Showing posts with label Melbourne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melbourne. Show all posts

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Overwhelmed

I haven't blogged for a week.

I'm completely overwhelmed.

There's the...

  • natural chemicals in my brain doing crazy shit
  • unnatural pharmaceuticals in my brain trying to correct the crazy shit
  • the amazing response I got to this post from people I don't know
  • the warmth I feel from letting the above people know that some of us city folk haven't forgotten them and that we do appreciate them and all they do for us
  • family I love and who continue to support me through this crazy mental health situation I currently find myself in
  • travel, the new sights, smells, sounds of being in a different city
  • and, last but far from least, there's my little boy who is trying so hard to understand why his mum is a bit more cranky than usual, cries a lot more than she used to and who just isn't as fun as she used to be.

There's about a dozen posts in all that but I'm too tired and my brain is too strange to write a proper story.


When in doubt: talk about the weather


We are having a good time in Melbourne but it is hard. My ability to handle stress has been pretty poor over the last six years but now it is almost non existent. Actually, it comes and goes, but generally I feel overwhelmed

One minute I'm so annoyed and agitated that I want to scream a big FUCK OFF to the world, the next I'm lying on the couch, covered in a blanket feeling like I'm being sucked into a big hole of never ending blackness. And then there are bits in between the crazy that I feel kinda normal, but the moments are oh so brief. 

I'm being treated for a bipolar mixed state episode. I'm up and down at the same time and my psychiatrist is trying to even me out. You know, like a hairdresser running hot irons over corkscrew curls but the kinks keep springing back up. 

I just want to go back to my 'normal'. I'm not asking for jubilant joy and unwavering nerves of steel, I just want to be back to my old self that stumbled along through life without the constant fear of bursting into tears or exploding in rage.

I want some control back in my life.

How's your life going?

V.





Thursday, May 2, 2013

Day 1: The story of my life

Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)


I was born in NYC to Australian parents but I'm a True Blue Aussie. Moving to Sydney at two, six months later my sister and best friend was born. I grew up in Newtown in Sydney’s Inner West. My big brother and SIL lived up the street in a house that has been in my family for four generations.

At 15 I moved to Melbourne, attending boarding school until my family followed a year later. We lived by the MCG until mum and my sister decided they'd had enough and headed back north. After leaving school I worked as a secretary in the CBD until dad and I also returned to the Harbour City.

I continued to hold down great office jobs while courting my two new best friends: Drugs and alcohol. My parents kicked me out. 18 months later I attempted to escape addiction by moving back to Melbourne with my first love. Drugs were replaced with food and depression and when it all went sour I moved back to Sydney.

Three years, more depression, drugs and alcohol with another good office job until I ran away again, this time to London. But there was never any escaping myself.

Work, party, travel. Repeat. Until CRASH, it all came tumbling down.

Rock Bottom. Back in Sydney. Rehab. Depression, PTSD, anxiety, polysubstance abuse. Hell. Three long hospital admissions. Pregnant. Hope. My boy was born.

Slowly, surely new life. Both Noo’s and mine.


V.

Amazing. 241 words! Can you write your life story in 250 words or less?







Don't miss a single babble! Enter your email address (your deets are safe with me):


Delivered by FeedBurner


Friday, October 19, 2012

ProBlogger Training Event 2012: The conference, the people, the outfits

Finally I am back in front of my laptop and a Blogger new post page. The last week has been a whirlwind of activity: packing, travelling, conferencing, meeting, eating and more. In so many ways travelling to Melbourne for The ProBlogger Training Event was one of the best things I've done in a long time.

Flying to Melbourne and attending a conference on my own got me out of my comfort zone and made me smash down boundaries that I'd had surrounding me for most of my life. Meeting new people has always been something I've had difficulty with, and in fact, I used to actively avoid it. You know what I mean: walking up to a stranger and saying hi. Small talk. Relating to people face to face at a party without half a dozen alcoholic beverages on board. It is hard! But I did it.

Here's what happened.

The conference


Some great presenters at #PBEVENT and @problogger Darren Rowse in a school dress
Afternoon tea delights that I resisted for Droptober!


