Following the first eight of my significant life happenings, the next eight are sure to keep you intrigued. For those who know me, I hope you know how much each and every one of you mean to me, regardless of whether you happened to be mentioned in my top 30. I am significantly lucky to be rich in friends, family, love and laughter – and to all of your who contribute to that, thank you.
9. Leaving an unfulfilling job with no job to go to
I’ve been blessed with some great jobs in my time, and I feel I learnt a lot from each of them, but at some point you tend to exhaust your level of learning, and what you can offer a business. This is when you just start showing up every day, and taking home a paycheck, with not much in between. This happened to me in 2009, and it took everything I had to leave an unfulfilling job, without having another job to go to. Responsibility says you should line up another to cover your rent and mortgage and food etc, but sometimes you just need to take a risk, and jump.
10. My first published piece of writing
At high school, I took Journalism as an elective. I loved writing. But the teacher clearly didn’t and my love of words was quashed. I headed off in the direction of business school, until a guy at work noticed my love of fashion and asked me to pen a piece for his website, 15 seconds. I wrote about the Life In Style Festival at Docklands, and shortly after started writing for Onya Magazine. My first printed piece for Fashion Journal, about fashion and film, is one of my proudest moments – seeing my name in print showed me I was truly supposed to be writing. When I expressed this to mum, she told me she always knew I’d be a writer. ‘Why didn’t you tell ME!’ I said.
11. My two gorgeous nieces
Just prior to Christmas 2009, my brother and his partner announced they were pregnant. It would be the first baby in our family – the first grandchild, and great grandchild on my dads’ side – and it was a very exciting time. The weekend my niece was born seven months later I was in Tasmania and got off a plane to discover I was an aunt. I cried all the way from the airport to the hospital. I couldn’t believe my little brother had a baby, and just two years later, they did it all again. Those two little girls are spoilt rotten by their aunt, and one day I hope I’ll be the one they feel they can come to when they need someone to talk to.
12. Death of a friend
It’s always hard to lose someone you love, but the day an accident killed one of my best friends when we were 19 will forever be etched in my mind in great detail. An ordinary day, I was living with a friend and we’d taken a trip to the local shopping centre to return a top. The phone call that changed everything just said we had to go to my boyfriends parents house – Adam had been in an accident. The shock of arriving and being told he hadn’t made it is a moment I will never forget. The following days are a blur of cups of tea and hugs. No one should have their life cut short at 19 years old – especially not someone who was as kind and caring as Adam was. I still can’t believe the accident was ten years ago.
13. Starting my own business
After having worked in jobs that didn’t make me happy for a number of years, it was with the support of my partner and mentor that I decided to take the plunge and go out on my own. Armed with a few small business social media accounts, I jumped head on into freelancing – and long lunches, late nights, and never switching off. Freelancing has shown me how much you can love what you do, and finding the right balance between working to live, and living to work. Some weeks I’m flat chat, and others I can go to the movies in the middle of the day, but not a day goes by I’m not grateful for the opportunities I have been presented with and the flexibility my lifestyle has.
14. Grade 6 Valedictorian
In Grade 6, everything was a popularity contest. School captain and heads of houses were never going to be badges I wore, but the chance to be the Valedictorian at our graduation ceremony was a decision made by the teacher, and I was stepping up. Charged with writing a three minute speech on a topic of our choice and presenting it to the class, I did what I do best – talk!! The final round challenge was talking for a minute on a topic chosen by the teacher. I banged on for as long as I could about Netball, and then I was awarded the honour of speaking at the event. I wore a pink top and long skirt that Mum and I had picked out at Myer and had my hair blow dried. Six years later I was asked to do the same at my Year 12 Awards night. Both times were an honour.
15. Any friend I have made through any means
I’m very lucky to be able to say I make friends easily. From kindergarten to twitter, my circle of friends is varied and every person is special. An honourable mention must go to Rachel, who is my longest serving friend at 24 years!! Having met in Grade One, when her family moved here from England, Rachel and I have made it through primary school, shared employment and (several) state moves. I’m sure I still have our original best friends necklace charms somewhere too…..
16. Pretty much every birthday
There is such a thing as a person who likes their birthday. Each year on February 1st, I declare birthday month open and proceed to spend the entire 28 days celebrating me and eating cake. And there is nothing wrong with that. Most years I organise a dinner, or drinks, and am thrilled that there are people who will come and celebrate with me. Maybe after 30, I’ll change my tune, but thank you to everyone who has ever celebrated Sarah with me.
