As Chris was unable to attend and living large in Vic, we had some of the HSM crew in attendance to represent:

Adam (in his last week of HSM and one of the founding fathers of HSM)
Aisha (the lovely and lively social media maven for the evening)
Chris (the sharp shooting, low buying, high selling, wheel dealing hot rod)
and Me (juggling two live iPhones for the stream & juggling two puddings for dessert )

If you missed it – we’ve got a couple of recordings from the live stream online.

HERE

and

HERE

A massive congratulations to The Loft from Newcastle who took out the award for Services to Young People. They do fantastic work and we had some great chats with the guys at our table, looking forward to talking to them more in the future.

Simply being a finalist for this award is a credit to all the bloggers (and of course Chris) for all the time and interest that HSM has created. Having come from the ground up – a blog – staffed for a year by one man, with no budget, no support, and no idea where it would lead – to being nominated for a national award – in it’s second year – is amazing.

So thanks to everyone who’s supported it so far – and especially thanks to Chris for his ongoing amazingness.

Looking forward to pushing the envelope even further over the next few years!

- Benny

When Elephants are young, they are tied to a small but immovable stake, buried deep in the ground.
No matter how hard the young elephant tries – the can never break free…

After a while – they give up…
The stake will not move – it hurts my neck, etc etc – fair reasoning really.

But after a few moves – a new circus, a new town – the same elephant, now MUCH stronger and arguably more intelligent will never again struggle against the stake in the ground.

The stake is just a piece of wood, a tiny part of that elephant’s life, and ever since the elephant was old enough to go on the road the stake has been fixed only a few inches into the ground – nothing more than a reminder. Don’t move.

Now think about the reminders in your life. Anything stopping you from moving?

I think it’s about time you tested yourself again – you never know…

I have my 6 months down and out – I had a blast. Learnt a lot about myself, the people around me and booze – and yet – the HSM road just continues to stretch out ahead of me. I know it’s something that’s going to be with me for a while – maybe forever.
It was a short-term change for a life-time benefit.

I know that I’m going to be involved with HSM for a long time – I’ve done it – I might do it again… who knows? I don’t think there’s a rule saying you’re only allowed one go?… Is there Chris?

But now that I’ve finished my own – I want to be able to be there for the other bloggers, even the HSM’ers that aren’t blogging – because the single strongest factor in the whole HSM process comes back to three simple words.

change and momentum

(I know what you’re thinking – that’s 2 words… Well, I consider ‘and’ an important word.)

One interesting thing I learnt from my HSM was peoples’ understanding of it… I won’t go overboard with a critical analysis of peoples’ perspectives here – it’s not the time or the place. But what I DO really want to talk about is how important those people are.

The friends I’ve made through HSM – the connections it’s caused – have been phenomenal.

I’ve always had a big interest in social phenomena, I spent a lot of last year researching Social Capital (www.transformingaudiences.org.uk/ta2-abstracts-final.pdf)
I find it interesting for two reasons.

• I know exactly why I’m interested in it  (now)   AND
• I had a big exposure to it during my childhood, without even realising it

I moved a lot as a kid. Changing friends every couple of years, changing neighbourhoods, changing schools. That was tough at the time – but now it’s given me some great perspective.

The one thing that it did for me was reinforce how important it is to be aware of your surroundings.
Not in some mysterious ‘child safety message campaign style’ – just basic stuff – just pay attention.

Pay attention to who you’re talking to, why you’re talking to them, what they’re talking about and what they value – the sooner you work that out – the easier everything becomes – exponentially…

Social Capital is best described as ‘the favour system’.

You know that feeling when you’ve done something and you feel like someone owes you something for what you did?… or you meet someone, and you feel like you want to do something to help them out – even though you’ve only just met them… or you walk into a room and when you smile at a stranger – they smile back… all of that – in varying degrees – is Social Capital.

The benefits of a connected life, far outweigh the costs – so understanding how the connections work – is pretty important. In my opinion anyway.

So then I saw this talk by Nicholas Christakis on Social Networks – If you’ve got time to read this, you’ve got time to watch this video – it’ll change the way you think, I guarantee it.

The take away….

Change is an interesting concept – don’t ever get sucked into the trap of thinking of change as a binary function

You are THIS – OR – You Changed to THAT

Change can’t be nailed down – it’s different for everyone and no matter how much of it you have – you never get sick of it – it can be good – or bad – but it’s always different.

