I am fine, but I am sad.

From Bondi Beach.

It was an awful day yesterday.

I was in my apartment, writing an article for this newsletter, when I heard the sirens. There were so many and they went for so long, I eventually decided to see what was happening.

What I saw at the beach was heartbreaking.

Sometimes I work in news, so I helped my colleagues report the story. It is easier, perhaps, to deal with the horror when you assume the role of an observer.

Anyway. It’s 2am now. I am finally back in my apartment.

I’ve lived in a lot of places in Australia, but Bondi has been my favourite. I’ve never lived in a warmer, kinder community. This place embraces you.

It has embraced me.

In the morning, a few hours before guns were fired at my neighbours, I jumped into the ocean and thought: ‘how did I get so lucky’?

Tonight, on my couch and alone, I wonder the same thing. How I am alive when so many are dead?

There are no easy answers to questions like this.

But I am alive, and you are alive, and that is a great privilege.

So be sad, but also be grateful. We get another dawn on this beautiful, terrible planet.