Growing up, I often wondered why I found things so difficult when they seemed to come naturally to everyone else.
I attended Melbourne Grammar, where expectations were high, but the classroom was never an easy place for me. I struggled with reading and writing, found myself in special classes and was sometimes labelled “dumb”. Not exactly the encouragement a young boy needs.
Yet outside the classroom, I was a different person. I loved sailing, fishing and exploring the outdoors. Give me something practical to do, something I could see, touch or experience, and I came alive. There was a whole world out there where learning felt natural.
One of my proudest achievements was becoming the only student in my year to receive the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. I remember standing aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia in Melbourne, receiving my award from the Duke himself. Quite a moment for a boy who had struggled so much at school.
As the years unfolded, life took me in some extraordinary directions. I established The Mobile Entertainer, a premium mobile disco business in Melbourne, before moving into telecommunications and building a successful Telstra dealership. That business went on to win Telstra’s Dealer of the Year award three years running.
And then, just when life couldn’t become any more interesting, my wife and I bought a zoo! Mansfield Zoo, in country Victoria, became another remarkable chapter. Eighty acres, lions, camels, monkeys and enough adventures to fill a book of their own. It was hard work, but what an experience.
Eventually, life changed direction again. I left the zoo behind and travelled more than 3,000 kilometres north, finding my way to Cairns. What began as another adventure became home, and a new chapter working with people in disability support.
Through all these years, one thing never really changed. I could recognise opportunities, solve problems and see possibilities that others sometimes missed. Yet I could still sit in front of a page, knowing exactly what I wanted to say, and struggle to find the words.
Then one day, someone asked me a question that would change how I understood my life.
“Have you ever thought you might be dyslexic?”
Suddenly, so much began to make sense. The difficulties at school, the frustration with words and that lifelong feeling of being somehow different. I began to understand that my mind didn’t always follow the same path as everyone else’s.
Looking back, I sometimes wonder what that little boy at Melbourne Grammar would think if he could see where life had taken him. The businesses, the animals, the wonderful people and all those unexpected adventures. He certainly wouldn’t have believed half of it!
And now there’s Meandering Mindz, another chapter in a life that has rarely followed a straight line. A place to share my photography, stories, experiences and the little things that make me stop and think.
I still stumble over words, and sometimes I lose my way halfway through a paragraph. But these days, I understand a little more about why.
Thinking differently has brought its challenges, but it has also been part of everything that has made my life what it is.
And I wouldn’t want to lose any of those wonderful experiences along the way.
Rodney Wilson
Meandering Mindz — A Voice Between Worlds