Flourish
by Antonia Case
Bloomsbury
There are so many books out there about how to live a better, happier, more fulfilled life but Antonia Case decided to quit her corporate job in the city and, with her best friend and soul mate Zan, take a leap of faith and venture out into the world with few possessions and without any goals other than to find out what it means to flourish.
“Removing the goal on the horizon means we’re forced to confront the countryside we’re passing rather than musing about some distant vista. By removing the goal, time expands … the mind scans the environment for immediate possibilities. But to remove a future is unsettling, as it forces you to own up to the fairy-tale castles you’ve concocted in the sky.”
The first step was to turn off technology and, surrendering themselves to chance and whims, they travelled to Buenos Aires with a backpack full of philosophy books. They must have had some savings because their journey of discovery has taken 15 years, and (spoiler alert) is still going.
They returned to Brisbane for the birth of their first child after wandering around most of South America. Then it was off to Paris via Ireland where they almost do buy a castle. Their travels take them from Barcelona to Byron Bay and they accumulate four children along the way.
Case admits that her research has led her down many rabbit holes and there have been a lot of challenges and setbacks to overcome, but her quest to find answers led her to launching the magazine New Philosopher and then an ad-free women’s magazine Womankind.
In high school, the guidance councillor suggested she could be a sports journalist, but Case had no interest in writing about sport. Fortunately she has applied her research and writing skills to flourishing – finding her ideal self, “always shifting, growing, failing, coming up behind obstacles and veering down some unknown street”. It is a fascinating read.
Lezly Herbert
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