The Margaret River community is being encouraged to attend a special event at the Margaret River Community Centre this week, to promote community harmony and healing from loss and trauma.
Organiser Richard Moseley said the open invitation was aimed at anyone in the community who has felt the impact of a challenging year of the pandemic.
One of the things that unites us all is the grief for the losses that have touched each one of us to some degree. We all have loved ones that have been lost these past eighteen months. We all have something we could light a candle for.
- Richard Moseley
"I offer this event space as an invitation to bring us all together with this thread of loss that weaves through our shared humanity," he said.
"I see and feel a growing disconnect within my community and my world.
"Division is being fanned not only by geographic barriers of separation but also differences in values and differences in the way we have each responded to global events.
"Yet one of the things that unites us all is the grief for the losses that have touched each one of us to some degree.
"Whether that is the 'big' loss of the death of family members, friends, or pets close to home or faraway; or the 'smaller' losses of health, secure rental accommodation, livelihoods, personal freedoms, being cut off from a home country, or being disconnected from friends and family interstate and overseas, et cetera.
"We all have loved ones that have been lost these past eighteen months. We all have something we could light a candle for."
Originally from the UK and living in the region since 2013, Mr Moseley planned to take his wife and young son back home to meet his family, until COVID-19 intervened.
"I have not visited since 2015 and do not know when I will be able to visit next again," he said.
"The situation there is very different from here and I have found it challenging to grasp what they have been through and to feel connected.
"I have spoken to others who have shared similar feelings which only adds to the fragmentation taking place.
"I feel called to offer this as an effort to reconnect hearts and to bring a community together in a place I now call home."
Community members are invited to light a candle for their loved ones - or for any reason you may have - and to remain for as long as needed. This is an open and inclusive free community event for people of all faiths or none.
The event will run from 1:30pm to 7:30pm on Saturday October 16 at the Margaret River Community Centre Church Gallery.
Nicky Lefebvre
I am a journalist, photographer and content creator based in the beautiful Margaret River wine region, covering all aspects of our community including local news, sport, entertainment and events, as well as providing a platform for our readers to share their voices direct from regional Australia.
I am a journalist, photographer and content creator based in the beautiful Margaret River wine region, covering all aspects of our community including local news, sport, entertainment and events, as well as providing a platform for our readers to share their voices direct from regional Australia.
