Who is Your Hero?

PHOTOS | HELEANA GENAUS

At the end of a time that has been nothing short of turbulent, disorienting yet bitterly liberating. Not just in my own life but in the lives of many around us that has left me really wondering what is it all about? When nothing really lasts, what are we actually working toward? 

In turbulent times, I find myself looking for the people closest to me who are remaining strong through it all, and no one has done this better than my mum. Throughout my life our family has gone from little to lots and back again, worked hard to gain any success and failed hard in the process. At every new phase, even during the hard and sometimes painful, my mum always seems to stay creative and light-hearted. Her motivation has always been to put others before herself and ensure my brother, sister and I are still able to find the humour in the heartbreaking, aiming not to take ourselves so seriously.

I took this photo of her the first day she came to Rising Sun Workshop with the intent of helping out on the construction. This was in the very early days of the build, and I was feeling like there was no end to the work. After pushing an industrial vacuum cleaner around all day, I was visibly agitated, frustrated at the pace of the process to getting our doors open. She took my arm and said “Heleana, I know you can’t see it now, but this place is going to be incredible”… and in that moment, I believed her. My agitation transformed into elation.  

To walk into the eye of a storm, acknowledge your own fear and accept you can handle the consequences is remarkable enough. Yet when my mum gets there, she makes some smartarse remark and has a dance. 

Who is your hero?

Hx

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