Vasilios Theodorakis – An Online Author

Yet again I’ve lost another three months due to medical dramas. Thanks to what my doctors jokingly call “constitution” however, I seem to be a “hard dying kind of guy”, so lets resume where we left off in February.

I’m pleased to say, the blog’s stats show its readership continues to (patiently) revisit the site, even though nothing has gone up in all this time. I thank each and everyone of you for your support and hope to make it worth your while for having stuck with this blog.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – May 2011

I’m back and I appear to have survived – at least for the time being. ;) My operation, according to my neuroradiologist, was a technical success. The problem blood vessel in my brain has been blocked (I have images to prove it), the “24 hour a day” deafening noise is finally gone and the risk of a stroke is diminishing. I’m not sure ending up with a “truck load” of metal and synthetic coils in your brain is necessarily a good thing, but it’s currently the best technique available for such problems.

The post operative care I received however – now that’s another story! Had I not discharged myself from the hospital when I did, I would now be in real trouble with my immuno-suppression . All hale the ongoing incompetence of Queensland Health – the clinical and hygiene risk patients are put through is something to behold! If you ever have to deal with this bureaucracy, keep your wits about you. Always check the hygiene practices of staff, what medications they’re administering and what procedures they intend to carry out – and never, ever be afraid to advocate or say no to their “carefree approach” to your well being.

In light of my recent experience, I now have grave concerns for patients who cannot, or will not advocate for themselves in a context where “duty of care” is less important than whether a doctor or the department might be sued. Over the years, I’ve witnessed a lot of questionable behaviour in hospitals, but even I was surprised by the number of junior doctors whose standard response to questions (about one’s own medical status) began with the following – “Legally, I can’t answer that question for you!” It seems its now easier to leave medical incompetence in place and “lawyer oneself up” rather than improve patient safety and care.

On a more positive note and in spite of what I experienced after the operation, I am genuinely grateful for the brilliant work carried out by the neuroradiology team. Their compassion, communication and skill cannot be faltered, even if the system in which they work leaves a lot to be desired.

All things going well, I look forward to resuming this blog as of next week. Thank you for all your well wishes during my convalesces – they were much appreciated.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – February 2011

Each year on “Australia Day”, my wife and I visit the location of local Aboriginal midden grounds and pay our respects to the original people who lived on the land that we now live on. In 2009 I wrote the following piece for us to read each and every year until this country acknowledges and begins to respect its Aboriginal people and its Aboriginal past. Health permitting I intend to keep reading this out loud under the figs, next to the mangroves (in the park) every 26th of January, or at least until a more appropriate date for Australia Day is chosen.

“Paying Our Respects – 26th January 2011″

Today we remember our Indigenous brothers and sisters who have been murdered, beaten, raped, diseased, displaced, ignored and forgotten for 223 years.

We remember that they met here peacefully on this midden mound whose name we no longer know.

We remember that here they rested, discussed and resolved problems that the different clans of Quandamooka (Moreton Bay) encountered for thousands of years.

We remember that we are standing on land which they believed could not be owned by any one person but only looked after by the clan / their people – i.e. entrusted in guardianship for all time.

We remember that people belonged to the land but that the land did not belong to all people.

We remember that as a many Nationed peoples, they were invaded and that the land was never lawfully settled by the non-Indigenous peoples, as no treaties were ever signed with the original inhabitants, as no attempts were made to protect the original languages and culture, and that the original people’s presence was never acknowledged in any meaningful way.

Today we remember that choosing this day as the national day of the country is an insult to the surviving Indigenous Australians and disrespects the Indigenous people who died and suffered over the last 223 years. We look forward to a time when this county’s national day is inclusive of all Australians, when its flag represents all Australians and its Head Of State is answerable only to Australians.

Yet again we had the whole park to ourselves as we read this out loud and reflected on the day. None of the locals care to remember that the park is the burial ground of the indigenous people’s shell middens.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – January 2011

The hour of my neurological operation has arrived, and I approach it with much apprehension. There are far too many things being left undone and I worry about the burden I might leave behind for others – especially my wife.

So much still to be said, but I know if something does go wrong, another will eventually step forward and say what I had hoped to say.

All things going well though, this blog will resume in February 2011. If there are complications – my wife will add a closure post to this site.

You have all my hopes for the future,

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – January 2011

While we’re on the topic of quotes, another saying I created for myself (in order to make sense of reality) was the following:

“Why are we here?”
“We are here to add a new shade of colour to the rainbow of life.”

This was written and shared with friends and family in the late 1980s.

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2010

Between 1980 to 1984 (while I was aged 13 to 17), I lived my life according to a saying I had formulated for myself. The origins of the mantra are somewhat hazy, but I know it came out of my need to redress “an education label” I had been given early on in my schooling i.e. that I was slow and/or retarded (intellectually disabled). Looking back, the fact that a 13 year old could come up with such a saying seems a little odd, but in hindsight, it was quite an accomplishment for a child who was permanently in survival mode.

