![\"Dog](\"http:\/\/neighbourday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Blokey-fire-damage-1-upright.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy Alison Brook | Chief Executive Officer | Relationships Australia Canberra and Region<\/p>\n
Writing from the ACT at a time when we\u2019ve had extensive fires for more than a month in several states across Australia, and devastation in the past week over large tracts of the country, it\u2019s fair to say we\u2019re in the midst of an unprecedented disaster \u2013 to humankind, to our forests and farmland, to our beloved fauna and to property.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also fair to say that not many Australians have been unaffected, either directly or through the experience of family, friends and colleagues.\u00a0 We are facing unprecedented climatic conditions.\u00a0 We\u2019re facing a devastating level of fire activity.\u00a0 We\u2019re in uncharted territory as a nation and are the focus of the eyes of the rest of the world.\u00a0 This event may be a game-changer the world has been waiting for, to change political and economic systems, in order that we can collectively channel resources and scientific expertise into saving what is left of our natural world.\u00a0 This is indeed the globe\u2019s existential problem.<\/p>\n
In the midst of the turmoil, the political posturing, buck-passing and human-induced mayhem,\u00a0there are a number of wonderful things that transcend the disaster.<\/p>\n
The first of these is love.<\/strong>\u00a0 There are so many stories already of people who have lost everything but, homeless, have turned up at their neighbour\u2019s home to help put out spot fires there, of those who have gone straight back from their own devastation to evacuation centres, volunteering their services to others.\u00a0 The word \u2018love\u2019 has even been used by hard-nosed journalists, moved by the kindnesses they have encountered in fire-ravaged communities.\u00a0 It is a beautiful reminder that love is universal and that in times of disaster, love helps to balance the world.<\/p>\n The second is heroism.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Those who fight fires supported by other first responders are astounding in their professionalism and courage.\u00a0 Theirs is the task of facing the terror of fires that are unstoppable in their fury, guarding people\u2019s lives and property against the fires\u2019 unforgiving onslaught.\u00a0 Theirs is the courage to leave their own vulnerable homes to secure the homes of others.\u00a0 Their heroism outclasses fictional superheroes \u2013 role models all people can hold in the highest esteem.<\/p>\n The third is generosity.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Led by many around the world who see the Australian disaster as the clarion call to international action on climate change and the protection of our natural world, there have been countless donations aimed at alleviating the destruction from this current event and starting the process of building resources that will help in our fight to stem the impact of rapidly changing climate in this country and globally.\u00a0 Whether it is a crowd-funded contribution of tens of millions of dollars or large or more modest individual donations depending on capacity, people are opening their hearts and their wallets and giving with incredible generosity.\u00a0 Generosity other than through cash donations is also everywhere to see.\u00a0 In individual and collective acts of kindness and selflessness.<\/p>\n The fourth is community<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 and our innate need to belong and contribute.\u00a0 There are countless tales of communities being drawn closer together, supporting each other to face a future together that is bleak, but bearable if faced collectively. Neighbour helping neighbou<\/strong>r.\u00a0 Local businesses giving freely of stock, cash or services.\u00a0 Local community organisations providing support from communal facilities.\u00a0 In many places, people in the past week have spoken about their communities becoming closer than ever before, members knowing truly that they belong and are loved.<\/p>\n When I look back on the first week of January 2020 in future years, I hope that the horror and devastation open to the world on TV screens, social media feeds and countless websites are countered by the natural beauty of community, belonging, generosity, heroism and ultimately, of love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Alison Brook | Chief Executive Officer | Relationships Australia Canberra and Region Writing from the ACT at a time when we\u2019ve had extensive fires for more than a month in several states across Australia, and devastation in the past week over large tracts of the country, it\u2019s fair to say we\u2019re in the midst […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-13331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-neighbour-day"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13331"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225796,"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13331\/revisions\/225796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}