HSM works because it doesn’t do anything

Hello Sunday Morning is a website – the people are what’s changing – relationships are changing – thoughts are changing – change is happening.

The biggest difference between a pencil and the wedding ring you’re about to give your wife – is the connections it’s made.

I had prepared a nice long blog for this one…. but I thought A video might go down better
Heeelloooo Sunday Morning!

Password is – ‘hsm’

My last HSM Post from Ben Hamley on Vimeo.

Peace out! Benny

Everyday is Saturday night.

^^^ Just quietly – that title is a link… you should click it… ^^^

There is always another reason to go out
There is always another crazy story just behind these doors

They’re right – it is awesome. There are some wicked parties. There are some great places to go.
But most people have stopped choosing that for themselves, and just going with the flow.

Group-think is a powerful thing.

A lot of what Jiv was talking about in Enjoy Everything – Need Nothing. got me thinking about that.

By extension, I wasn’t just thinking about the way I used to represent myself with what I drank, how much, how often, where, or with whom.

But alot of the time it came back to – who I told about it….

Which comes back to a point I made when I started my HSM.

It’s not about Alcohol. At all.

It’s about the experience, or should I say, it WAS about the experience.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that over the course of my life – some of the funniest, most memorable things that have ever happened, have been while I was wasted. Obviously not all of them, and the reason I’m writing this is not to get all ‘high and mighty’ – this is just a reflection.

Those reference experiences, when passed on, define the kind of life I’ve been living. That’s the key. Where the value of the experience really lies.

It makes sense why things like MySpace and Facebook became so popular in the first place, a REAL TIME, Newsfeed, narrative, of everything everyone you know has ever done that was ‘worth telling someone about’. It’s like a central reference bank for social capital.

That single moment of fucking awesome hilarious inspiring goosebumpy hair-raising action that happened that time last Saturday when X happened.

X always happens.

Excuse me while I get tangential for a moment…

Our identity is constructed over a passage of time, like a story.
It’s never set, although there are some times when it goes through stages of stabilisation and others when its practically doing backflips.

Has someone ever told you what ‘the moral of the story’ was? I relate to my friends in a really similar way.

Mostly beginning towards the end of high school – some of the biggest life changes in our life occur – we graduate from a system of school that has been the majority of our lives for the previous 12 years, many more formalities are required of us, we reach a certain level of physiological maturity. AND the demands of establishing ourselves as an individual become much more salient. At least that’s the way we feel in the majority.

Naturally – the demands on our cognitive ‘think’ mind get somewhat overloaded. There’s alot to take in.

So we socialise. We start to re-define who we are, what we stand for, where we’re going – and why.

We develop our attitudes based on our experiences, the ‘normal’ within our circle of friends, and we set about creating some meaning for ourselves – by ourselves – with a little bit of bouncing off others, but in the most – by ourselves. Even the most weakwilled, social stunted folk, do this themselves.

We integrate this meaning in our lives by the casual coherence of injecting our stories into the experiences of others, to explain our actions, to rationalise our beliefs, to define ourselves.

The problem is – just think about it – when does all this socialising happen?

Alcohol has become so much apart of the life that has defined us – that we find it impossible to construct a set of worthy, life defining experiences – that don’t involve it.

Even if you’re not drunk – the process of identifying through ‘having a drink’ is still there. Which is not fundamentally a bad thing.

The problem is – when you haven’t quite established who you think you are, you continue to go back to this social process of proving it (mostly to yourself). The problems emerge when that is all you ever do. Drink to be.

Not drinking doesn’t mean you’re suddenly a fundamental religious youth group leader, it doesn’t mean you’ve got no reason to go out in the first place. It just gives you more options.

My point is.

Stop trying to satisfy the memory of your life.  Start living it.

Be happy in your life, not about your life

If I told you that everything you ever did with your friends from this point on, would involve you never being able to take a camera with you, and at the end of it all – you would instantly forget everything you did.

Would you still do the same shit?

So my HSM continues – finding new, fun, awesome shit to do.

Stuff that literally makes me so excited that my I can feel my heartbeat in my ears.

Wake boarding has been one so far. I failed at that miserably. But it was an awesome day.

Next on the agenda is to Skydive into a remote community with a selection of gormet Ice Creams – and then have a water fight.
It’s gonna take some planning…

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in. Hit me up. We’re making a documentary about it – and the more the merrier

What makes growing up in Australia so unique?

