Twenty Tiny Elephants? It took me a while to settle on the name. The connotations of some of my initial titles, either edgy (Bitch with a Stick) or more hackneyed and saccharine (It’s a funny thing about life…), weren’t quite what I wanted to convey or conveyed something I wasn’t intending.
I’ve always been a fan of elephants. For many years I wore a little silver one on a long chain – anonymous beneath layers of clothing. I had a small hand carved jade one lurking in my handbag. It’s amazing how irrationally brave you can be when you have an elephant in your bag or walking in front of you.
I drew large elephants with task titles and then coloured in tiny sections each time I took a step towards completion. It’s interesting how motivating it is to colour in another tiny section of an elephant’s bottom as an initially improbable endeavour creeps towards fulfillment.
But, it really is a funny thing about life, it does sometimes shunt you down a cul-de-sac. And tasks that would have never required a motivating pachyderm suddenly require elephantine strength and effort – tiny elephants perhaps for tiny tasks but elephants nevertheless.
Twenty Tiny Elephants is going to share with you some of the hilarious, irritating and impossible tasks I have been obliged to engage in; some interesting aids to endeavour I have discovered and some of the behaviours I have developed.
The first comment in the series is not one of those things, it’s a warning to be aware that whether as the result of personal injury or accident, or community disaster there will be those trying to exploit and take advantage. So take care.
First up: Twenty Tiny Elephants: Sharks, Dolphins and Lizards
Rosemary Balu. Rosemary has arts and law degrees from the University of Auckland. She has been a working lawyer and has participated in a wide variety of community activities where information gathering, submission writing, community advocacy and education have been involved. She has been interested in all forms of the arts since childhood.
ARTbop
