Phi: So yeah. That’s how it is. Just how I see it. Yeah, I definitely agree with you there. Like that’s what we say is inspired action. You can’t just like wish in a way you kind of have to also compel yourself to do things. And I love what you said about energy having no bounds and, you know, cause you’re in Perth, I’m in Sydney, we’re on the same continent.

And I mean, I would love for you to share how you came from Zimbabwe and ended up in Perth, Australia?

TJ: Well, the way I came to it’s weird because that was that’s another. Whole situation with manifesting because what happened was after my dad passed away, one of the one, one, one month, the people that took a father role is my dad’s younger brother.

And I lived with him for, you know, throughout high school and whatnot. And, you know, he was working in Zimbabwe. Uh, you know, if you are, if you do know about some, about where the economy tax, uh, in the early two thousands, and he was looking for a job. And I remember speaking to him and I was like, Hey, why not try Australia?

And it’s like, nah, he wasn’t, he wasn’t too keen on that. And. I remember because she didn’t like, I think we went for like two years back and forth about that. And I was like, yeah, why not? Because for some reason in my heart, I felt that, you know, Australia was going to be home at some point because I envisioned it.

I don’t know how, yeah. It just, it just happened unconsciously. And one day he just found a job. It just all happened. And then I came over with him and the rest is history, you know? So that’s, that’s how I wound up here. 

Phi: That’s amazing. And I think like something from me, cause I was born in Australia, but I have a Vietnamese Chinese background.

So I was thinking about like, how do you, how does culture like from Zimbabwe kind of play into your life, do you feel very connected to back home? Do you feel like you’re more Australian? I just always get so curious about other people that have different heritages and ways of life and where they’ve lived.

I find it so fascinating. 

TJ: I think it’s weird because one of the ways, how I see I’m more. Uh, I, I do definitely see, uh, Australia and particularly at home. I absolutely love the city. I love the fact that I love where I live because it’s so for the beaches are gorgeous and whatnot, but more so, I think. It’s more about family than everything else.

I think cause my, one of my biggest values is family and I’ve managed to create a lot of relationships, both here in Australia and back home living. The only person who is in Zimbabwe at the moment is my younger brother, everyone else’s in other parts of the world. Um, but in terms of where I feel rooted because I, because I also do believe in energy, I think that.

If I’m to move into, go to any part of the world, I think I’d be fine because I somehow feel connected with the people I’m connected to too, if that makes yeah. I love that. No, that makes sense. For sure. Yeah. So for example, like, uh, you and I, you know, we’re friends. Uh, but I feel connected with you. I feel like, you know, we, you know, we get bouncing off each other’s energies.

Um, I’ve got family in Swazi land. I’ve got family in different parts of the world, but the, it, the people that I’ve got a strong bond with. You know, they, um, they act no matter where, so that’s, I see, that’s so nice and really comforting for those listening, who aren’t in Australia. And it’s very affected by COVID-19, which has kind of happened and all of that.

And I think that’s so important to take note of, and I wanted to see what your like, kind of learnings have been from the global pandemic and how it’s impacted your life. Well, I think to begin with, um, the biggest symptom to me for, um, with regards to the pandemic is grad student. Firstly, because of the fact that I happened to live in Paris, I’m very lucky to be here.

And we haven’t had as much of an outbreak as other parts of the world because Pratt is so isolated. The parents, they say we are the biggest, we’re the most isolated big city in the world, you know, so we haven’t experienced much of the shutdowns as compared to other people. And I’m very, very grateful for that.

Um, but that being said, I think that has, uh, taken away a lot of the things that we, um, a lot of things that really don’t matter as much, um, uh, in terms of, you know, when you get to a point where you are facing or, um, you are polygamous. You are facing a situation where you have to confront your own mortality. A lot of the things that you think matter, don’t matter as much, you know, you realize that, you know, money isn’t as important as we think it is.

We realize that looking good isn’t as important as it is, realize that family and relationships are actually much higher on the totem pole than, you know, then they should, then, then, you know, then we have been placing them. So, um, I think that that separation from each other has connected a lot of people much more in certain ways, because we’ve realized how important human connection is.

So for when, when, when the world opens up in different parts of the world, we will appreciate human interaction and people much more. So for those that, um, are, uh, Uh, uh, conscious of that fact, they’ll allow the set themselves to, you know, enjoy the moment when they are interacting with people and not just, you know, be drones out there in the world, you know, it will allow us to connect much more.