August 2017

I know I prattle on  about karma a lot, but once again recently it became prevalent in my life. Back in the late naughties, I became the steward in our local social club. Having poured drinks for visiting tradesmen from up country who had come to work on homes in our village, I wondered why our second homeowners didn’t use our local workforce.

It occurred to me that was probably because they don’t know or have the contact details for local workers, so I decided to start a non-profit website to help link these people together: Roseland Online. It has now become a huge community resource and online magazine with over 3500 pages of content including news, classifieds, calendars and feature writers.

Although I don’t take a wage from it, it does take up a considerable amount of my time. But with the help of my friend Peter as our co-editor, I am able to keep on top of it. Aside from massaging my ego, why is this relevant, you may ask? Let me explain:

My wife and I recently we put in an offer on a wonderful house (pic above, kindly painted by the lovely Claire Henley). The amount of interest for the property was hug. However, not only did the generous owner, Felicity, choose us to become its new custodian, she turned down higher offers because she wanted the garden to be looked after by my supremely-talented floral designing wife and (and here’s the rub) because she was aware of the work I did for the community, including Roseland Online.

We won’t ever know at the time where our philanthropy will lead to, but doing something because it’s there to be done, is the key to fulfilment in life, for me. Whether something that helps a single person or an entire community, it is irrelevant: seeing an opportunity and making it happen is exceptionally rewarding for both the philanthropist and recipient/s.

Give without expectation first and let the ‘Gods’ decide how and when any rewards are forthcoming. It’s a key I live by and I find it hard to express how moved my wife and I have been by this astonishing universal present. We will forever cherish Felicity’s philanthropy and this incredible gift we’ve become custodians of. It’s truly our forever home and one Susanne and I know we’ll grow old in together.

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