taboo topics : Brett Fish

Taboo Topic: Living with Disablity – meet Michelle Botha [Retinitis Pigmentosa – degenerative sight condition]

At two years old, after numerous visits to various specialists, I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative sight condition. RP affects the cells of the retina and results in tunnel vision, night blindness, severe light sensitivity and consistent sight loss. In short, I was going steadily and irreversibly blind. It has been quite a journey so far. Moving from sight to blindness brings with it a set of challenges somewhat different to those [...]

By brettfish|2016-12-02T17:26:20+02:00September 18th, 2014|pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|13 Comments

Taboo Topics: Living with Disabilities – Meet Uel Maree [Spinal Cord Injury – Unfortunate diving accident]

Hi, my name is Uel and pre-December 2011 I was an avid rock climber, swam in the sea a lot, gymed, organized adventure camps and helped out at church. But in December 2011 i dived into a river and well, i didn't end up winning any medals for my attempt but did unfortunately break my neck leaving me paralyzed from the chest down..... I was air lifted to hospital where I spent 100 days, eish. [...]

By brettfish|2016-12-02T17:25:11+02:00September 17th, 2014|pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|35 Comments

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

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

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

Taboo Topics: Race – The Panel – Questions from you about Race-related things – Q2: Being 'over' apartheid?

QUESTION 2: [Graeme Broster] I don't believe we can even begin to discuss issues of race, reconciliation etc before we begin to discuss and answer the issue of identity. Not sure if it's clear but give it some thought Race panel question: When, if ever, will it be OK to be "over" apartheid? If possible put a number of years to your answer. [Brett: Hot question i know but i followed it up with Graeme to [...]

By brettfish|2014-06-01T22:21:37+02:00June 1st, 2014|challenging thorts, inspire-ations, life, pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Race – The Panel – Questions from you about Race-related things – Q2: Being ‘over’ apartheid?

QUESTION 2: [Graeme Broster] I don't believe we can even begin to discuss issues of race, reconciliation etc before we begin to discuss and answer the issue of identity. Not sure if it's clear but give it some thought Race panel question: When, if ever, will it be OK to be "over" apartheid? If possible put a number of years to your answer. [Brett: Hot question i know but i followed it up with Graeme to [...]

By brettfish|2014-06-01T22:21:37+02:00June 1st, 2014|challenging thorts, inspire-ations, life, pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|2 Comments

Whose Taboo Topic is it anyway?

My favourite space on my blog is probably the Taboo Topics section where we look at topics rarely spoken about such as losing a baby or infertility, singleness or being a parent of young children when it's really really hard, abortion and adoption, issues of race and many more... with one exception these posts take the form of stories of real live people who put their names and faces on them to help make them more [...]

By brettfish|2014-05-31T12:20:47+02:00May 31st, 2014|inspire-ations, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Adoption – Meet Mariska de Beer

Well, as a first time blogger I’m not really sure where to start and what to write. I cannot say that I am really good with words, but this I know….I do not want to keep quiet about this and if writing gives me an opportunity to be heard then I’m grabbing hold of this with everything I’ve got. I’ve always known that I will adopt children one day…not sure why – I guess it [...]

By brettfish|2014-05-27T10:40:08+02:00May 27th, 2014|family, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments