The People Behind You Belong Here: Phill

I first met Phill in Leederville, and that, I promise, is the last time I am going to rhyme (damn it!) in this section.

See, the thing about Phill is his smile, a smile that belies how fricking smart he is. Such smiles are surely the domain of the infantile, the ignorant. How can someone this switched on and this aware of the duality of existence be so happy all the time?

It turns out it’s his enthusiasm, a willingness to be excited, and intellectually invigorated by things, that keeps him afloat. For you can be smart but still be dull; to be smart and interesting requires you to first be interested, and Phil is all of that: curious, interrogative, exploratory, and spectacularly energised.

He's in Darwin now, a bit like all good Home and Away characters who don't go to Perth, and like all good Home & Away Characters, the dude is eight feet tall, and has the chiselled face of a jeans model. Unlike them, he's not a total dick, and so gets bonus points for his approachability and willingness to discuss Fermat's Theory as opposed to say hanging around Chapel Street and 'diggin' the chicks.' 

I wrote the early parts of You Belong Here with Phill in the cafe under the Reid Library, watching ducks swim past for the best part of a year and a half, as Phil worked on his productivity. In the end we lost track of specific metrics but we also discovered the greatest of life’s hacks: that work doesn’t feel much like work when you’re in good company, laughing at ridiculousness, exchanging thoughts, and sharing your reality.