What’s the story behind “Big Hill & Oyster”?
For people who consult me...
“Big Hill” represents life’s challenges and obstacles. "Oyster" represents life’s nourishing opportunities, gifts and positive experiences. Their shapes reflect each other because there are gifts to be found in challenges; and challenges always arise as we pursue life’s opportunities too.
The big hill also represents a place from which we can see 'the big picture'. The oyster represents getting below the surface and exploring things there... including things that may be operating in our lives invisibly.
The shoreline between them represents a place of meetings and connections…between people, ideas, feeling ’stuck’ and moving freely.
It’s a place where we can meet and connect with ourselves too, because the waterline also represents the ‘in between’ places that we sometimes find ourselves, or sometimes choose to be. It’s a place we can choose to occupy when we opt against others' binaries of life.
It’s a place of infinite possibilities. It might be a place between masculine and feminine energies, light and shadow, the internal and the external, the individual and the collective, or between two cultures. It’s a place where we can connect and build bridges.
And for me, personally...
"Big Hill" honours my late grandfather, an Aboriginal man born to a Ngugi (Moreton Island) man and a Kombumerri (Gold Coast) woman. His middle name was Capembah, meaning ”Big Hill” in honour of his birthplace on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island).
“Oyster” represents my Aboriginal heritage, family and history. I come from a long line of oyster farmers who worked the Moreton Bay region for many generations before mine.
Together, "Big Hill" and "Oyster" honour Country. They represent the land and the sea... the freshwater and the saltwater... the elements of earth and water.
The shoreline is meaningful for me too. It’s where I spent a lot of time as a kid, and it’s also where I’ve dwelled metaphorically most of my life... between two worlds. I’ve done the most powerful healing there too… I’ve met challenges with curiosity and a vulnerable, open heart, and I have harvested nourishing gifts, built unbreakable strength, and fostered joy in everything I do.
Keep reading...
What's Leanne's story...