What makes us Australian?

I just want one sentence… Just one…

I think freedom… opportunity… maybe that inherent “Australian-ness” just comes from the feeling that you’re among people who are indifferently understanding… neither here nor there… relaxed to the point of almost being vague…. but with a unique flare for opportunity that gives birth to some of the greatest and most successful ideas/people/businesses in the world.

I don’t know – and man, my heart goes out to the creative team that end up doing the re-brand

So… what do you think?

In one sentence…. three words even….

I tend to get lost when I’m driving – disappearing into black-holes that appear out of nowhere…

Turning up hours later with no viable reason for where or how long I’ve been gone….

I’ve never really worried about it…

I enjoy the speed of some things… my iPhone for example (it must be love) – everything in the palm of my hand.
Instant entertainment, social connectedness, news, photos, games, emails, occasional conversations…

That is until it disappeared out of my life – stolen away like the recollection of a dream 10minutes after you’ve been awake.

I spent the weekend mourning – and then I discovered what this week was…

Slow down week…

So maybe I believe in fate after all – maybe this was the universe giving me a timeout, so much has been going on the last couple of weeks I don’t think I’ve really stopped to take it all in.

So here goes – the breath out.

This week I’ve swapped my miracle of modern hyperconnectedness for my new super fantastic Samsung E1080T.

It has a colour-screen – BONUS!

Slow down week is this week… Pick something for yourself – and slow it down. You’ll probably really enjoy it.

I for one, am quite enjoying my kick-ass polyphonic ringtones!! If you have ANY reason to call me over the next week – please do so.

– SLOW DOWN WEEK –

https://www.adbusters.org/abtv/slow_down_week.html

Slow isn’t necessarily a pace, it’s a philosophy – a way of approaching life. We can slow down simply by addressing the disconnect that makes life feel anxious, alienating and fast. Try simple things like shopping at a local farmers’ market rather than a big box store. Knowing the provenance and history of your food will change the way you experience eating. Instead of hopping in your car and heading to Starbucks, walk to an indie coffee shop. Chat with the owners, smile at a stranger and sip your latte from a mug rather than dashing off with a cardboard cup. Explore what your neighborhood has to offer and experience the simple, provincial pleasure of purchasing cheese from one store, bread from another. To slow down, we don’t have to stop moving – we just have to move in different, more meaningful ways.

So it’s 1238 (well it was when I decided to start writing this anyway)

I’ve gotta be honest – I’m not used to having nothing to right now.
I’m sure its 4 years of history just niggling on the inside – telling me it’s time to get ready for the best part of the night.

I’m perfectly comfortable where I am right now. I’m lying in bed – reading, listening to a beautiful certain someone discuss matters of nothing even remotely comprehensible with mysterious invisible dream people, and thinking – about a lot of stuff. Which is probably why I’m not asleep just yet – so I’ve gotta put it down somewhere. Here looks good.

One idea that I’ve been toying with for the last few days/weeks/months is happiness.

I’ve always considered myself to be a pretty happy person – and I think that’s why I am.

I know for a fact I come across almost absent minded and childish at times – but I’d much rather stay that way then start getting heart failure over dirty dishes.

My point is – my attention is on getting the most out of my moments. I don’t usually stop and ask everyone what they think is most appropriate for me to do at this point – and I sure as hell don’t care for being told what to do.

What i’ve come to learn is something similar to the age old adage (happiness is a journey not a destination)

Happiness is focus. Happiness is knowing what matters to you – and chasing it. relentlessly – like a dog chasing a torch light around a room (kinda).

Over the last few months, I keep running into unhappy people – and not the ‘I’m in a glass cage of emotion’ type.
Just people, normal people, that once you get a little closer to, have little cracks – or bumps – in who they are, and although it doesn’t look like much on the surface, they’re always the type that you walk away from wondering “what they were actually thinking about”.

One that really stuck on me was a friend who, for no lack of their own intelligence or self-confidence, was preoccupied with avoiding something potentially negative from happening in the future – not just one thing. LOTS of things. Almost as though they had contracted some sort of butterfly effect virus. Unfortunately for her, bad stuff kept happening. Which seemed to provide proof for her behaviour.

The hard thing about happiness is – its different for everyone, and so there is ABSOFUCKINGLUTELYNOTHING out there that can prove it

So I’ve been doing a bit of reading tonight… trying to put the matter to bed for myself more than for any other reason

I want to start something – a branch on the HSM tree – a happiness manifesto.

