”

It’s called Cracking the Dream. It’s a journey of chasing what you know is right, even when everyone else is working their arse off to stop it. Don’t roll your eyes, it’s a love story, what should be a simple love story about two great people and one great connection is hampered by some really important people who desperately want them apart. It’s like Romeo and Juliet set in Brisbane.

Also, it’s nothing like Romeo and Juliet.

I’m excited about this project because while it’s actually all about me achieving something that I’m really enjoying working on lately, it’s also a book about a theme I really care about – choosing to not settle. I’m all about living a story that’s worth telling and going after the things that deep on your heart you want, instead of giving up. Realising that the things that come easy are really never fulfilling.

I’m not to sure how long this is going to take to write, but I’m going to keep blogging and facebooking about it – why not sign up to receive my email updates as well!

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9 ways to be a world changer in 2016

The world is finally moving for a new year! School’s back (boo), uni is nearly back (boo boo) and a lot of New Years resolutions are long forgotten (do you even remember yours?). Time to get on track for a sweet 2016 – lets make it your year, not another year where you dream of things you wanna do or be, but you become the whole you that you were created to be!

1. Set some achievable goals

Make some academic, make some dream based and make some relationship based. Make no more than 5 and write them all somewhere obvious in your room – maybe pin them to a wall or sticky note them to a mirror or next to your bed. Try something simple like “One conversation a week with a friend where I totally focus on their life and ask interested questions” or “Meet someone I’d usually just ignore at school and get to know their story once a month” for your relationship goals. Try something dangerous for your dream goals – when I was in year 10 I emailed a community radio station and asked for a radio show… we got it! In year 11 I did the same for the manager of a big radio station, didn’t get that, but got my first radio job. It seemed impossible at the time and if I didn’t try it would have been 😉

Whatever it is you want to do – change your school to make it a more loving place, have a sponsored instagram account or be Australia’s hurdling champion find some goals, even tiny ones, that can start you moving towards achieving this!

I don’t care how old you are or what life stage you’re in, if you don’t start moving on it now in some small way it will always just be a dream that you don’t achieve…

2. Busy is so boring

It seems like every time you ask someone how they’ve been they say “really busy”… that’s such a lame answer. Work out why you’re busy – are you wasting too much time procrastinating that you could be using to enjoy doing something else? Have you actually taken too much on? Find room to do things you love and catch up with people you don’t see enough.

3. Learn a new skill

In 2015 mine was cooking, I was actually forced into this one by mum. I never cared about food and definitely never had any interest in cooking it, seemed way too hard. Then I did five weeks of basic cooking classes now I car about what raw ingredients go into EVERYTHING. I love great food and I love the journey of cooking – total opposite to this time last year.

Youtube, Wikipedia, E-How – so many websites are waiting to teach you new things, for free and so easily. Write down 5 things right now that you’d love to learn.
What about how to make a big mac? How to say hello in 15 languages? How to make origami?

4. You should go and love yourself

You have what it takes – I know you do, you were created to be great. Leave notes on your mirror, in your bedroom, in your draws that reminds you that you are good enough, that you have what it takes and that there are AMAZING qualities inside you. Pinterest search some inspirational quotes that will remind you no matter who you are, what you love, what you do, where you’ve been, things you’ve done… You’re actually amazing.

5. While you’re at it, do things you love!

Last year my sister discovered she loved sewing, now she gets old clothes and makes new creations all the time. Maybe you’re a writer, a singer, a youtuber, a comedian, a make up artist, a runner… whatever it is find something you love and do it for the sake of loving it, don’t try and get anything else out of it but joy – that’s the only way for it to bring you anything worthwhile!

6. Write down great things! Dreams, memories, days…

Years ago someone shared this idea with me that every time something great happened to them in a year they’d write it down and put it in a jar, the next year we encouraged 150 teenagers at a youth camp to do it and even gave them the jar… twelve months later some of the stories we heard back were amazing.
Take this a step further – write down the great days with friends, the great achievements, the simple moments of beauty you have in 2016… put them in a jar. ALSO write down great memories you’ve had, great thoughts you’ve though, great ideas, great dreams (both in your sleep and of your future). Read them back at the end of the year – who knows what you discover about yourself.

Pro-tip: keep a journal this year – it’s amazing what writing down your experiences does.

