Synopsis

SWITCH ON: From Dusk ’til Dawn is a sequel to SWITCHBACK: An Inner and Outer Journey.

It tells my story from the time I married an Australian in the UK in 1960 to the present day. I enjoyed adventures, travel and diverse experiences spanning sixty years. The narrative is interspersed (in italics) with reflections on my ecumenical faith and understanding of psychological processes as a qualified Jungian psychotherapist.

The book begins with a murder, which almost prevented my family moving to Australia, and demonstrates how this and other events have shaped my life.

I describe months of camping covering 30,000 miles through North America with two babies and include photos and a few cartoons I drew at the time. The family’s arrival and initially happy life in Australia follow.

I share my views on life in Australia, my inexplicable-at-the-time divorce and the late diagnosis of my elder son’s autism. My initial career as a speech pathologist in Melbourne is followed by travel and work in the very different Mormon culture of Utah. That contrasts with six years as an academic at The University of Hong Hong, as the British territory prepared for its handover back to China (1997). I include brief mention of two valuable relationships and describe my WHO work in Wuhan, China, with two Australian colleagues.

After a Dream Interlude, where I describe some dreams and their interpretation, comes my decision to train as a Jungian Analytical psychologist in Zurich. While making a temporary home base in Devon, England, I enjoyed the most meaningful relationship of my life.

I mention my English heritage, countryside and history from a somewhat Australian perspective! Throughout my story, England jostles for favour with my love of Australian life, family, friends, home and then settling once more in Melbourne.

The memoir concludes with the death of my beloved fifty-five year old son, our journey towards it together, the loss, grief and lasting effects.