I said I was going to find some cool shit every week to share – and that’s still true.
But I also want to find out what makes you happy because I think they fit.
Also I don’t think people pay enough attention to it – which is strange because I don’t know anyone that’s ever told me they don’t enjoy being happy.

I want to do this for one reason - I don’t have time in my life for people who don’t believe - it’s my opinion that most unhappy people got that way because they stopped believing in something.

There are only two things that really get under my skin – arrogance, and whingers.
People that are too pre-occupied with blaming something they have no control over, or trying to enforce their own control over something they should never have – usually fit both those moulds

I believe in change, I believe in universal happiness, and I believe that everyone can achieve it. So I’m going to go and try to find it. watch me.

Happiness is the first step and the last one, it can be the reason for the change and the goal, the motivation and the stepping stone.

“Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention.”

Greg Anderson

2010

The new year started alot like many others – however a slight bit less intoxicated for me, never the less, full of expectations, good times and bold resolutions.

Alot has changed in this first month – alot more than I expected.

I’ve now left Katarzyna, after 4 years of being a lighting guy for the assorted Bickle venues – I literally walked out.
That’s the line in the sand. It’s over – and I’m not particularly upset about it either. It was like a relationship of mine that crashed and burned just before the new year, and I think what I learnt from that was – if you can see the end - it exists.

So why bother putting it off?

It is a little strange, leaving what was once a huge part of the identity and the professional career I thought I was building.
It was a gradual process though, I slowly fell out of love with my job… and although I’m still passionately interested in that area, it’s interesting to see how it’s fitting into a bigger picture.
It’s got nothing at all to do with the job I’m doing now, but the direction I’m going in has some opportunities that I’m really excited about.

I’m now full-time at QUT (Queensland University of Technology) in Brisbane, working on the project management end of putting together a new program for the Bachelors of Creative Industries degree – Entertainment Industries.

It’s an incredible program and the first of its kind in Australia to offer training from Business, Creative Industries AND Law faculties in one package (TRI-FAC!!).

Before I turn this into a marketing exercise for QUT (email me on benjamin.hamley@qut.edu.au if you want more info)…. i’ll get back to my point.

What the hell am I doing here…

Hello Sunday Morning – for me anyway – was once about not drinking…

• Then it became about using that decision to go sober to shake my frame of mind into a new way of approaching challenges…
• Then it was about finding new challenges and starting to make some changes…
• Now that some of these changes are happening – I’m at another point where I constantly find myself reassessing what I’m doing – and if I’m getting what I signed up for (so to speak)

So I’ve got a new outlook – a new job – a new focus – a new love – and a new purpose – almost everything on the list of ‘things I need to feel fullfilled’ is ticked – first time in a LONG time.

So far this month – which I think we affectionately dubbed ‘HELLO SUNDAY MORNING MONTH’ I’ve:

• Jumped off a waterfall – which might sound lame to some – but in practise – AWESOME
• Learnt to surf
• Gone on a bushwalk with some good friends, and met some new ones in the process – something I’ve NEVER done before
• Taken a giant Havaiana out to practise my newfound surfing skills at Mooloolaba (with 1019 other people)

Alot of awesome stuff – that I’ve previously never had to drive to just get out and do – has just – almost without even trying – been done.
And I owe this to HSM and the amazing people that I’ve been working on it with.

So what’s left of my Hello Sunday Morning (up until the start of May this year) is going to be a little different…

If you haven’t already – read Chriso’s post on EXCELLENCE
It’s definitely something I’m aspiring to – and by doing so – I’ve started looking for it, which seems to be in my experience, a big barrier to most people achieving what it is they say their dreams are… they forget to start looking for them… dreams don’t just happen (unless your asleep). It took me a while to realise that.

So my HSM blog – is going to be less about my introspective hyperanalysis of contextually applied theories in maladapted constructs of alcohol consumption in the 18-25 demographic.

And more about – finding – doing – talking about – or just falling into – cool shit – really cool shit – shit that will make a difference in your life – or at least make you think about it differently.
If I could be so lucky – will inspire you to help it make a difference in someone else’s too.

So stay tuned for cool shit – every week – I need to say that – because I intend to make this a regular thing – and I need to feel like I’ve set it as a responsibility – no more ‘what I don’t say won’t hurt”

Some of the stuff I say hurts – sometimes it doesn’t fit. But I think that’s the point – for me anyway.