7. Have a social media free week

In 2015 I stopped using my iPhone and traded down to a really dumb phone for about a month. It was so hard to type texts. Not being glued to notifications was awesome, I’m a massive social media junkie and going without it for four weeks always by my side was awesome.
No social media for a week will force you to do a few things the main one is find ways to fill time without having a basic go to. It’ll allow you to chat with your friends in new purposeful ways and it’ll give you a huge break and chunk of free time. It may also show you how easy it is to miss certain things.

8. Find time for silence

No music, no tv, no chatting (even on text), just you and a book or something to write on. Go sit at a park if you can and just listen. Don’t be afraid of it. Sit for at least 10mins once a week and just think about things. Anything.

9. Decide what your story is!

This is so huge, in fact I’m doing a video on this as we speak. Who are you? What do you believe in? What do you stand for? Do you have proof of this? Would your closest friends and family think this about you? What about the people who just brush past you at school? What about people who don’t like you? Everything you do should support this story of who you say you are, or at least not take away from it. I’ve made mistakes with this many times in the past – standing for one thing but living another, mistakes are fine but we have to be ready to correct them.

What else can you do to be a world changer in 2016? Give your tips in the comments!

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My Banana smoothie and the future of story telling on Snapchat

I’m excited about Snapchat, I think I have been since 2012 when I realised why it had won so many hearts. Snapchat has been the social network you use to say something when you’ve got nothing to say, it’s almost a little poke “Hey, I wanna interact with you but I’ve got nothing to say.”

In June 2015 I was standing in Time Square, New York when I noticed a massive set of billboards for Snapchat – it was clear this little social network was beginning to get it’s legs. Actually by last year it had it’s legs, it’s reported the social network now has more than 15% of US adults on board – 15% is regarded as the magical tipping point where social apps begin to mainstream. Celebrities, business leaders and everyone in between is using snapchat for it’s intimate connection potential with fans and customers. People love feeling part of your story. DJ Khaled gets some 1.7million views on his Snapchat stories… if you watch them you’ll be confused as to why, but he does and people love it.

In the last month Snapchat has begun using their Discover feature to start telling stories, such as the Black Lives Matter rally, it’s clear that at some point in 2016 Snapchat is going to be a platform where breaking news is shared, potentially journalists will bring it into it’s own during the US Presidential elections with curated stories reported raw, fast (to the point) and in real time.

That leaves you and I, innovators, dreamers and visionaries. We’re on the verge of an amazing new story telling social network taking it’s place during a time in history where what matters is your story and including people in it (if you don’t believe me spend some time having a look at Apple’s marketing strategy).

How can you use Snapchat to tell your story? Sure it’s a great place to share your day to day narrative but what about producing unique content for Snapchat? Today I made a banana smoothie – what a guy. I’m not a talented cook but I decided to snapchat the very basic steps (btw one too many bananas). If you’re good at whipping up quick snacks then get on Snapchat and have a story that people love watching as you inspire new creations (buzzfeed food and Tasty are already doing this so well on Facebook).

Just like Vine & YouTube Snapchat needs people with passion who have something to share in order to teach the world the creative ways it can be used, I already know people doing this with the Snaps they share with their friends – so be unafraid and try sharing with a wider audience. What can you share? What’s your talent that people would want to know about? Personal Trainer, Mike Vacanti is sharing his daily narrative and fitness tips, people are super hooked in.

What’s your thing you can share on Snapchat?

Remember the reason Snapchat is coming into it’s own now is because people like authenticity, here and now and raw, so don’t get caught up trying to be someone or something you’re not on Snapchat, it’s gotta just be you.

Join me on Snapchat – scotty.mcdonald

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Embrace the Liminal Space

On this week’s Never Too Early episode I admitted to feeling like I’d been in the world of Liminal space for nearly five years… you might be familiar with the feeling

It is when you have left the tried and true, but have not yet been able to replace it with anything else. It is when you are finally out of the way. It is when you are between your old comfort zone and any possible new answer. If you are not trained in how to hold anxiety, how to live with ambiguity, how to entrust and wait, you will run…anything to flee this terrible cloud of unknowing.
– Richard Rohr

It’s actually a great place where, when you embrace it, the parts of you that you no longer need can be put down and your new parts can take over – actually I recently heard that as human we generally need to move into a new set of emotional skills every ten years or so.

The best way I can describe liminal space is feeling like what has been your normal is no longer satisfying, knowing that you’re going SOMEWHERE, with something NEW and EXCITING feeling so close but just not there yet, like it’s all just around a corner that you haven’t reached yet.

It’s frustrating.

