pain and Hope : Brett Fish

Taboo Topics: Living with Disability – meet Lachlan Nicholson [Spastic Cerebral Palsy]

I’m a quadriplegic, not an inspiration By Lachlan Nicholson Fresh off of my twenty-fourth birthday and living with a condition known as spastic cerebral palsy, I consider most things in my life to be causes for joy and gratitude. After all, I have a full-time job, several good friends and though severe, my disability is not in any way degenerative. However, one thing which has become a major annoyance, particularly since entering adulthood is constantly [...]

By brettfish|2016-12-02T17:34:05+02:00September 16th, 2014|change the world, pain and Hope, people, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|14 Comments

Taboo Topics: Living with Disabilities/Special Needs – Intro

From my friend, Dalene Reyburn: So, I’m honoured to be hanging out with Brett in this bustling corner of the internet to introduce the next Taboo Topics series: people with special needs. I think Brett’s a hero for having the courage to open up these sorts of topics – things that are often ignored or misunderstood or too fraught with pain to be voiced. This series will give parents and others a safe space to [...]

By brettfish|2017-01-31T13:01:02+02:00September 15th, 2014|pain and Hope, people, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|20 Comments

i’m not sure you’re against that thing you think you’re against: white privilege

A lot of people, yes white ones [like me], switch off when we hear the term 'white privilege' [please don't!] Some people, yes white ones, get angry when we hear the term 'white privilege' [please don't!] But i sometimes wonder if it is because of a misunderstanding of what people who talk about 'white privilege' mean when they do so. So please take a deep breath and try and approach this piece with fresh eyes [forget [...]

By brettfish|2014-09-03T07:28:09+02:00September 3rd, 2014|challenging thorts, change the world, pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people, what i am reading|53 Comments

Marriage Year 5: Meet Lily and Jonathan Dunn

Photo courtesy of Taylorraephotography.com I’ll be the first to tell you that I suck at marriage. Let me give you an example. A few weeks ago we were sitting on a bench outside a perfect little neighborhood boulangerie in Australia, eating pain au chocolat in the sunshine when Jonathan told me he was thinking of applying to grad school so that he could potentially start a program when we return from Korea. “What do you think?” he [...]

By brettfish|2014-07-26T11:19:22+02:00July 26th, 2014|inspire-ations, love and chocolate, marriage, pain and Hope, relationships, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Porn part II: The 'How' of my Freedom by Bek Curtis

We met Bek Curtis last week and she has kindly agreed to let me post her follow-up to the post she shared with us on her struggles with and victory over Pornography. So here is a repost of her unplanned part II, titled 'The 'How' of Freedom': I find myself writing once again on the topic of pornography, and once again writing with reluctance, fueled this time by different motivators. I had a few people [...]

By brettfish|2014-07-22T08:59:12+02:00July 22nd, 2014|pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Porn part II: The ‘How’ of my Freedom by Bek Curtis

We met Bek Curtis last week and she has kindly agreed to let me post her follow-up to the post she shared with us on her struggles with and victory over Pornography. So here is a repost of her unplanned part II, titled 'The 'How' of Freedom': I find myself writing once again on the topic of pornography, and once again writing with reluctance, fueled this time by different motivators. I had a few people [...]

By brettfish|2014-07-22T08:59:12+02:00July 22nd, 2014|pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|6 Comments

Taboo Topics: Porn – meet Bek Curtis

This is a repost of a blog by permission which was originally posted on her blog, 'Perfectly Flawed' - meet Bek Curtis: Lust. Sex. Porn. If those words made you squirm, you may not want to read ahead. Likewise, if you’re of the prudish variety, because here I openly, albeit reluctantly, share with you my experience of, and thoughts on, pornography. Reluctant, because people can be jerks. Some people refuse to see the transformational work of [...]

By brettfish|2014-07-16T00:15:36+02:00July 16th, 2014|inspire-ations, pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

What the world cup reveals about our faith

this is something that my friend Deborah Dowlath reminded me in her simple blog post, A Drop in the Ocean which included this line: I wish that followers of Christ would be as vocal about the injustices that occur on a daily basis as they are about the progress of their favourite team. and this passage: Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then [...]

By brettfish|2014-07-05T11:04:23+02:00July 5th, 2014|challenging thorts, change the world, pain and Hope, shtupidt people, worship|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Dealing with the grief of losing someone you love: Meet Kim Overbeck and Tegan

'I've never forgotten him. Dare I say I miss him? I do. I miss him. I still see him in my dreams. They are nightmares mostly, but nightmares tinged with love. Such is the strangeness of the human heart. I still cannot understand how he could abandon me so unceremoniously, without any sort of goodbye, without looking back even once. The pain is like an axe that chops my heart.' [The Life of Pi] This [...]

By brettfish|2014-07-01T05:42:41+02:00July 1st, 2014|pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

The Power of Water

One of the most powerful passages from the book i am busy finishing at the moment, because it will start with laughter and end in tears. Such a powerful read: I suppose that the number of homies I've baptised over the decades is in the thousands. Gang members find themselves locked up and get around to doing things their parents didn't arrange for them. Homies are always walking up to me at Homeboy Industries or [...]

By brettfish|2014-06-18T08:56:36+02:00June 18th, 2014|inspire-ations, pain and Hope, thorts of other people, what i am reading|0 Comments