“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton (骨骼) in the closet (衣橱)?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”

“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry I asked. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.

After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank in a faint (晕倒), waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.

“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.

Tina Leverton was 62 when she bought her first pair of ballet shoes. She said putting her feet into the soft leather was very emotional. She said: “I’ve waited a long time for it.”

A few days later, Leverton took her first ballet class after seeing an advertisement in a newspaper. It showed older women dancing in a class near Leverton’s house. “As I came in the door, I found a big smile on my face. From the minute I started, I felt like coming home.”

Leverton had longed to dance as a child. Sadly, her parents couldn’t afford ballet classes, for they were first-generation Indian immigrants, struggling to make a living in the UK. Her father was a train driver on the underground in London and her mother held two cleaning jobs. Nonetheless, she harboured her dream of being a ballerina (芭蕾舞女演员).

At her present age, a grand lie-lowering (俯卧撑) to the floor with bent knees-seemed to be out of the question. It took her three months to master the move: leaping and landing on one foot. “I love the struggle and the challenge of learning something new. People in their 60s have a lot of self-limiting beliefs: ‘I can’t do it,’ ‘I’m not good enough.’ And maybe they’re not good enough. But it doesn’t matter,” she said.

Ballet has been transformative. At a medical appointment a few months after Leverton’s first class, a nurse measured her at 163cm, half an inch taller than she had thought. She attributes (归因) the difference to improved posture. Her muscle tone has improved and her lower back pain has stopped. Dancing has also brought new friends. She met a group of older, more independent women and worked together towards a team award with the Royal Academy of Dance. And then, of course, there is the joyful feeling. “Ballet is all the therapy (治疗) I’ll ever need,” said Leverton.

Lauren Elizabeth Pirie Bath, until a few years ago, was a chef, and a happy one at that time, but she wanted more out of life. She decided to travel. At that time, Lauren discovered blogging and found that she took pretty good pictures. So she decided to post pictures on her blog. In less than 18 months, there were over 200,000 people reading her blog! At first, Lauren only regarded it as a hobby, but companies started paying her to take photos and publish them. In 2013, she was determined to make her dream come true: to become Australia’s first professional photo blogger. It was a challenging job, but she did it. Now Lauren spends three weeks out of every month travelling and has over 464,000 fans following her online.

First visiting Western Australia for work in 2013, Lauren fell in love with northern WA and has been back six times. She has made over 140 work trips, but the best work trip ever was to Broome in the Kimberley region.

“It is extremely beautiful and I can experience the indigenous Australia there more than anywhere else. The Kimberley region, in particular, is unique and untouched.” She told the interviewer, and as a photographer, Lauren loves the bright light and amazing colours: red rocks, green plants, blue-green waters and blue skies.

To work full time in travel, she has to love nature and tries to take every opportunity to get outside and admire the natural world. She loves to photograph the rising sun, as well as enjoys photo graphing animals such as dolphins and kangaroos.

Lauren uses the photography to make an impact on people, especially when it comes to environmental issues. Today she has been photographing a crocodile swimming close to the boat the Kimberley Quest all day. When she posts the picture online, she will make a comment about how bad it is to feed wild crocodiles. This crocodile is used to passengers throwing food from boats and now she is becoming familiar with humans. Over time, this could make her a danger to people living to the area. If everyone can do something to make others aware of the problem, then that’s part of the solution.