Take advantage of this time though, give some of these things a try…

  1. Take note of what you LOVE – things you do, movies you see, ideas you have, hobbies you take part in – any of those things that captivate you and excite you, they’ll often be a clue of where to next. Write them down – make a list.
  2. Exercise – just get out of the house and go for walks or runs, listen to music if you want, but just take time to do nothing but clear you head. Don’t be on the phone or texting or checking socials, just be with you and a cleared out mind.
  3. Get inspirational people around you – it could be someone you know, a family member, friend, boss, anyone that’s living in a way that inspires you – even if it’s not related to where you wanna go. It could also be an author or youtuber or someone who just writes great content online that inspires you. Get immersed in what they have to offer and see if they can help you on your journey.
  4. DON’T STOP! – It’s so much easier to be guided in the right direction if you’re moving than it is to get you moving somewhere if you’re not moving. Just try things, don’t expect your tick list of requirements to be done for you to get things started – just start doing things.
  5. Journal – it’s weird, but start taking note of how you’re thinking, feeling, what you dream of. All those things!

Got any other suggestions for moving to a new space? Comment away!

This week’s podcast is right here! Love your thoughts.

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Here’s a list of videos to make you feel melancholic on a rainy Saturday

Sometimes all you feel like doing on a rainy weekend afternoon is bathing yourself in melancholy. Apparently letting your brain slow down and bathe in sadness isn’t a bad thing, so please, let me help that happen if you’ve run out of netflix series. Here’s my favourite list of Netflix video to make that feeling of down prolong just a little…

The first time Ted meets his wife – How I met your Mother

If you’ve never seen How I met your Mother it’s worth watching the whole damn series just to get the context of this scene. After a day of Ted being told what future Ted would tell Ted what he should have done with his night it finishes with him confessing what future Ted really would have done with his night… bring on the tissues. The soundtrack, OMG.

Ellington – In a Lonely Place

I don’t think I’ve ever felt lonely while listening to this song but boy oh boy, bring on the feels. “This is where you doing something cute and I feel more in love with you”

JD Confesses his love to Elliot – Scrubs

Honestly there are so many scenes in Scrubs that will make you feel every emotion on this damn planet but they just aren’t worth watching out of context. So just go watch Scrubs and remember what having emotions feels like.

Coldplay – Paradise

This isn’t about the song (though lyrically it should move you at least once) no this is all about that little film clip. The elephant desperately looking for it’s people. I tear up every time I see that little trunk pop out to eat the snacks on the plane. We’ve all got our paradise where we belong, right?

Momentos – LG

It starts weird and a little slow, but let it play itself out – might be time to ring somebody and say sorry, lets reconnect. No idea what went wrong in this family or who decided to rekindle, the point is in one moment our humanity interrupts our issues from the past.

Ed Sheehan – Afire Love

Life. Death. Memories that disappear.

Night/Day – Heart for the House – Hillsong Church

This award winning video piece is long, and not from youtube (sorry). It follows a number of stories from around the world that start in a place of grief and end in a place of hope. From the largest city in the world to suburban Australia and an indian slum in between you realise we might not be so different after all… Tied together with poetry that when listened to might bring a tear or two.
“At some point this humanity slaps us all in the face and you find yourself flat on your back, reeling from whatever it is that life has thrown at you… time passes and the thing is, sometimes you’re sitting there, still reeling, years later. The sun has set on your life without you even realising the light was fading.”

Paris Love – Google

Click here to watch

Got any others worth sharing? Love to see them in the comments!

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Fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.

Why do adults seem so much less interested in fixing the problems of the world than young people?

Have you seen the Lego movie yet? It’s actually brilliant! One of my highlights was the opening scene, I was giggling like a little girl the whole way through it – not just because it was hilarious but because it was having a go at how we do our life. In the opening minute he wakes up and reads the instructions for how to have a successful day, including how to make sure people like you.

Last week I caught up with a mate who has a massive heart to take on the health crisis in remote indigenous populations in Australia. Seriously noble and seriously needed – our track record in this area as a nation leaves so much to be desired and is filled with people who knew something wasn’t right, but said nothing.

She shared some stories with me about how bad it remains today, how horrible people have been treated over the years, and it shocked me. My heart was alive as her passion spilled out, it made me glad she felt called to take it on – God knows someone needs to. No really, God knows someone needs to, God knows she needs to.