The saying was part observation (of past circumstances) and part motivation (positive self talk and encouragement). It was obviously hobbled together by a child, when you look at its grammatical structure, but it worked and worked well. At the time, the mantra helped me excel in whatever I tried to do, despite my dysfunctional environment and against all odds.

The saying went something like this:
Nothing comes easy,
Yet nothing is impossible!

If you correct for the use of “nothing”, it meant…
No accomplishment comes easy,
Yet no accomplishment is impossible!

Something so simple, yet it placed me on a magic carpet of self confidence which lasted a full 5 years. Damn all the people I encountered from 1985 onwards who convinced me to abandon my own mantra! Shame on you, and shame on me for allowing you to take away my hopes and dreams!

Truth be told though – by the time I got to Uni, I fell into the same trap I had witnessed most of my high school friends succumb to, and that was, wanting to do well without actually doing the work! I forgot the first part of my own mantra, i.e. that no thing comes easy.

Unfortunately, what often follows a desire for reward without effort, is blaming everything and everyone when things don’t go your way. Once I got into this mode of operation, I became the consummate victim. It’s so easy to go from success to failure, if you start to think people owe you something. Looking back, it’s a shame I wasn’t able to maintain the humility of that 13 year old who never did learn that he couldn’t accomplish something. And why? Because he was always far too busy working towards that accomplishment! ;)

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2010

The most irritating and disturbing thing I hear coming out of people’s mouths in Australia is – “I’ve worked hard and I deserve all the rewards I’ve received!”

It flabbergasts me – it’s just dumb luck that these people were born into a well resourced and rich country. They could just as easily have been born in a country where ten people live in a single room dwelling with dirt floors. Do 70% of the earth’s human population deserve that sort of lifestyle? And were an individual from that earthen floor dwelling to work “really” hard, they would still only be able to build an earthen floored dwelling!

None of us “deserve” anything! There is no rhyme or reason as to where we’re born on the planet. It just happens that some of us have access to amazing opportunities but there is no justification for that good fortune!

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2010

During the course of my own ill health, I’ve met both young and old patients who’ve been handed a death sentence by our medical oracles. As might be expected, I’ve found both age groups embrace or reject the inevitable and live their remaining time accordingly. What’s stood out however is that young children, if given the chance, are much better at dealing with death than adults.

During the last 20 years, I’ve had the good fortune of knowing a few of the “accepting” young and their families. In those instances, parents provided the space for the rapid evolution of their child, who invariably died with a level of wisdom and insight far beyond their years.

I’ve also known families, who tried to hide what was happening from their terminally ill child – an approach which really didn’t help. The child almost always died in a state of fear, indirectly fostered by the parent’s own denial.

Then there’s adults, and sadly I’ve known more adults that greet the reaper in a state of denial than acceptance. From what I’ve seen, children, if allowed, accept their reality much better than “grown ups”. For example, the last gentleman that my wife and I farewelled, continued to believe he “could not die”, right up until his last days.

We have truly messed up as a society, to allow death to be so perfectly removed from reality that even when we’re dying, we can’t be honest with ourselves. Then again, I don’t suppose you’d think your life could come to an end, if you drove around in flashy cars, lived in McMansions and had enough disposable income to replace all your furniture every 2 or 3 years!

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2010

There was a time when anyone could come up with a notion, research it, develop it and release it to the public. It didn’t matter if you weren’t a specialist and didn’t matter if you didn’t have a Ph.D. in the field – as long as the idea was sound, made sense and could be backed up by the rest of humanity’s body of knowledge, there was a chance it would be accepted into popular thought.

But today? Today, without a string of letters after your name, the idea of contributing to human insight is “technically” off limits. So what do people like me do – people who’s minds come up with notion after notion? Find a means of getting ideas out into the world without 7 years of academic specialisation in every field of knowledge! After years of thrashing around inside my “degree limited” cage, I’ve come to accept that the only legitimate avenue for people like me is writing, and in my case, Science Fiction writing.

So, if you like the ideas appearing in my blog’s commentaries and poetry, I hope you take the time to investigate my Science Fiction material when it finally gets a public release – the short stories and novels I’m working on contain all the ideas I’ve come up with in the last 30 years. :)

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2010

What is it about our species and its obsession to bury things – both physically and metaphysically?

Did it begin when we were hunter gathers and got into a habit of just leaving things lying around because they naturally decayed. Then, when we started using materials that didn’t break down, like masonry, we had to bury them so that our environment didn’t become an eyesore. A progression from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle maybe?

Or are we just genetically lazy? i.e. After building something, using something and abandoning something – instead of cleaning up after ourselves, reusing materials or recycling, we cover them up with soil, pretend they never existed and build more on top of that soil! Just look at our oldest cities – places like Rome. New York, etc., now sit tens of metres higher than when they were first settled.

Whatever the reason, it has two far reaching consequences:
1 – Our refuse and rubble has allowed us to study our past, which has to be a good thing in terms of learning from our mistakes.
2 – It is not sustainable. No other creature, leaves behind (buries) the amount of waste we do. It isn’t natural and if it was, the planet would already be covered by a billion years of concrete!

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2010