“What is so moving about Rachel’s story is not about how close to death she’s come, it’s how close to life.”

“Although she’s experienced profound grief and loss, she has seen humanity and abundance in typically unseen places, and told people to look, to pay attention. When she speaks, you can hear joy and pain all at once; this is clearly someone who has felt the extremes of life and held the tension. While she works closely with words, and advocates for more empowering language to be used in healthcare, she also believes there is more to communication than what we say. That’s one of the lessons her daughter Evie taught her. That when we quiet the mind and feel the connection, there’s actually an entire conversation going on right there between our bodies.”

— Nathan Scolaro, Editor of Dumbo Feather

I've always felt things deeply.

While studying and creating at art school I found that all my work was created from the same themes - Finding beauty in brokenness, the tension and relationship between joy and suffering, forging identity and meaning.

My photography was a tool to capture these metaphors. White feathers in muddy puddles. Macro portraits of dying flowers, within which were brand new landscapes to discover. I honed in on things that are often overlooked or discarded, and I learnt the narratives of the smallest pieces of the world, which - like fractals - make up the entire whole.

This perspective has stayed with me my whole life, in different forms. In art school, it was a strength, as we learnt new ways of thinking and being. It comforted me through the death of loved ones early on in my life. I learnt to hold on to beauty, to see the value in every human, to walk the whole journey of grief and healing.

In Thought Leaders Business School, I learnt that this perspective naturally aids the intuiting of a room - Understanding others, making the space safe for them, and drawing out their strengths. The Korean word nunchi * describes this as the subtle art and ability to listen and gauge others' moods. In Western culture, the closest equivalent would be the concept of emotional intelligence. It is of central importance to the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, and can be seen as the embodiment of skills necessary to communicate effectively in high context cultures. I am deeply passionate about this concept and about finding ways to connect with people.

(*Incidentally, Nunchi is also the name of our cat.)

I believe in the potential of a person.

Nothing is wasted and all is not lost, even when we think we’ve lost everything. One’s life experiences are never wasted.

"Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way."

— Viktor Frankl

I believe in the power of the human spirit. We all have the capacity to rise above, overcome our challenges, and to become the best version of ourselves. Some of us just need more support, patience, kindness, to be given a chance, to have our beauty found and seen, even though we're broken.

I'm still arting - currently my medium is paint on ice-sheets.

I’m doing all I can to encourage new ways of thinking and relating to difference, “normal”, and to each other. Best-for-all communication, in the most openhearted ways possible. I call it Allyship.

My late daughter Evie set my life on a trajectory I never could have imagined.

She taught me to live in the present, she introduced me to hundreds of incredible people in the rare condition, disability and healthcare communities, and awoke in me an identity as an advocate, speaker, and author.

My partner in life, love, and business, Nathan Maddigan, is a daily spark of courage to keep doing what we’re doing, and to live deeply into the work.

Authors like Kahlil Gibran, Viktor Frankl, Margaret Wheatley, Andrew Solomon, and Paulo Coelho have inspired and excited me, sometimes comforting, sometimes challenging, but always growing me.

My favourite art comes from Georgia O’Keefe, Claude Monet, Marc Chagall and Salvador Dali (Dali's work, "The Hallucinogenic Toreador” is just exquisite).

One of my favourite movies is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty:

"To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life."

The Hallucinogenic Toreador, by Salvador Dali

I’ve learnt so many things

Turns out, health professionals are human. They do their best, working hour by hour within the multitudes and vicissitudes of life. They experience all of life, and all of death, every day.

Turns out, humans are the same, in Switzerland, New York, Montana, Los Angeles, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Dunedin. They all need to be seen, heard, and understood.

Sometimes, one must hold lightly their own status, reputation, rules, in order to do the most good.

Some of my secrets include:

Normal terrifies and bores me.
Ever since Evie’s death (10/10/10) I have worn something yellow every day.
Naps are my superpower.
I have every colour of Sharpie.

About Nathan Maddigan

Hello! You can read more about me over at nathanmaddigan.com, but very briefly:

I’ve spent time in the great glass towers of corporate, the limitless lands of professional photography, and the earthy bustle of the street side coffeeshop. I’ve been influenced by beautiful writers like Anne Lamott, Kahlil Gibran and CS Lewis. And intriguing thinkers like Peter Rollins, Rob Bell, Robert McKee and Joseph Campbell. I have every single issue of a little publication called “Dumbo Feather”, and the humans in its pages are some of my great heroes now.

I am, of course, madly in love with Rachel Callander. What I didn't expect was that we could build such a challenging, exciting, fulfilling career together. It really is magic.

I have three boys, who keep me grounded and curious. I have a driving belief that life is meaningful, experiences matter, and people are more soul than flesh - and very capable of exceptional feats of wonder and alchemy. Doing this life with Rach only drives home this truth.

I am a student of story, and can see myself learning and sharing it for decades to come. I live life between reality and imagination, I still have a soft spot for the streetside coffeeshop, and I will always love the myriad ways people connect with each other.

I’m growing into myself slowly, like a hand-me-down from an older soul, and am still getting the fit right. But I’m enjoying the shape of this garment.