Follow your inner moonlight
Greta kicked off the Prefect Initiative, ‘Fear-less’, with this hilarious speech about her family, complete with her Grandma’s quarrel with Sir David Attenborough no less. Fearless indeed!
“Fear-less. It can range from climbing a mountain, to giving a speech in Assembly. But being fearless isn't about doing great things, it is about doing small things, like being yourself and doing what you love. Why am I up here? Is it because the prefects were threatened with getting our names pulled out of a hat? Maybe. But I thought to myself, how much of a hypocrite am I if I can’t even be fearless myself? I would be bringing shame to my family’s name if I didn't stand up and do something weird or out of my comfort zone.
What do I mean by that? Well, if you know me well, you know my family is – oh what’s the word – actually insane! They have zero qualms about being themselves whenever, wherever, and with whomever they are with. They are ‘fear-lessly’ themselves. Let me take you through it.
Starting with Grandma. Her name is Mary, and her initials spell out ‘MAD’, which you’ll see is very befitting of her. She cuts her hair with a penknife in the car, wears high red socks with long brown skirts and sensible shoes. You’ll hear her before you see her, and once she starts talking, she will not stop! If you ask her about a tree you saw, she’ll tell you the name, the scientific name, whether it is native or not, and if it's not native, what country it came from and who bought it here and what the wood is good for… and she could go on. I’ve seen many an innocent stranger walk away with priceless knowledge on Australian Parrotfish breeding areas. She can’t remember where she put the newspaper, but boy could she tell you the whole history of any tree or bird! She once got told off by Sir David Attenborough – let me say that again – she got told off by Sir David Attenborough for having an exotic endangered bird pinned to her wall when he came over for tea. Casual. Grandma had a quarrel with him, and they agreed to give it to the Australian museum, so that is where it is. That’s Grandma.
My Auntie Tia and Uncle Dave both lived in the flourishing town of Coen in the heart of Queensland, a one street, dirt road town in the middle of nowhere, where Tia was the resident remote area nurse and Dave was the fearless park ranger, with a massive beard and flowing ponytail. Tia once saw a crocodile carrying a human leg down the road because the morgue door was open! The two of them look very out of place in the city, but they are very proud of their rural identity.
My Uncle Gussy, I call him the lawyer by day and mountaineer by night. He’s a six foot five, shaved head, absolutely bulked up to the max, has endured awful, tough conditions in mountains and is an absolute sweetheart. He looks like he could kill you but will stop and coo loudly at a pug walking by – he’s obsessed with them! He looks intimidating, but has no problem being the biggest softie I know.
Apart from hearing about my riveting family, what was the point of those stories? Well, Grandma holds her own against Sir David Attenborough and will make sure you know everything about anything. Tia and Dave will manhandle poisonous insects and wear floral shirts and hiking boots to a fancy dinner. And Gus will allow himself to be gentle and warm even though I’m sure he could break me in half. My family are super weird, and super loud, and super strange but are always themselves. They aren’t afraid to follow their passions and be who they are.
Let’s all aspire to be like Grandma, effortlessly fearless! Sometimes it's easier to do the things we believe are expected of us, but it is fearless to do the things we love to do. As the American poet Allen Ginsburg said, “Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.â€
Greta (Year 11)
Prefect 2019/20