The personal and professional mess that comes with bushfires

I have come to the realisation that this whole bushfire experience has blurred personal and professional into one big, tangled mess. I know I am not the only one. They are so tangled in mess that I can no longer separate them.

I have been trying to write since this all started getting hairy for our little community on 30 December (although we have been dealing with threats and evacuations since mid-November). The lead into this time is another post. For now, I am torn between my personal life and professional life, not knowing whether to post on LinkedIn, somewhere else or to journal in my own notebook. I just know that I need to write.

My personal life has come storming into my professional networks, where I see my friends and colleagues sitting on one side of a string of trestle tables processing applications from my neighbours (as well as my own) at the relief centre. It’s an uneasy feeling, as though I shouldn’t be there because with this professional background, we aren’t supposed to be the vulnerable ones. Then I am attending a local community meeting with my neighbours, seeing all of the conversations through a professional lens, trying to contribute where it might be helpful, but constantly wondering if I am coming across as some know-it-all that really just doesn’t get it. I get a call from a past CEO and Board Chair, as well as emails from a disability service and advocacy group, asking if I can talk to the media about the effects of bushfire on children, and those with disabilities. I know there are far more experienced people that should be talking about these things. I delay getting back to them because I don’t know if I can do it, but the journalist finds me anyway. The journalist realises I am also a parent, that nearly had their house burn down and is now living under a light powered by a generator with two kids with special needs. I’m told it’s a great story. I run for cover and don’t ring anyone back. Apologies Therese Tierney and Catherine Mullens. Added to this, my partner is in leadership role in our local CFA so we’ve hardly seen him which means I am sole carer. When we have managed to get together it’s been a fleeting visit to give a few cuddles to the kids to say hi and bye.

So here I am, writing. Here are some things that I have in my head, maybe it’s a systems perspective where professional knowledge of complexity, dynamics and systems is slamming into my personal experiences. Maybe it’s something else. Of course, these are a collection of raw, initial ‘personal mashed with professional’ thoughts. They are in no way ‘right’ things or completely comprehensive, just an insight into how my brain, one brain, is working.

Complexity, relationships and dynamics

We talk so much about the ‘causes’ or influences of things, and these are important. But more important, are the relationships between these things. Both causes and their relationships to each other are constantly moving over time, with each action having a reaction, and these are likely to feedback on each other and change things even more. 

In a nutshell, big bushfires are not caused by one thing. Or even lots of things (policy, weather, backburning, among so many others). It’s the relationships between these things that are critical. That’s why it’s so hard to pin down exactly how to prevent them. Everything is connected to everything else, and constantly affecting everything else. No one person, organisation or politician will ever have the ‘answer’. There is no silver bullet. Things are never standing still long enough. Any recovery or prevention work needs to be collaborative and recognise that the environment is constantly changing. What works this time might not (probably won’t) work next time, and current action is constantly changing what is happening into the future. 

Unintended consequences

Every action has a reaction. Sometimes these are reactions and consequences we are hoping for and sometimes they’re not. I am seeing this everywhere. The donations were amazing in the first few days for those who had a house to keep things in. I know many neighbours around me have been incredibly grateful for them. I know that many donations are also being held for those who lost their beautiful homes and special possessions. Unfortunately, the wave of donations has affected many of the small towns who have general stores run by local families who are relying on this for their income and employment of other locals. People who had their properties destroyed, somewhat burnt or living without power are getting less shifts at work. I am also trying to keep in mind our local community meetings. What are the consequences of these? Maybe there are some negative ones that we can try to address now before they raise their heads…

Boundaries

These are our sphere of influence. We all think about problems slightly differently and are bound by the things we have influence over. This means that when I think about bushfires and how my little family has been affected, my influence and the boundary I put around this problem is different to my neighbours. Actually, it’s even different to my partner. But if we work together we can extend our boundary and have greater influence. Collaboration is key.

Perspectives

We all know that everyone comes with different perspectives. But sometimes we forget that others are seeing things differently than us. Just because I am from a ‘fire-affected community’ doesn’t mean that I know what it’s like in another ‘fire-affected community’. We really are all experiencing this differently, even within the same community. It is critical that we don’t bundle every community, or every family, or every person together and assume they need the same things. The most critical thing is that we are able to surface the quietest of voices, while simultaneously allowing time and safety for people to be honest, so that we can be explicit about any biases or assumptions we are making. This means action is much more likely to be successful because it acknowledges local skills, knowledge and experiences. It also means that action meets people, and communities, where they are at. 

Community led

What does this even mean? To me, it means that community members, specifically residents and families that live in each affected community, are in decision making roles. This is not about having a ‘community rep’ on an organisational working group or recovery group. This is about people from each community working together to decide what they want to see happen. This includes acknowledging that there are communities within communities, and ensuring they all, not only have a voice, but have the power to influence decisions. For example, some local dynamos in my little community led an informal community meeting within days of the fire coming through (at the moment we’re only two weeks down the track). The concerns and ideas that erupted from this group were wonderful – with ideas about how to find our more isolated residents, being able to identify local cars so that locals who were trying to help were not accosted (with major security concerns as a result of looters entering properties day and night), working out how to get rid of any leftover or new household waste when all the bins had melted and no-one was completing a rubbish bin pick-up, and everyone volunteering some time to keep our local hall open so people could pick up donations and get answers to so many questions. It was incredible to watch this process. There were no organisations involved, it was our local community getting organised and articulating what they needed most. It’s been led by volunteers, the people who live in our patch, and everyone is pitching in what they can. 

Outcomes thinking

The overwhelming emotions that come with the wave of support in this disaster have already begun. As a small community surrounded by some bigger townships, and sitting alongside other small, fire-affected communities, it will be tempting to launch into whatever activity and opportunity raises its head, fearing that support will wain and we will be left to pick up the pieces alone. We are a spattering of houses over a large geographical area, with a hall and a CFA, there are no shops, or school. We have now been flung into the national and international spotlight. It’s critical that we have some time, space and support to think about what we, as our own unique patch, want for the future (i.e. the next 2-3 years and beyond), and make sure any efforts are meaningful and get us closer to where we want to be. 

So what?

Yes, this is messy and tangled. The recovery process will be complex. But that is the environment I love and thrive in. It will be easy and tempting to jump on the first shiny thing that comes past, and although it may make others feel good, it may not necessarily get us closer to the outcomes we want. For me as a local, the questions are… 

Where do we need to be? What needs to happen for us to get there? And how will we know how we’re tracking? While keeping in mind that all action has a reaction. For this to happen, the people that live there need to be in the driver’s seat.