Start today – find something that matters to you – and tell us about it!!

X Benny

(PS, I love shitty jokes; I think it’s the grand-dad in me training up for a spate of embarrassing future Christmas dinners)

But there has been something I’ve been thinking about over the last few weeks….  and it’s a bit of a  big’un

What’s the stepping stone?
Where does HSM move out past ‘an interesting social experiment’ to ‘a real, on the ground, visible change in culture’?

That’s a big gap.

I’ve grown up with change, my dad is a civil engineer and my mum is a teacher, the fuzzy memories I have of childhood are more clear around every big shift than they are around what happened in each place we went. I’ve been in Brisbane since year 7 now, and although the big childhood shifts like schools, friends and homes are done now; change is still something I’m pretty used to having.

Anyone who knows me will be able to back me up on that – I change my mind more than I know what time it is, so doing HSM was magnetic for me.

Hello Sunday Morning for me has been about distilling the interactions that I have on with alcohol and figuring out how they work.
Also for the challenge; coming from a club background, every weekend over the last 4 years, and I literally mean – every weekend with the exception of maybe 20, has involved one drink.

It sounds bad, but it’s nowhere near the realm of alcoholism… or at least, I don’t think it is. I’ve never “needed” a drink, except for when tax time comes round, but that’s normal right?

There are of course the exceptions; the one or two ‘let’s get fucked up’ moments, and they marry up pretty well with almost every one of the more significant events like touring artists or festivals.
A little harder to brush the motivation to go with the flow, but it’s not really a conflict anymore.

The only other challenge was relationships.
I’ve usually had fairly drama free relationships but the last breakup I’ve been going through has been dogsballs – and that came apart right on when I started HSM, in fact it was one of the major drivers for starting in the first place.
I made a deliberate choice to get past it without drinking and it’s been both awesome and really shit at the same time.
Just sitting with it and taking the experience in has helped me get my head around who I am as a person and how to get some disconnect from events that would normally floor me without just blacking myself out until I forget about it.
The exposure to the drinking situation as part of my working environment has clocked up some serious time and I’m pretty used to being able to stay neutral there now.

8 Hours a night
3 Nights a week
4 Years

4992 Hours – that a bit on the dramatic side taking into account nights off, holidays, sick days etc, but it’s pretty close – and its breathing down the neck of being an expert!

The change, was actually making the decision to start doing a HSM. Almost as though it flicked a switch in my head that said – “try harder”

I still go out, and I still have a great time. Further to that I’ve have a really amazing response, even so far as people beginning to talk about trying it for themselves.

So how has does this translate to a bigger shift – should I be encouraging everybody I ever met to start Hello Sunday Morning?

There are a solid few people in the program now, each with their own goals, objectives and motivations.
There are also a lot of people out there that have big drinking problems, each with their own reasons, circles of friends and systems for creating meaning.

HSMers – so far as I can tell, share at least one thing in common, a drive for change.
But not everyone has that – and shifting drinking from a socially, legally and at the moment, politically crippling pandemic to a normal part of everyday live that’s respected and correctly appreciated is going to take some time.

So HSM might not be for everyone – but the result, however much the level of change slides, is.

So the idea – change – positivity and personal growth – maybe even just de-tox….??

How do you translate everyone’s personal construct of alcohol to match a unified understanding of the solution?

I’ve found it by learning how to talk drunk.

Getting to the bottom of the experience; rather than the drinking that accelerated it.
It’s been relatively easy to put myself there without actually drinking.
What I think most people get put off by is a little strange, almost as though as soon as you separate yourself from your friends who ARE drinking, you turn into a different species and loose all ability to communicate or exchange value.
And when you think about it like that – it’s just dumb.
You’re no different, nothing changes, fundamentally. So how exactly should your expectation for a good experience change? Unless you talk yourself into having a crap time because you’re sober.

I would, and do, encourage people to do HSM for themselves.  The support system, the program and the crew are amazing and for anyone seeking a change in any aspect of their life, not just drinking: do it – today.

The alcohol thing is more like the kick off, once you’re in there’s a lot more to it.

Change something, change a lot; find your clarity in chaos.

All week I had been enjoying storyboarding the action montage of a weekend on the way, scribbling notes for “heaps awesome shit I had to do” on everything I could find.

