The Contingency Plan

A few months ago, my company had the Managing Director of the Australian Tourism Commission speak to us about the Commission's new branding campaign.

Full of classic imagery: burnt red earth, coral blue waters, bright golden sands, lush green bush and vibrant cityscapes, we saw a sneak preview of the ads and despite having some hard cookies at work, we were all a little softer and secretly misty eyed afterwards.

He also took us through the process of how to create a brand that represents a whole country. Some of the results are brand values such as irreverence, optimism, mateship, inclusiveness, originality, honesty and a grounding that has a 'no bullshit' approach to life. I like how they actually wrote this 'no bullshit' business into their branding guidelines.

At the end of the second world war, George Orwell wrote that patriotism is "devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally."

I've never considered myself to be patriotic. When I think of patriotism, I think of loud, brassy and obnoxious Americans (no offence) who ignorantly believe their country and culture supercedes any other on the planet. Gross generalisation I know, but anyhow, Orwell's definition of the term has challenged me.

Unlike many of my friends, I know the words to my national anthem. I can point out the Southern Cross constellation. I eagerly drank the vibe of the Olympic games in 2000 and while no one was looking, chanted 'Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi' with the crowd (I otherwise cringe whenever I hear this) and it felt good.

I live directly on the harbour seawall and am richly spoiled each day with intimate views of the harbour bridge, the opera house, luna park, the clean blue water and it's surrounding, almost cleansing light.

I love getting lost at the beach, then walking in my salty thongs to a nearby pub with sand my my hair to drink cold beer and dance to a chilled out DJ.

And I love how we're a young country and because of this, we're full of energy and curiosity. We're ambitious, yet don't take ourselves too seriously.

Don't get me wrong, like any place I'm well aware of my country's downfalls, yet despite this I am quietly proud and silently still in love.