Jane Eliza About Me Page at Helium

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About me - Jane Eliza

About me

Born into the post-WWII baby boom, I spent my pre-teen years in a dusty country town in the centre of NSW, Australia. Those years define me, and left me with a touch of numbness around the centre of my heart. I write, mainly poetry, to massage that numbness away.

In the years since then, I have been privileged to have spent time studying with one of Australia's foremost Herbalists, who stirred in me memories from lifetimes ago of the nature of our world, the plenitude of medicinal plants, and the relationship of humankind to both. The first day in her class began a voyage of self-discovery for me, which is never-ending.

Some achievements in my life include (in no particular order, just as they come to mind):
giving birth to a wonderful Soul, who currently lives on a snowboard on a mountain in Canada;
gaining Diplomas in both Herbal Medicine and Aromatherapy;
leaving the Navy;
finding a hill on which to sit and contemplate my life, which I do (often with pen in hand) in between growing a healing herb garden, nurturing the orchard & vineyard that came with the land, keeping the dogs & sheep out of neighbours paddocks & collecting duck eggs & down;
finding someone to share it all with.

Some places that have touched me:
India - what a wonderful journey that was;
England - the sheer age of things astounded me - I felt more at home here than ever before;
Fiji - where life in an island village taught me so much about sharing and communities and responsibility.

Music that has touched me:
Pink Floyd, The Tea Party, Led Zepplin, Bob Dylan, Gary Shearston, J.S. Bach, Nathan Gaunt, Dead Can Dance, Leonard Cohen

Books that will forever remain on my shelves:
"The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett
"Heidi" by Johanna Spyri
"Love is a Special Way of Feeling" &
A Friend is Someone Who Likes You" both by Joan Walsh Anglund
The Macquarie Dictionary.