Thursday came around and we kicked things off in a throwback to uni life with a visit to Hotel LA to watch my mate Brett play in the finals of a DJ competition there.

Out of all the things I’ve done since I started HSM, THAT, was probably one of the hardest.
Hotel LA is not the kind of place I usually go (I don’t know why I feel the need to clarify that, but just in case – I’m doing it) and in this kind of situation, I would normally be drinking. Alot. In fact, I had thought about taking the staff up on the poster promotion they had plastered around the place,

BRING 10 FRIENDS into HOTEL LA AND RECIEVE A COCKTAIL PLATTER AND $50 VOUCHER

But I was promptly reminded that Bookings were essential and conditions applied.  Damn.

I still don’t really understand these kinds of promotions, I mean, I get the idea.  But it gives off a really lame feeling, more than an incentive to actually comfort the people that decide to come on their own.

Kinda like posting a status update along the lines of “I’m so lonely, wish someone would be friends with me”…. no-one is going to reply to that.

Saturday night was great, the night started with a 2hour drive to Cabarita to THAT FESTIVAL, a little festival just in from the NSW border. I was down there to do the lighting for the Midnight Juggernauts and have got to admit, was a little nervous about doing it without a CC just to drop in with. Especially when you forget the gig is on NSW time and have to program a whole show and go over a set list in half an hour.  :/

The vibe was awesome though and even though the crowd were starting to struggle it was still a great night. Followed by another great drive back to Brisbane for Stanton Warriors!

Saturday night really showed me something I didn’t quite expect it to; I didn’t, for one minute, feel any different to any other night I’ve been out and drinkning. I got some funny looks, probably because I was the guy that always had a bottle of water in his hand…. but otherwise it was one of the best nights I’ve had out with my friends.

So far, simply being more aware of how my friends interact has been really interesting.
It’s not because I’m more sober either, I’ve always felt I’ve been mostly aware of how these interactions happen, but HSM has really shifted my focus to paying more attention to the finer points, watching how other groups operate as well, and learning to let go, without getting drunk.

It’s pretty common knowledge that friend groups reinforce a particular lifestyle or are on a similar journey to the others. My HSM so far has been adjusting this journey, taking booze out, but keeping it on the same track, I’m after a big change, but a personal one, and cutting off from the social interaction that alcohol is such a part of, is not the way I want to do it.

I had really expected that after having worked for a club for so long, going clubbing would be borderline impossible without having a drink, but it’s been almost the opposite, I get a lot of pressure from my friends, many of whom are passionate and very talented bar tenders (I feel like it’s almost a little bit offensive when I tell them about HSM) but I’m so used to the experience now, from working and from just living it, that I don’t feel the need to HAVE to drink if I don’t want to… I have a feeling there is one of these experiences on the horizon though.

What was particularly awesome about the whole experience was the fact that when 4:30 rolled around – I COULD DRIVE HOME!

So the takeaway – 100% confident that I’m not missing out on anything by not drinking with my mates. I’m not saying I don’t want to, there’s still a big part of me that wants to, but I’m not worried about the outcome of not having a CC with the boys or passing on a shot.

What I really feel is important about this whole process is that I’m not making judgement calls on my friends.  I don’t stand at the bar and wave my finger disapprovingly… I still buy rounds when I’m out, in fact I’ve found that I’m able to afford to extend that even further now that I don’t need to buy myself one, which is awesome.

One of the biggest points that I realised is that, it’s more important to share the experience than to experience everything in exactly the same way. It’s giving me a bit of perspective and it’s a damn fun challenge.

See you at Stereosonic next weekend!!!

Not about to start questioning that!

So tonight is officially 11 days in.
Doing a bit of a simulcast tonight! Where ever you see “–” that’s time passing (feel free to insert montage and Extreme’s “Mutha, don’t wanna go to school today” at any point)

First night out – Sasha at the met!

–

First half of the night was rough, something so familiar about the feeling that it was nearly impossible not to go straight to the bar. Like a default pattern. In, up to spy, shot, CC, shot, dance, air synths, repeat 3-7. I know this isn’t going to be the last time I have this conflict either.

The first shot was the hardest, kinda like leaving a friend hanging on a high five, and enduring the akward pause while they check if you’re serious or not.

First hurdle clear and almost instantly a CC appears in my hand, if this is a test… It’s bullshit! I bleed CC!… After a period of contemplative drink warming I
find an owner for that one too…

–

This water is really refreshing!

