Reflections with magical Mandy, my friend of 15 years in Brisbane, Australia
- bronwyntutty
- Mar 25
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 26
Purpose of post : To emphasise the importance of ‘connection’, following your intuition and feeling supported to show up, speak up and share.
Something about Mandy
(heading inspired by movie 'Something about Mary'...welcome to my mind!)
I met Mandy at a freelance job I had at a community centre in Brisbane, Australia. I had started my own business, Time on Your Hands, where the focus was on supporting busy people with the house/business and community stuff. I got in there and sorted people’s homes, worked on the I.T. side of things in their businesses (did you know I have a background of working 15 years in I.T?!) and volunteered in the community and supported community groups to better organise their data. I had kind of bitten off more than I could chew, but then that seems to be the life I signed up for (thus far)! Mandy and I have been friends for over 15 years. Mandy worked in the multicultural wing of Communify QLD
Communify Queensland is an established community organisation providing a diverse range of services.
Vision: An engaged, unified community leading change.
Mission: Supporting the community on all sides by working creatively to meet needs and interests in a rapidly changing world.
Alongside regular volunteering gigs, I secured a role at Communify QLD to create a system to track reporting data required to support government funding. Mandy LOVES dance and being actively involved in the community, and at that time she had a particular interest in African communities. I worked with Mandy on a project with the Brisbane based Liberian Community and I even created a website for them! Mandy and I attended a number of social events together, they were THE BEST!!! All about family, culture, food, music and dance. EVERYTHING I LIVE FOR
I ran a project called 100 gifts at Christmas, a mission to collect 100 donated gifts for kids within these community groups in need at Christmas. It was sooooo rewarding! These pics show some gorgeous memories from my time working with Communify QLD and through Mandy's connection the work with the Liberian Community. I miss those days xx
Mandy and I recently reconnected. I’ returned to NZ and Australia in the Christmas of 2024 and creatively planned ways to connect with those that mean something to me, Mandy being one. Mandy joined my ‘Return Home to You’ event in Brisbane, our time together was nothing short of special and long overdue!
There’s so much more I could share about my time at Communify and as Mandy's friend, but I've invited Mandy to share her truth today - so I'll instead hand the page over to Mandy.
Magic with Mandy
Dear Bron, I'm in India. I'm glad you encouraged me to put some reflections down. I wrote the passage below if you would like to use it in your blog…
Bron invited me to contribute to her blog, along the lines of “What's magic about life”. This was met with lots of internal resistance. This busy, tumultuous life whirring around me, my inner voice is saying “I can't offer any pearls of wisdom about the wonders of existence”. But Bron’s challenge caused me to reflect on the magic in recent events.
My parents recently had a stint in a respite centre near my house. Predictably my mum's worrying response to most things triggered unkind harsh words from me. She sent me a hurt text. I apologised the next day and for the first time in her 88 years we had a mature talk about how we are different but the same.
A serious incident affecting my brother has brought my niece and I back in communication. I've missed her since she dropped out of my life five years ago. Now we are having honest, real conversations about family life and everything
My son gave me the wonderful book ‘The Artist's Way’ for my birthday recently. I first opened this book before he was born in the early 90s. It encourages readers to open up to synchronicity and all creativity opportunities.
So I decided to commit to being open to all invitations and challenges that the universe throws
my way and to be the most ‘dancing-creating-self-accepting’ person I can be.
Within days of opening the book I found Bron’s message that she had sent the week before, which also happened to be the same day my son posted the book. It's been 12 years since Bron and I have worked and played together in Brisbane, Australia . Out of the blue, Bronwyn was inviting me to her Brisbane based event 'Return Home to you', a true gift to reunite a fellow soul searcher and dance enthusiast. One week later, a Brisbane dance therapist, Lalita Lakshmi, invited me to a ‘Healing Trauma through dance’ intensive in my suburb, led by a visiting specialist, Dr Amber Gray
These wonderful invitations dropped magically into my lap.
Glorious bursts of colour everywhere I look
I'm now in India for a short stay . As I write, the bus is crossing the Ganges, boys are washing water buffalo, women are scrubbing their clothes. I'm moved by the grinding hardship of life on the streets for families with no other options, I marvel at the peaceful Hindu rituals performed on the banks of this mighty river. Glorious bursts of colour everywhere I look; sapphire blue, tangerine and watermelon pink saris. The honking of horns and the weaving sea of traffic constantly a hair's breadth away from collisions
If nowhere else India can teach you about magic.
Xx Mandy
in closing
I just love this share. I have opened up my mind, eyes and heart today to the beauty that exists in the space of a relationship no matter how near or far the other is in physical proximity. The resonance of magic I feel in my very being today through absorbing Mandy’s words connects me to the magic and the mystery that exists, not only between us, but in this world.
Thank you Mandy for inviting me into your world this week and for being a magical part of my life and this world, without you there wouldn't be the same glorious bursts of colour in my heart.
x Bron
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