Seeing with new eyes

As I get ready to celebrate NAIDOC Week and learn from the Indigenous community how to Heal Country, I accept who I am. I am rich, privileged and 5th/6th generation coloniser, who benefits 100% from the horrific war my people began in order to occupy this land.

My culture will do what it can to help me be in denial about this, with many ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ and ‘it wasn’t your fault’. This denial is unhelpful, exhausting and will keep our stories haunting us for generations. If we can see the denial for what it is, we often move to feelings of guilt, shame, embarrassment, helplessness and confusion. Letting go of these, and embracing acceptance is an absolute game changer, and it means we can go confidently to a place of compassion and listening.

With acceptance of who I am I can confidently say, when it comes to Indigenous lives, I must listen and learn.

It means I can confidently say, when it comes to equality and issues about poverty, I must listen and learn.

You can hear from Jane on Instagram: @rewildingchristianity