judy blume ft inspiration

it's been a week of busy and of crazy
but in the midst of it all i have experienced some inspiration, some hopes for the future.
on friday at my uni home rmit, i was privy to a forum of documentary filmmakers, inclusive of john safran, helen gaynor and two more esteemed and knowledgable gentleman. i think i am more interested in sound/audio than film as an artistic medium, but their knowledge and thoughts on doco were transferable between the mediums. it was incredibly interesting and incredibly inspirational: the four on the panel were, really, just ordinary people who had gone out and "done stuff" (to quote mr safran). proactivity and luck and humour had resulted in something big. 

MAYBE I CAN DO SOMETHING, ONE DAY?
eeep. 

and then on the weekend i volunteered at the melbourne writer's festival (check it out). i was rostered in green room, which meant i sat around and drank tea, and helped famous authors sign in, and walked them to their talks/designated rooms. 
and all these famous types were just so normal!
i know i know, they are just people, but sometimes i expect peeps of celebrity status to be sparkly and something. (but they never are). they were all so friendly and nice and they drank revolting instant coffee JUST LIKE ME. 

and i went to a talk by a man called kooshyar karimi, who had been born in tehran, in iran: his mother jewish, his father muslim. his father had three wives, and this had been allowed by his religion. it was regarded as a good deed, because he was looking after three women, who may have otherwise been homeless or destitute. karimi talked about how his mother had taught him and his younger brother about judaism, about Adonai, about the stories of moses and joseph. karimi had found moses to be an appropriate hero-figure: an inspirational figure to whom he could look to for guidance. 
he was arrested by the iranian secret service and forced to work for them: to route out prominent jews in tehran. (his acts as somewhat of a confessional for this) 
he and his family managed to escape (he calls it an inexplicable miracle) to turkey, where they sought asylum. 
karimi had always dreamed of going to israel, but his wife was reluctant, and they came to australia, where karimi is now a practising gp in country nsw.

hearing stories like that of kooshyar karimi makes me appreciate life and world, but also marvel at his resolve and character and journey. i can't possibly imagine or even think of imagining what he went through in his basement in tehran or in the secret service. it is beyond any fathoming. 

and and today i bought a judy blume diary. oh yes i did. 
it shall serve as "a place to put my own feelings" (to quote the front cover) and has lots and lots of delectably '80s photos and inspirational/poignant Judy Blume lines:

"Sometimes I think Janet is going to be a terrible flirt!"
Deenie

xoxo