I was watching the story of Miriam James a few weeks ago and she says something like “You were created you with a purpose, and if you don’t do it no one’s going to raise up to, it just won’t get done…”

It got me reflecting on something that has always annoyed me, while we’re young we have these huge dreams of things we’re going to achieve in our life, throughout high school a lot of people develop a heart for injustices in the world that they want to see fixed. The sad thing is as we get older life gets in the way – these plans, dreams, actions just get further and further down our list of priorities.

I’ve heard people say “That’s just a reality check – we realise that what we thought was important in high school isn’t important anymore.”

What a big fat lie. This isn’t the issue of who’s taking who to the formal, this is the issue of the God-given call planted on each of our lives, as a well known author and follower of Jesus, Bill Hybels calls it our “Holy Discontent.”

Sadly I’ve seen too many people with amazing passion and fire, who are totally distracted by a cause they want to have an impact on changing, graduate from high school and slowly watch that fire dwindle to nothing – usually it goes like this…

  1. Yea, I really want to do something about that – I just need to get my uni degree first.
  2. Well I’m definitely going to do something about it – I just need to get stable first.
  3. One day I’d like to do something about that – but we’re getting married soon so gotta make that happen.
  4. Gosh it’d be great to do something about that – but with the kids now…
  5. Gosh…I’ve missed my chance.

Now of course plenty of people complete noble causes after the kids have grown up, and some people’s noble cause is in fact raising a family, but take those people out and we’re left with a lot of people just getting by, following the instructions.

The instructions of how to live life, just like in The Lego Movie. It’s not just instructions though – it’s fear. Fear of being rejected, fear of your life falling apart and of course fear of missing out.

My favourite author, Donald Miller, has two interesting thoughts on this

“Fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.”

and

“It occurs to me it is not so much the aim of the devil to lure me with evil as it is to preoccupy me with the meaningless”

So what is that thing on your heart? What if you are the person born to fix it? Don’t doubt your abilities – that’ll be sorted out on the way – just work on whatever you can to make sure nothing gets in the way.

HERE’S THE DIRTY LITTLE SECRET – IF YOU DO WHAT YOU WERE MADE TO DO, THE REST WILL WORK ITSELF OUT.

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5 ways to be more than a Facebook warrior for asylum seekers!

Before I get into this rant let me be honest, I love the power of social media to raise awareness of a cause, even the simple ability to get people talking about something in their everyday conversations is killer.

The problem is that talk is just the first step, at some point in the decades to come we’ll look back on this refugee crisis and our kids will ask if we thought it was okay that people (including children) were locked up in detention centres, where media wasn’t welcome and reported conditions were incredibly inhumane. When they ask I want to be armed with more than “I hated it so much that I linked some articles on Facebook and then talked to people about how bad it was…”

While the New York Times has digs at us and the two major political parties continue to really not move toward a humane solution I want to be one of the people that gets my hands and feet dirty in showing true love, welcome and compassion to my fellow humans – no matter where they’re from and how they arrived here.

Here’s 5 simple ways that you can affect real change, right now. 

  1. Have a newly arrived refugee family over for dinner! I’ve heard the wait list for this thing is HUGE, which is awesome, either way get on it – how incredible would it be for your family to host a newly arrived family for dinner, to hear their stories and share about the amazing new life they have ahead here in Australia! Please teach them how to play uno – the more people who can verse me in Uno the better! Sign up (and get more info) here.
  2. Join the movement that is finding practical ways to welcome “those who’ve come across the seas” – from Welcome Parties to teaching your newest neighbours how to speak english. Volunteering with these guys is all about fulfilling their goal – “we’re about mobilising volunteers to engage in practical acts of welcome to encourage us all to leave our prejudices behind and replace them with a spirit of compassion.” Legends. Join them by clicking here!
  3. Check out this list of super simple items you can donate, and places you can donate them to! It doesn’t have to be expensive to be worth while, it can be something as simple as translink tickets or school materials! Just grab something next time you’re near a shop and make it happen… heck why not make it part of your weekly schedule to donate one of these items!
  4. Write a letter or email to your local MP asking them to get kids out of detention. Here’s the thing, if you can read this blog you can send the email…. “But even if I knew what to write, I wouldn’t know who to send it to!” Ohhh don’t worry, the guys at the Brisbane Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Network have done all the hard work FOR YOU – check this page out!
    Ps. These guys also have an awesome page that lays down the facts and provides you with sources with info you can trust on this issue.
  5. Visit refugee detainees at Brisbane’s detention centre! The Refugee Action Collective Queensland regularly visit the refugee detainees in the centre to stay informed by the people they’re representing – you can find out details if you’ve like to go along on this page!