Bloggers of all types descended on Etihad Stadium for two days of networking, inspiration and learning. We all came for different reasons with different goals. Most of us bloggers lucky to have attended will write a post conference blog post. Rather than me going over the details again, here are some of my favourite posts from sites I didn't know about until now:

bluewiremedia.com.au The Best 9 Things I Learnt at ProBlogger Event

This is an excellent, easy to read rundown of some of the important lessons from both days at the conference. It is particularly useful to me because the author, Adam Franklin, went to some of the talks that I missed. I particularly like the point he learnt from Chris Guillebeau that blogging is 50% connecting/50% creating or curating content. Makes me feel less guilty about 'wasting' time on Facebook and Twitter.

asseenin.com.au 5 things I learnt from the ProBlogger Training Event

Clear and concise with an emphasis on the ProBlogger Event theme that from little things big things come: even if you're starting off small or you are an introvert, by just focusing on building your brand, being true to yourself and giving it just 15 minutes a day you too can make something big.

copyrightmatters.com.au 20 small #PBEVENT actions that will make some big goals happen

This is another great piece with a different take on the information provided. Belinda has taken away the core message to take action with this awesome list.

The people


From top left clockwise: bricks+clicks, A Cajun Down Under,
The Crafty Mummybabblingbandit.me, Diet Schmiet 

When I arrived at the Alto Hotel I immediately recognised my first uber blogger as she was checking in. Kerri Sackville looked exactly like she does on her press photos: very attractive and immaculately put together. Just like when I met some other big name bloggers at Blogopolis earlier in the year, I was a little star struck. I think I even stuttered a bit when I introduced myself in the lift when we were making our way up to our rooms. But at least I had the guts to do that!

My chief goal for the two days was to meet people and meet people I did! Some of the cool bloggers I met included:

Deb at Diet Schmiet - Deb and I have been online friends for a while so I was really pleased to finally meet her in the flesh. She was the life of the party and quite the little matchmaker, bringing together bloggers who wanted to meet one another.

Tonya at Crafty Mummy - Lovely person. Really approachable and friendly.

Travis and David at Tackle Nappy - These two are daddy bloggers! Very friendly blokes indeed. We had some interesting convos at both the conference at at the networking dinner.

Christy at A Cajun Down Under - I was really glad to meet Christy. I generally love Americans and Christy is no exception. We escorted each other back to the hotel after our big night out at the Friday night networking cocktail party. I'm really glad to have found her blog too. There's some great recipes in there!

Dorothy at Singular Insanity - Dorothy is a fellow sole parent, raising not one but two boys on her own and I take my hat off to her. She is fiesty and passionate, despite all that she has been through. I really loved meeting her at the Friday night cocktail party.

Michaela at Five Frogs on a Blog - Hilarious woman. Just read her #PBEVENT wrap up at Badly behaving cutlery, shark penises and broken moustages. Or check out this picture (enough said, no?):


Funniest blogger at #PBEVENT

The outfits


I did my best to put a bit of effort into my outfits for my trip to Melbourne. Aussies all know Melbourne is the fashion capital of Australia. I didn't think my usual uniform of black leggings, t-shirt dress and Converse would cut it somehow.




Day one at the conference I wore this ultra comfy black Virtu dress, paired with orange beads (also Virtu) and some super cool (in my mind anyway) Pamela Mann designer tights

For the networking party I went for this Marco Polo black and white striped dress I bought last year but have only worn twice before. The rose necklace I bought at a really cool shop along King Street Newtown in Sydney. Wish I could remember the name of it so I could link in here. 

The boots I wore are from Camper and are the most expensive shoes I've ever owned! I felt great all weekend and was particularly pleased with my Virtu purchases. And there's nothing like a bit of shapewear underneath to keep all the lumpy bits in position.

I took so many clothes, shoes and handbags with me but only wore a fraction of them. Totally ridiculous but it is always good to have options!


What did I learn?


So, what did I learn at the conference? As far as blogging and how to monetise the babblingbandit.me, I didn't actually take in a lot if I'm honest. I have to go over other bloggers posts as well as relisten to the audio (which you can too with a Virtual Ticket) to absorb the more practical lessons from the two days I spent at Etihad Stadium.

