The Greatest Pubs Open Their Doors and Hearts To Everyone
We turned a long, slow corner of the Stuart Highway and in front of us stood one of the country's most iconic, but little-known, pubs.
It wasn't big or lavish by any means. But it had a heart. There weren't many drinking at the bar, but those who were there were ready with a grin and a g'day for the next weary traveler to walk through the pub's old saloon-style doors.
As I made my way to the bar I noticed the memorabilia from old visitors who wanted to leave their mark on the walls, either in thick black texta or with a picture of themselves. There were boots and hats hanging from the ceiling. And by my gaze upwards and to the walls, the girl at the bar could see I was another traveler.
What appealed to me, apart from her sincere smile, was the way her and her publican boss were keen to greet me. How they conversed with their old customers holding up a corner of the bar and asked me, over the course of a half an hour, how my trip was going.
"This is what makes a pub great", I thought as I ordered myself a counter meal of steak and chips.
The late afternoon soon turned to evening and more locals rolled in for their Saturday night fun.
We soon got to talking to many of them. The pub, for decades, had been their piece of paradise. The small community's heart and soul and far more important than a place to just have a beer.
Boom. 2020 hit and so did the pandemic.
Pubs were forced to shut. Isolation for many took hold and a lot of communities went into lockdown unsure of where to go for their connection to one another and how they could cope in the grip of fear and uncertainty.
In the months since reemerging from COVID19 and reopening their doors, many pubs have been forced to behave in ways unnatural to how us humans are hardwired.
Social distancing has become a normality; hugs, pats on the back and handshakes are no longer the Aussie way of life.
From March to August, suicides rose by 15% on the year before. 1200 suicides were recorded in this period in Australia compared to 200 deaths from COVID19.
So what does this mean?
It means that "our she'll be right , mate" attitude that made every Aussie Larrikin who they were, will no longer stand up.
People need people. Pubs need people. Communities need pubs. A hug and a handshake is vital to us getting on with it. To us, saying "she'll be right" is not enough, we need humanity to remind us that life can be good again.
So what now? Can we recover? Is there a solution?
Over the past few decades the term "mental health" and "mental illness" has become a popular term for anyone, particularly the city folk, feeling a case of the blues. The extended blues even: that is depression. Also bipolar, schizophrenia as well as other medical diagnoses we call mood disorders. Of course, we all know them to be spiritual awakenings of sorts, breakthroughs, not breakdowns.
Many of these symptoms and diagnoses are dealt with using medication - but these solutions only allow us to survive or cope, rather than thrive and live joyously and abundantly, with all that nature and life has to offer.
In the outback a shoulder to cry on or an ear to bend can equally be a terrific treatment - because it deals with isolation head on. A human heart that has empathy can be more of a healer than we have given it credit for in the past - due to brainwashing and subliminal mindhijacking.
Which is why organisations like Lifeline were set up - to be that ear on the end of the phone, to listen, when no one else will. In 2021 the Just Listening Community will be launched in Adelaide. That's a good one to check out!
Sadly we know that this type of care in the community is not necessarily easy to come by. The great pubs create that camaraderie. The greatest pubs nurture it - like it was something you could order off the menu.
This summer Great Aussie Pubs (DragonHART Productions) is encouraging people to think about that link of assisting people's mental health in pubs, and how that actually might fit into our Aussie way of life and pub culture.
Cos right now, a whole lot of love and understanding is needed. Healing past trauma and reminding each other of the good stuff and what it's like to be human is what Great Aussie Pubs is all about.
Visit pubssupportingpeople.com.au for more info.
It wasn't big or lavish by any means. But it had a heart. There weren't many drinking at the bar, but those who were there were ready with a grin and a g'day for the next weary traveler to walk through the pub's old saloon-style doors.
As I made my way to the bar I noticed the memorabilia from old visitors who wanted to leave their mark on the walls, either in thick black texta or with a picture of themselves. There were boots and hats hanging from the ceiling. And by my gaze upwards and to the walls, the girl at the bar could see I was another traveler.
What appealed to me, apart from her sincere smile, was the way her and her publican boss were keen to greet me. How they conversed with their old customers holding up a corner of the bar and asked me, over the course of a half an hour, how my trip was going.
"This is what makes a pub great", I thought as I ordered myself a counter meal of steak and chips.
The late afternoon soon turned to evening and more locals rolled in for their Saturday night fun.
We soon got to talking to many of them. The pub, for decades, had been their piece of paradise. The small community's heart and soul and far more important than a place to just have a beer.
Boom. 2020 hit and so did the pandemic.
Pubs were forced to shut. Isolation for many took hold and a lot of communities went into lockdown unsure of where to go for their connection to one another and how they could cope in the grip of fear and uncertainty.
In the months since reemerging from COVID19 and reopening their doors, many pubs have been forced to behave in ways unnatural to how us humans are hardwired.
Social distancing has become a normality; hugs, pats on the back and handshakes are no longer the Aussie way of life.
From March to August, suicides rose by 15% on the year before. 1200 suicides were recorded in this period in Australia compared to 200 deaths from COVID19.
So what does this mean?
It means that "our she'll be right , mate" attitude that made every Aussie Larrikin who they were, will no longer stand up.
People need people. Pubs need people. Communities need pubs. A hug and a handshake is vital to us getting on with it. To us, saying "she'll be right" is not enough, we need humanity to remind us that life can be good again.
So what now? Can we recover? Is there a solution?
Over the past few decades the term "mental health" and "mental illness" has become a popular term for anyone, particularly the city folk, feeling a case of the blues. The extended blues even: that is depression. Also bipolar, schizophrenia as well as other medical diagnoses we call mood disorders. Of course, we all know them to be spiritual awakenings of sorts, breakthroughs, not breakdowns.
Many of these symptoms and diagnoses are dealt with using medication - but these solutions only allow us to survive or cope, rather than thrive and live joyously and abundantly, with all that nature and life has to offer.
In the outback a shoulder to cry on or an ear to bend can equally be a terrific treatment - because it deals with isolation head on. A human heart that has empathy can be more of a healer than we have given it credit for in the past - due to brainwashing and subliminal mindhijacking.
Which is why organisations like Lifeline were set up - to be that ear on the end of the phone, to listen, when no one else will. In 2021 the Just Listening Community will be launched in Adelaide. That's a good one to check out!
Sadly we know that this type of care in the community is not necessarily easy to come by. The great pubs create that camaraderie. The greatest pubs nurture it - like it was something you could order off the menu.
This summer Great Aussie Pubs (DragonHART Productions) is encouraging people to think about that link of assisting people's mental health in pubs, and how that actually might fit into our Aussie way of life and pub culture.
Cos right now, a whole lot of love and understanding is needed. Healing past trauma and reminding each other of the good stuff and what it's like to be human is what Great Aussie Pubs is all about.
Visit pubssupportingpeople.com.au for more info.