Each month, the TDi team gather for what we call ‘Meaningful Conversations’. This is a sacred time we set aside to connect with one another, reflect and converse on the bigger questions or topics we are currently engaged with. It’s usually enjoyed with some wine and cheese.
This month’s Meaningful Conversation coincided with the start of National Reconciliation Week so we took the opportunity to explore the notion of reconciliation, and particularly this year’s theme which invites brave action.
One of the biggest things we all shared is that we want to be authentic in how we approach reconciliation and in what we say and do. We’ve taken our time with our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) as we have wanted our team to be engaged in a genuine journey, navigating through all the complexity and difficulties of the process.
It’s forced us to think deeply and to personally engage what it means to be reconciled. We never want it to feel tokenistic or like we are simply going through the motions.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have had to be brave for a long time.
What does it mean for us to be brave? We think the starting point is simply showing up and sitting at the table with an open mind and open heart. It’s about acknowledging what’s happened now and being vulnerable to the facts that our ancestors, even as recent as our parents and grandparents were responsible for so much injustice and trauma. And that perhaps we have contributed to the ongoing effects of that.
But we also wrestled with how to reconcile something that we were not directly involved in. We felt that it’s easier (pride and arrogance aside) when you have personally done wrong, to name what you’re sorry about, seek forgiveness and make an effort to change. But to name something that is historical, that actually belongs to generations that have gone before us? This requires a whole different level of engagement and understanding.
We certainly didn’t resolve everything in that conversation. In fact, we realised that some of us are further down the road on this than others. But we stepped in, and we will continue to listen, to acknowledge and to work towards impactful action.