Privilege is having more than one cup to drink out of.
It’s being able to pay exorbitant prices for toilet paper or hand sanitizer or face masks during a crisis.
It’s not having to worry about how we’re going to eat or keep a roof over our heads next week. It’s being able to watch Netflix late at night rather than collapsing at the end of each day from exhaustion. It’s having weekends off. It’s having hot water, and plumbed toilets, and lights to read by when it gets dark. It’s mending clothes for fun rather than out of necessity.
At least once a day, something reminds me of my incredible good fortune in having parents with the means and hutzpah to emigrate and raise me in Australia. And I’m always acutely aware that it was just a crap shoot. Quite literally the luck of the draw. Anyone living a comfortable life in a developed country who argues otherwise – that everything is purely a measure of their own hard work – is either superhuman or lying to themselves.
Social privilege almost certainly makes our everyday lives much easier, but it also carries with it a great deal of responsibility. A yoke of responsibility, if you will. How we choose to respond to that is what defines us as family, friends, neighbours, humans.
Please be kind. Look after one another; do what you can to help. And at this particular time of stress and uncertainty, if your life circumstances put you in a better position than those around you, then please do more. ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
A thought provoking video. Thank you for sharing! Your words of wisdom are very timely. Thank you for reminding me to look beyond my four walls and family.
I’ve seen this video before but that fact didn’t stop me from getting goose bumps again. Thanks for the reminder.
great words,i have also been thinking lately about how so much has happened.. for us we have had one daughter suicidal (thank god we are coming out the other side..slowley), drought, bushfires, flooding and now corona. but, it has me thinking about my great grandparents. They went through world war 1, spanish flu, world war two and the depression and where poor. So many of our ancestors went through so much worse. Appreciating what we do have makes life so much happier.
I love your words, but I ma always irritated by these sorts of videos. it’s the glibness of it . And the terrible music. But I am a huge fan of your writings and philosophy. I write a weekly column called ” Foraging , Farming, Frugavoring and Fossicking” which I post on my personal page on Facebook and sometimes on our farm page ” Cremona Hillside Farm”. I think we are kindred spirits!!
Yes, they’re very American! :) But I found the message in this one very moving. Thank you for your kind words!
The story of my life Celia
Celia … you always do something that stops me in my tracks! Thank you so much for reminding us of our privilege to live in this amazing country … as a Maltese person who emigrated with my family at the age of 9 in 1964, I have always felt so lucky to live here, but sometimes I need reminding xo
I never forget I’m not entitled to my life, rather I’m privileged to have it, and there were no guarantees it would be easy… lifelong learning.
Thank you. I do have a Pollyana moment everyday. So much to give thanks for. The stories from my parents and their peers who lived through WW2, the depression, the lean times of the 50s that I lived through are still fresh in my mind. It kind of makes the scrabbling for toilet paper quite mad. I suspect some of the nonsense we are witnessing will be turned into script for a rock musical next year.
I would love to have a crafternoon with you one day &/or a bake off. I am in Sydney’s Inner West & we visit alot of the same places & think similarily. I also help in my local Coomunity Garden & help run Redfern Community Shed https://www.facebook.com/RedShed4Good Let’s plan a meet up post iso :-)
Thank you for posting this video, Celia. I have seen it before but i am glad to have had the chance to see it again and to be reminded just how privileged i am and to be prompted to not lose sight of what constitutes privilege
I follow you from the UK, and very much enjoy reading your sensible words.
Blimey, that was powerful. A very timely message, Celia. I want to reblog this.
Please feel free to, Pat. And thank you! x
I reblogged it today and it’s being well received.
Very wise words Celia.
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YES!
A thoughtful post Celia. My great grandparents escaped the coal mines of Wales for a tent in the gold mines of Victoria. They lost 9 of their 13 children and a brother to suicide eventually they took up a selection and became farmers and built a life for their children. I’ll always be thankful for a roof over our heads and a full pantry.
Powerful. What a privilege we have. We need to use it wisely! Thanks for your post.