Full of grace: Julia Baird’s unusual response to a world of ugly politics and cancel culture
Her new book reveals a potent source of goodness we can all tap into – now TV’s Julia Baird, who was battling health issues as she wrote, has revealed the “ugliness” that spurred her on.
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Her 2020 book on finding contentment topped bestseller lists. Now TV host and journalist JULIA BAIRD is back, with more comfort and questions.
Inspired by the everyday acts of goodness that ordinary people do – despite headlines and public debate focusing on aggression and cancel culture – in Bright Shining the ABC star examines what she calls “moral beauty”, or grace: what it is, where it comes from and how it can make us all happier and healthier.
In the video interview above Baird tells how “ugliness happening in the political realm, presidents and politicians talking smack all the time, abusing people and cancelling people” kickstarted her thought process.
And in the Q&A below the Sydney-based journalist shares what she learned from the writing experience, which happened as she battled health issues, and gives tips on how we can all start reaping the benefits of adding grace to our lives.
After the enormous success of Phosphorescence, what led you to your new book, Bright Shining? Can you give us the elevator pitch?
It’s like a meditation on moral beauty; it looks at something we rarely discuss, or consider a mystery, which is an extraordinary kind of goodness, generosity or compassion, mostly undeserved. I wanted to know what kind of influence demonstrating, experiencing or witnessing grace has on people, individually and collectively, and to try to understand why so many studies are now beginning to show we would be healthier, happier, more connected if we had more of it. The science is actually astonishing. A recent study found that the most common source of awe for most people is moral beauty – witnessing the strength, courage and generosity of others – defined as “exceptional virtue, character, and ability, marked by a purity and goodness of intention and action.”
How do you define grace? How is it different to kindness, for example?
I define grace as exceptional goodness, as something mostly undeserved. Forgiving the unforgivable, favouring the undeserving, loving the unlovable. Mercy, not merit. Giving people another chance, the benefit of the doubt, and opportunity to learn and change. It’s the ability to see the good in the other, to recognise a common humanity, to tolerate difference and the fight for joy, equality and beauty. It is to stand with the oppressed and give voice to the vulnerable. It is also to be fully, wildly alive – living on this magnificent, though heavily burdened planet, and respecting its power and splendour is to live in a state of grace.
Can you give an example of an act of grace that has inspired you?
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is pure grace: we did not deserve such generosity of spirit, and yet it was shown – then rejected. My first Nations friends, and the leaders, who resile and who care for their communities and help each other heal, even as wounds remain open. We have so much to learn from the original, true custodians of this land.
On that note, who are the most inspiring people in the world right now, in your view?
Nurses, paramedics, those who care for people with disabilities, the elderly, the vulnerable, the hungry, the injured, the voiceless, day after day, year after year. Blood donors, who give of themselves without knowing who their blood will go to, only that it will help another human in need. It is in all of these people that how the world spins around what George Eliot calls the “unhistoric acts” of goodness.
Where do you see grace currently lacking in Australia, and the world in general?
On social media, especially X, and on the public stage. In parliament, too. We sit in silos and spit, instead of properly listening. Misinformation feeds our uncertainties, insecurities, darker threads. This was particularly stark in the debate about the Voice.
What do you think makes people want to change for the better?
Seeing what true decency can do to a person, and a community. Feeling the relief of witnessing it; it’s worth being here, on earth, after all.
Has researching and writing Bright Shining made you reassess your own life, behaviours or ways of thinking? Did any particular moments stand out?
Yes. Personally, I went through a tough time with my health when writing this book; and I hung onto the ideas – and sights – of grace, awe and beauty like life rafts. I realised how much they sustain us, how we crave seeing and experiencing it. I saw it in the faces of doctors, surgeons and nurses, I saw it in the care of my friends. I am constantly challenging myself about the ways I need to show grace; when it’s right to forgive and what that means. I think about this every day.
How can we all practise grace more in our lives?
Give people the benefit of the doubt, cut people slack, recognise we’re all capable of enormous mistakes. Try to walk in the shoes of others. Show courage, be generous, err not just to kindness but to a decency that is almost unfathomable, unexpected, undeserved. Listen, listen, listen.
What would you like readers to take away from Bright Shining?
I’d like to start some conversations about moral beauty and grace – what does it look like, how do we nurture it, why does it have such a potent impact on our lives, how would the world change if there was more of it?
What is next for Julia Baird?
Summer is practically here; ocean swimming, freediving, exploring, awe-hunting, hopefully tooling around on a boat with my kids. I’ll keep writing. I am getting an itch to dip back into some history, I’ve missed it. And hosting The Drum on ABC!
Bright Shining by Julia Baird will be published by HarperCollins on November 1 and can be pre-ordered now. Our Book of the Month is Lola In The Mirror by Trent Dalton. Get it for 47 per cent off the RRP at Booktopia. And do drop by the Sunday Book Club on Facebook to share what’s on your reading pile.
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