As a Australian Indigenous man, I grew up watching my uncles and aunties, brothers and sisters and my Father struggle with additiction from the abuse and neglect from being taken away from their families and put in to homes where they were sexually and physically abused everyday for years.
I saw and lived with the negative impact of those traumas inflicted on to my loved ones, leading me down a path that would see me living my life in and out of jail.
It has been four years since I last served a sentence, this being the longest time I have been out.
I have a wife, I have four children, with another on the way, a mortgage, one child in private education who is thriving and a completely different mindset to life.
I grew up without the tools nor the support from my community on how to self regulate my emotions. I didn't know how to communicate or how to process and adapt to change.
I have seen and lived many life's and I would like to support and give knowledge to others, helping them live a life that is filled with self love, confidence and respect for others and themselves.
I have taken a year off work to help my wife with our youngest who has additional needs, now my wife's parents are coming over to help us so I can go back to work.
Thank you for taking the time reading my very unconventional, but real summary of my life.
Lived experience