She spent 15 years teaching and tutoring at High School. From taking rugby training to new heights by teaching ballet to a rugby union team to initiating an integrated Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island Cultural Group; from counselling adolescents and adults in the areas of relationships and suicide prevention to working with heart, cancer and stroke patients, Marilyn’s passion is awakening the spark that lies within each of us.

By mid 1994 acute rheumatoid arthritis forced Marilyn’s early retirement from teaching. The choice was either; be dominated by a debilitating disease or flourish because of it. All efforts went to ensuring that as a single mum her 3 children would have an inspiring & secure upbringing, that she would get rid of the need for a wheelchair and would be productive and fulfilled in all aspects of her life.

As the disease became more crippling she found that her attitude dictated how she would live.

A sense of humour, perseverance & self discipline were at the crux of her physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness. For a period of two years she was unable to eat with a fork and knife. The arthritis in her jaw meant she had to eat off the handle end of a small spoon. She is quoted as saying she often she felt her life was a Monty Python script yet throughout this period she continued to conduct meditation and personal-development courses and counsel adolescents and adults alike in the areas of relationships and mental and emotional health.

Marilyn is committed to offering programmes that facilitate wholeness, healing and the recognition of the connectedness of all things.

Columnist Bev Blaauw interviews Marilyn.

Interview Part 1

Interview Part 2