What does the Outback Hear?

Whispers and secrets, breathed out into the landscape, alive for millennia. The rocks and soil, quiet, listening. They have heard the joy and pain that remain locked away in the heart of the earth. What does the outback hear as it waits for all of us to complete our time and move on?

We spend our days in hurry and busyness. We speak and do not understand the power of our words, which can shape futures that change the world. Story and song, narrative and fact have molded culture and identity for generations. What we say today has no less power than what was said yesterday. Voices evolve, but the importance of listening does not.

Papunya, Central Australia

Change is upon us. Throughout history, some years have dragged past, more of the same. And then some moments and events signal a shift. Such is the immediate time. The last dregs of yesteryear have receded, and we are barrelling into the future of an altered world.

The global situation is ever-dynamic. Those institutions that we depended on for stability are transitioning. People look back and say the world has always been like this but has it? Change is the only constant, and with technology, viruses, and empires rising and shattering, we are on the cusp of a new era. Yes, every age has come to an end with a new one beginning. In that sense, it has always been like this.

If we met the people of yesterday, the ones who have gone before us, what would they say? They would speak in voices influenced by forces unfamiliar to us yet normal to them. We might argue with them, empowered by what we know now that they did not. Let us not be arrogant. Those who come after us will one day view us through the lens of the past; when they hear our secrets, wrapped in the foils of history, what will they say?