–

I really need to pee – lots…

–

It’s 3am, The rolling wave of techno that has been building up for the last 3hours has finally crashed! And it’s fkn rad! I know where I would be under any other circumstances, and Im not too far off it actually, just a little more aware of it all. (and physically able to write that last paragraph).

–
Argh! Amazing! The photos are shit but they MIGHT just get the idea across

–

4:00 home – bed

That was 3 solid hours of tech heaven & I know Im going to remember that! Great night…. Cant wait for the pornstar party at Mono tomorrow night!

Now for sleep.

hello Friday morning…

….I’m trying really hard to not make a joke about being an alcoholic right now.

There are a couple of reasons why I’m here… none of which are “I’m an alcoholic” or “If I go on a booze-strike, maybe the world will change”.
I’m here for the ride – I am impulsive at the best of times and in the wake of some fairly significant life changes, I thought I might embark upon another adventure.

6 months dry. Hello Sunday Morning.

I’ve spent just over the last 4 years working as a lighting guy for Family nightclub in the valley’s semi-endangered entertainment precinct; its safe to say that booze has played a big part in that. Anyone who knows me from work will be able to tell you about it. So lets not go into too much detail right here.

Let me make this perfectly clear from the start. I’m not here to bash the booze.
I strongly believe I have no problems with Alcohol, many of my friends don’t, some do, but really that’s not the point in my opinion.

For me, HSM is something with value a lot further beyond the investigation of alcohol and its place in popular culture. It’s about positivity, entertainment and life satisfaction. In one word – options.

You can take that however you want.  Your understanding of it is going to be much more interesting than anything I say.

The way I see it, there is nothing wrong with Alcohol. Period.
There are however, some problems with the way particular people turn to it, rely on it or misuse it to an end that becomes a problem.

What I intend to find out from my long and somewhat socially retarded choice of time to go without booze is:

-       Exactly what role alcohol plays in my life and the lives of my friends, family and random encounters.

-       What might change when I take it out of the picture, and

-       The kinds of situations I encounter that hit that ‘lets get rugby league drunk’ button, how often these occur and how they go being ‘lets get relatively well hydrated without having to worry about a hangover (ever)’ moments.

I’ll be keeping some notes along the way and posting everything I find even remotely relevant up here, on the blog.

Twitter me @Mad_Panda or be my friend

Facebook.com/ben.hamley

It’s going to a bumpy ride.

We were going to wait until we could find some funding somewhere to get behind the project and really offer some experiences of value to those that chose to take up the challenge. But, unfortunately (or fortunately) patience has never been my forte.

So.. we are going to kick things off next week!

I must say that it is very cool to see young people put their hands up and give it a crack with nothing to gain but that which they will get from the challenge (which I know is massive!!). It’s really humbling on two levels.

1) I feel proud of myself for doing this thing and being vulnerable enough to earn the right to ask(/challenge) other young people to do the same.

2) I’m humbled by the willingness for young people to stand up and make a choice not because they have to, but just because they believe in a better way. A better way for themselves and for those around them. They believe they can challenge those belief systems around alcohol which have been handed to them, from one generation to the next. More importantly, they believe they can change it for the generations that will follow them. We are not many. But we have conviction and purpose which is stronger than any number.

Lastly, I just want to reiterate that Hello Sunday Morning is not against alcohol. More importantly, it’s definately not against those people that drink it, for whatever reason they need to. I’ve got nothing but understanding and love for you. In fact I learn so much about freedom, expression, living in the moment and letting go from your actions. So thank you.

However, I do have something to own. I have to own that for a while there, I did take responsibility for world’s drinking problem. Every time I was out and I saw someone hurt themselves I felt like a failure in a way. I wanted to pick them up and tell them to WAKE UP!! Like helping a butterfly struggling out of a chrisalis, it’s just not their time. I had this realisation with my life coach yesterday and the good news is I have now let go of that. And breathe.

So that leaves me with what Hello Sunday Morning is about. In essence it’s really about the 200 people around me. It’s about the 200 people around you. The 200 people we know, love and care for. It’s about challenging and growing with those 200 people to the next level of consciousness. The next level of happiness. One person, one choice, one moment at a time.

So to the individuals that have stood up to their occasion; Ben Hamley, Chris Ruddock (and three others that I’m holding this space for – you know who you are) I feel privledged to be on this journey with you and I look forward to supporting you through the challenges ahead!