I did however learn that I am not as shy as I think I am. That I can talk to relative strangers and not fall apart with embarrassment. That despite my ongoing issues with anxiety I can test my limits and build my confidence by doing so.

I learnt that as much as I love my son, every parent needs a break every now and then, for their own sanity as well as to be the best parent they can be.

I learnt that while meeting new people is hard, I am very good at holding on to long lasting friendships that I know will last a lifetime no matter the distance. Catching up with some old mates while in Melbourne made me feel so happy and extremely lucky and grateful that these people, even after five or even 10 years apart, are still a part of my life.


Did you go to #PBEVENT? What were your highlights?

V.






Tuesday, October 9, 2012

ProBlogger Training Event 2012 has me heading south again

There's three sleeps until I fly to Melbourne for the 2012 Problogger Training Event. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. Not only will I be going to Melbourne for the first time in years to learn more about blogging but I'll also be catching up with some old friends, as well as visiting a city that holds a very special place in my heart (cliche but true).

I'll never forget the night mum and dad took my sister Yolanda and me out for dinner and told us we were moving from Sydney to Melbourne. I was in year 10 and about to turn 16 and Yo was 13, going on 25.

It was such a pinnacle moment in our teenage lives. We'd lived in Sydney since I was two years old. Our family home in Newtown was a haven and I'd already changed school so many times (three nursery schools, four primary schools) that the last thing I wanted to do was to move to a new secondary school. For a kid that didn't make friends easily the thought of moving to an entirely new state was pretty bloody daunting, if not life shattering really.


Me: The year I moved to Melbourne
as a 15 year old


After spending most my primary school years with one or two good friends at a time, by 1990 I finally found myself in a group. These girls were great friends and we remained that way for years after I left Sydney - in fact I'm still friends with some of them. We were also hanging out with a group of boys which made that time very exciting indeed. Until of course I found out we were being moved away and had to start all over again.

Although both cities are in the same country (obviously) they really are very different. The rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne is well known. From my first day at my new school I was asked which city I prefered. Like I was going to switch my allegiance from Sydney within a three days of arriving south of the border. Yeah, right. All I'll say is both cities are great. They are different and each has their positives and negatives.

The transition actually went really smoothly for me. As far as I can remember anyway. I had to move down a year before my parents and my sister otherwise my senior years would be split between the New South Wales school system (Higher School Certificate) and the Victorian Certificate of Education. So off to boarding school I went.

Before you get images of dorm rooms and strict rules and regulations it was actually really fun. Just like one big long sleep over with all your mates. I was a really, really shy teenager so it was a massive challenge for me. I yearned for my family and friends back home. And of course, for Sydney. I wrote unsent letters to my parents about how sad and lonely I was. I drew maps of Newtown and of my home. Eventually I made friends. Good friends. It is hard not to when you live with a stack of girls 24/7. You got to talk to the kids around you sometime.

The year later the rest of the family moved down and I became a daygirl for my final year of high school. My sister struggled more with the move initially but it didn't take her long to get in with the cool crowd. She's always had a knack for that.

The move for my mother was probably the hardest. I won't go into details here. This is my story and I'll respect my parent's wishes that I keep it that way. Let's just say she moved back to Sydney at the first opportunity...

Together, our family lasted in Melbourne until 1995. My mum and sister moved back as soon as Yolanda completed her VCE and dad and I about six months later. We gave Melbourne our best but it wasn't meant to be forever. We are Sydney people when it comes down to it.

Unlike the rest of the family, and much to everyone's surprise, I moved back again in 1998. I relocated for love this time. That lasted two and a half years and even though my relationship ended and I came back to my hometown of Sydney, my fondness for Melbourne has never waned.

Which brings us to the present day: The 2012 ProBlogger Training Event has me flying south once more. And I couldn't be more excited! Not only will I be learning new stuff and meeting new people but I'm so excited about seeing some of my friends from high school. I'll also be catching up with a mate from the later period I was a resident.

This really is going to be one top week!

Much more on Melbourne and ProBlogger 2012 to come.

V.