A story of choice: victim of circumstance, or empowered by it.
Bruce was born into a violent and dysfunctional family. He watched the abusive relationships his mother endured, including from his own father, and carried that pain through a childhood spent moving across Victoria, New South Wales, and Surfers Paradise from the late 1950s into the 1970s.
He learned to fight first and push people away. It got him into plenty of trouble as he knocked about the colourful surf culture of the 1970s: odd jobs, dust-ups, and the natural healing he found in the ocean.
By the 1980s, happily married, the old emotions crept back. What followed was a decades-long journey through teaching, travel, and counselling, learning to notice feelings, to be present, and to choose rather than react.
His story is told through snippets and humour, proof that the path is never straight, but the "never give up" mantra breaks the cycle.
