Chapter Overview

Calvin Frith
Sep 4, 2018 · 2 min read

“Our feeling of worthiness lives inside of our stories.

Sometimes we orphan the stories that do not fit with who we think we are supposed to be. And that’s how shame comes to light.” — Brene Brown

Our most important stories are frequently forgotten. Stories from a night out with the lads, why on holiday you decided to climb a mountain in Lombok instead of Liberia. Why you were bullied growing up. Why we took the job we are in. What attracted us to our partner, our friends, or how we bought a car. Like many, I don’t actively tell stories, but I have so many I could tell! It’s easy to overlook the meaningful ones when there are many. I’m going to tell you a handful stories I have.

I call them the chapters of my life.

My stories are worth telling. There’s no shame out there. When I was an student or early-career idealist, the only information out there was educating me on traditional routes. For people like me, traditional routes would have crippled me.

So for context, my first story is of caramel coloured cal growing up in Tasmania. It’s is one of my six chapters. Each chapter is digestible, given to you in bite size chunks, and is kind of to my younger self.

If you read it, each chapter should take about 15 minutes. Five mins will explain what the experience was. Another five relate the experience to my perspective on identity (race, nation, culture, etc.). The last five minutes covers the learnings of the experience and its’ application to daily life, for you.

Throughout it, you’ll hear my little tidbits of advice — stuff I learnt along the way and mantras I’ve developed or stolen (I’ll try and reference its’ author every time, if applicable!). I touch on faith and my journey in an out of it. There’s a exorcism. The first girl in a big family going to school. Joseph — my best mate in Zambia — being the reason why I believe the world will be okay. The boys in Christmas Island. Becoming a chicken farmer. The thirst for more effective ways of creating change. And an alright orphanage.

Chapters include;

  1. Until I was 20
  2. Christmas Island part one and two — slightly longer than the others
  3. Zambia (soulful, effective, dumb, love) — Heart less than head
  4. Zambia the second year — Head and heart
  5. North America and Sydney — processing, culture and identity, including working for an NGO, moving to a big city, and using my skills for nothing
  6. Melbourne — ygap, learning, failing, and winning
  7. Now.

Calvin Frith

Written by

Thought Leader | International Development | | Impact Investing | Impact Measurement

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