5 February, 2025

A Sailor’s Tale: Celia Moriarty

I first met Celia while studying for a physical education degree during the 1980s. The fact that we met at all was only due to both of us straying from our natural trajectories. Celia enrolled in a sports science degree, but the university did not have the course ready, so she was put in with the group of PE students. Meanwhile, I was an imposter in the academic world of higher education, having escaped a destiny of servitude on my family’s farm.

Despite sporadic contact at PE class reunions, it wasn’t until the early 2020s that an unexpected encounter brought Celia and me back in contact. As we reconnected, I learned the full extent of the unfathomable challenges she has faced and overcome. Her story is one of persistence against all odds.

-Graham

Celia’s Trajectory

From a young age, art was important to me. In Year 12, I topped the state in the ‘Special Study’ Art subject. However, in my family art was not seen as a career option.

Teaching was not the direction for me. I was naturally drawn to the world of business, where accountability and clear performance parameters appealed to me. A friend and I had an idea—we’d work for a big business in our twenties, learn how they operated and then use that knowledge to set up our own businesses in our thirties.

After travelling overseas, I returned to Melbourne and landed a job with NCR computers. It was the late 80s. I was 24—fit, kicking goals at work and enjoying life in Melbourne and Sydney. I flew around the country, stayed in five-star hotels, and earned a sizable salary. Life was pretty good.

The Tension

Then one day…I was sitting at a client’s boardroom table, having just signed the largest contract in the company’s history. I picked up my coffee to take a sip, but I couldn’t feel the cup or the feedback loop to put the cup down. I grabbed it with my other hand to guide it back to the table and avoid spilling the hot liquid in my lap. Panic filled me, but I kept smiling to finish the meeting. I knew something was seriously wrong. I got out of the room as fast as I could.

Walking down the stairs, my feet wouldn’t work properly. I grasped the handrails tightly to keep from falling headfirst to the bottom.

Outside, I told my colleagues I was going home to bed. They looked at me blankly…I never made it back to work.

Eventually, I was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a swelling and inflammation of the muscles and tissue around the brain and spine. There was and is no treatment.

At first, I slept 16 hours a day. I could read just one page of a book a day about a garden in Sydney. I was in overwhelming pain, plagued by nausea, light and sound hurt, constant brain fog, unable to concentrate—even to the point where speaking was difficult. After months, I improved enough to get up, but physical exertion or even simple decision-making could knock me out and still does.

Unable to work, I lost everything—my job, my home, my friends, my way of life, and my belief in a future. I could no longer trust my body or brain; they did not function in a recognizable way. I had to learn to operate within a very small energy envelope or else I triggered collapse.

As the doctors could not help me, I studied Naturopathy to find a path back to health. Business was still where my heart lay, but how to work very small hours and have an impact was an issue.

I turned my attention to working out what I was good at. I realized I had a talent for explaining things to people in ways they could relate to. The next challenge was to figure out how to apply this skill.

I undertook a Master’s in Public Health, which led to a research position with an insurance firm. Then a role in marketing, but the long hours set me right back to the start—my body collapsed.

As I recovered, clients started calling me for help resolving high-level issues and training marketers to pitch and win business. I invented a role as a Communication Facilitator and started consulting at a time when it was still an emerging field. I had found my groove. Facilitating those who had the power to create change and get things done was incredibly rewarding.

After each short assignment, I would have to stay in bed in the dark for days to recover. But being able to work at a level where my skill set made a difference was exhilarating and made the downside worth it. I built my business and gained a reputation to the extent that I became a regular speaker at MBA programs around the country. I managed to buy a small home with my part-time but well-paid work.

Then, in 2001, just as things were going well, I was involved in a 100 km/h head on crash when a driver crossed into my path. My injuries and fears about the future led me to sell my home to support myself during my loss of work—one of my poorer decisions.

I rebuilt a suite of clients and even facilitated strategy sessions while lying down, as my neck injury prevented me from being upright for long.

Two years later, another car accident (this time an unlicensed driver) set me back further. This time it was much harder to recover. I felt like a rubber band that had stretched beyond its ability to bounce back.

Starting the business all over again was daunting. By this time, the progression of my illness had triggered other autoimmune disorders and multiple allergies.

The Turning Point

Music and neuroscience came to the rescue.

I started singing in choirs, covering diverse genres from gospel to burlesque to Indie. I sang at almost every live music venue in Melbourne. From the Town Hall, to pubs, jazz clubs, NGV, jails, hospitals, train stations, and flash mobs, meeting some of the most wonderful friends in the process.

A friend introduced me to neuroscience which fit with my drive to optimise what you have. This switched on a new suite of courses and speaking gigs. Our strengths are our fastest path to success. My courses helped people see how to identify what they’re best at and how to use it to get through challenges and get where they want to be.

Fast forward to 2015…a friend booked me into a Secret Sketching workshop in Melbourne. Here, I learned how to break painting down into discrete steps. Due to concentration issues from ME and head trauma, this shift made painting possible. In the past, just the decisions involved in putting out the paints could exhaust me.

I quickly discovered I could use art to build on my existing business contacts while also taking action on social issues that mattered to me. Trees and nature are my happy place so painting from our native environment was a given for me. I decided to paint Australian native wildflowers. These were printed on lightweight placemats and coasters and sold around the world. They were a hit. I branded them with clients’ logos and began my art career.

Portraits offered another opportunity – to tell important stories. I painted a series of Aboriginal Australians who bring their culture into their work. ‘Keys to our Country’ was exhibited at Deloitte Melbourne for NAIDOC, with profits given to Aboriginal education. Next after noticing only 7% of ASX CEO’s were women, I painted them in the project ‘Leading Women’s Profile’ and gave the profits to children coming out of child protection.

Life throws up endless challenges. Art helps us think differently. I paint beauty and strength to spark social action and wake our minds to different ways of thinking.

The Takeaway

The key is: Don’t ask why—ask what. What can I do to make this hour, this day better? Shifting your focus to now and where you want to be, not spending time on ‘why did this happen’ makes a world of difference.
When life pulls the rug out from under us, what will get us up and moving forward is being clear about who we are, what our strengths are and where we want to be.
Building on strengths is the fastest path to success. No matter your starting point, your strengths will get you the best results.
Motivation is totally overrated—it’s unreliable. Forget it. Instead, know what you are good at and what your purpose is. Set a plan of small measurable actions. Measure your progress, reward your wins and keep going…