Know of any other great ideas? Let every know in the comments!

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Don’t spend so much time planning for the future that you miss the amazing now

“You’ll miss it when it’s over” The most annoying six words said to you when you’re in school. I remember hearing it so much in grade 11 and 12, and I never once believed it, I was just ready for real life to begin – to explore, to work, to make choices. Of course I was wrong, and I miss school at least once a week, but that’s so beside the point because even if I had of realised I’d miss it what could I do? Five years is all you get, it’s got it’s a guaranteed end.

In the last week though, I’ve realised the advice I wish I understood in high school…

“Don’t spend so much time planning for the future that you miss the amazing now”

High school sucks. It just happens in the wrong stage of life, you’re insecure, you struggle to pay attention, and all your interests are just waking up.

But, the opportunities and experiences you get in high school will mostly never appear again in life. I spent so much time in year 11 and 12 thinking that all the cool things I was involved in were just like dress rehearsals for the “real version” once I graduated, but that’s just not true, high school is like a buffet of experiences where you have the chance to experience a lot of things, and then choose the best few to continue with for the rest of your life.

I spent so much of high school time anxious about things that I was convinced were so important, that basically have meant nothing to me since I was 18. I wasted so many opportunities by…

Being lazy – I seriously spent so much time avoiding assignments, just cause I didn’t want to do them. I really regret missing the sense of satisfaction of putting a lot of work into something, and in high school I had no interest chasing that feeling, the late nights, the stress, the learning, the midnight snacks… I didn’t do any of it, and I wish I did experience that. I also didn’t want to do early mornings, or much staying back after school… gosh I lost a lot of opportunities cause of that. Believing my immediate social circumstances would have impact beyond this weekend – Friendships and social life is important in high school, I just spent so much time investing unnecessarily in friendships, waiting for them to come online, sending big long messages… procrastinating with them. None of these things increased the quality of my friendships, in fact most of it degraded the quality, hindsight has taught me that I would have grown so much more in my friendships if they were a reward for good study habits, as a pose to how I spent ALL of my time.

Fearing the unknown – I avoided SO many situations cause I was afraid of not fitting in or looking like a fool! I think this was especially bad for me, if someone I was afraid of being hurt by was at a party I just wouldn’t go. I can actually list off countless situations where I missed out on big fun, or meeting awesome new people just cause I was too afraid of going somewhere, or talking to someone.

Focusing on my life after school – I almost used this as a way to appear too cool to do many normal high school things, I had a career I was working towards and normal high school stuff was too boring or below me. So dumb, I get to live that career every day for ever, how about living being a high schooler for the few years I GOT TO BE ONE!
This all came into the blaring light for me last week when I was chatting to a friend of mine doing her senior years in boarding school, this was my greatest fear in high school… I just couldn’t imagine having to do that, ever, and couldn’t understand people who seemed to be okay with it. Gosh, imagine all the lost social opportunities, freedom, fun times, normalness…

Last week though I almost slapped myself in the face.

“I could have done that” I thought “Easily.”

It would have just been two years, and those two years would of been the coolest experience that I’d never, ever get another chance of experiencing, and even if it sucked, it would have been over… in just two short years. I know two years is huge in high school world, but in the scheme of things, it comes and goes so fast, by age 20 it would have been three years ago.

OKAY, LET ME FINISH THIS

In the first term of year 12 I scored a minor role in our musical that we did with the neighbouring girls school, the term we worked on and then performed that musical made up the best memories of my entire school life. At the time I also began doing work experience at my dream radio station, and was doing the incredibly hard task of starting year 12. This term also had one other really significant point of interest – it was the highest marks I got across the board for all of high school. All in that one term.

I tell people my marks dropped for the rest of year 12 because I was distracted by radio, but deep down I know that’s not true.

Term 1, Year 12, I was giving my everything to the moment, and every part of my life flourished.

Over the next three terms I lost so much motivation to study, spent so much time messaging online, or hanging around the radio station, that when we finally graduated everyone was so mental and celebrating and I kinda felt a bit… empty, like no big celebration was needed. Unlike everyone else I hadn’t slogged my guts out and given it my all, I didn’t need (or deserve) time to kick back and celebrate what I’d done, looking back on that now I realise how much it sucks.

My job now is to not look back on how badly I wasted high school, it’s to look at my life right now and find where I’m still making those mistakes at age 25, and hope I’m not reflecting on the time in a decade in the same way.

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.