Thursday 30 January 2014

The beginning of the end



Over the life of this blog I have shared with you some information about what I love and one of those things is fitness. For those of you who do not know I'm climbing Mt Everest base camp this year, something that I have been in training over the period of about 16 months. 5am mornings, long hikes on weekends and late night workouts combined with watching what I eat pre, post and during exercise has been essential. Mt Everest base camp is just base camp, its not the summit but then I suppose I understand when people think I'm a little crazy considering I'm hiking 6 kilometres into the atmosphere. Training, psychological and physical, has consumed a lot of my time and I suppose in some respects I disgust friends and family but for the most part I think they just get worried about my end goal and all the horror stories that media is so good about circulating. Either way since training has been so much a part of my life I have learnt a lot about myself, I have psychology training to thank for this as my art- training- really mirrors life in every aspect of it.

I really wanted to share with you how this personal goal of mine, climbing Mt Everest, has made me a better person. There is plenty to talk about so I am going to do it as part of a series, I will begin with how I got this crazy idea in my head and then move on to training and the personal discovery of myself and others in the process of achieving my goal. Each week a new part of the series will be posted for you to engage with, comment on, laugh about. Even if you are not interested in hiking or sport I beg of you don't switch off, it will be worth your while. I hope you enjoy what's in store.

Julia :)


Monday 13 January 2014

Snapshots- the resume of life


Happy New Years! #SplendidHoliday
Hi All! Happy New Year! I hope that your Christmas was fabulous and that you are feeling super positive about 2014. This year I have no resolutions (lets face it most people don't complete them anyway so its more of a for-the-sake-of-it tradition anyway) but rather I have goals that have been in place for over a year now already that will continue to make me feel fantastic. This year is a big one, of course you would be aware from my countless deviations away from writing to fitness that I am climbing Mt Everest this year. It is going to be amazing! Lots of hard work to go so no need to get all airy fairy about it, its no walk in the park.

Anyway today I had begun my day by fixing resumes I need when I head over in April to live on the other side of the world... again. Resumes are interesting things, all about marketing yourself. I'm not really one to do that- I just am who I am and people can take it or leave it, I'm beyond thinking that it'll be a great personal loss to myself. So amongst this resume writing it got me thinking about job interviews and how really at the crux of it all people want to know who you are and why you would be the best person over everyone else. Considering a lot of jobs get 50 plus applicants you've got to do some good marketing, right?

This is where it got me thinking, if resumes were snapshots of our life wouldn't that tell you more about someone than just their occupational history? I mean let's face it, there are those who vie for a top position in a company/business and everyone knows they have no long term invested interest, so while they get the job they still aren't the best person for the job. Then there's others who are simply there because its easier then finding something they are actually passionate about. In this thought process I got thinking about genres and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Whilst I'm certainly not into internet dating (though I know it's the thing for some) it helped the juices flow to create a really simple life resume of myself. I found it positive and rewarding, but reflecting on anything always is. Anyway perhaps you will find time to share your personal resume with me or what you learnt about yourself along the way. The hope you enjoy, till next time, have fun!

Julia Trask
 
 SUPPORTING STATEMENT
 
 I am an Australian, British dual citizen who has worked with motivation, determination and a positive attitude towards all aspects of work and personal life. Throughout the years I have experienced several different cultures through travelling expeditions and have also learnt what it means to find your true identity when I lived in a country otherwise only appreciated for long periods by my ancestors. With a sense of adventure in tow and approach to finding the good in all people I have managed to see life from the outside in. It is these values of determination, motivation, positivity, adventure, faith and a fair amount of healthy stubbornness that I succeed in all that I do irrespective of what life throws at me.
 
 RECENT LIFE HISTORY
  
Date/s of Event: 1986-1999          
Location: Family home & town    
Position Held: child, teenager, pain in the neck (for parents), sibling.
Roles, Responsibilities: To demonstrate understanding of suitable qualities for a respectful, decent person as instilled by my parents; to recognise wrong doing when in the role of ‘pain in the neck’ and to provide good fun and emotional love and support to siblings. Also to appreciate, understand and uphold the safety of others when in my care.
 
 
Date/s of Event: The Year 2000
Location: Australia                      
Position Held: Survivor               
Roles, Responsibilities: Develop resilience to tragedies and triumphs of life and death. To appreciate Silverchair’s lyrical attempt to wonder what this odd new generation would bring. Most important responsibility; finding myself and gaining personal strength.          
 
 
Date/s of Event: 2002-2003
Location: Family home & town
Position Held: Student/footballer
Roles, Responsibilities: Balancing and prioritising responsibilities between dual positions. Training the mind and the body for physical, emotional, intellectual challenges and creating a future (thanks high school).
 
 
Date/s of Event: 2004-2007
Location: Toowoomba
Position Held: Student/footballer/5 jobs ‘Betty’/frugal living expert
Roles, Responsibilities: Develop deep knowledge in biomedical science and English literature studies, applying mathematics to serious lifestyle situations where prioritising is the key to success eg: going out all night and completing the washing on $2. Advanced development of juggling routine and creation and mastery of ‘half-awake’ learning.
 
 
Date/s of Event: 2008-2011
Location: QLD                            
Position Held: ‘Be a passionate learner’ provider           
Roles, Responsibilities: Infect the minds of those who can and cannot see their ridiculously good looking potential in life, maintain sanity, develop through social skilling or random spiels in ‘out-of-blue’ conversation passion for a life of… learning.
 
 
Date/s of Event: 2012-current       
Location: The world- Australia and the world      
Position Held: Nomad
Roles, Responsibilities: Enjoying work to live a passionate life full of adventure, fun, laughter and cultural experiences. Developing worldly knowledge to improve my person; creating opportunities for random acts of anonymous kindness.
 
 Skills & Talents
·     Hosting ‘impromptu’ parties

·     Living frugally for an end goal

·     Creating a toga

·     Holding on in rollercoaster rides

·     Communicating with ‘tough nuts’ who hate everyone

·     Connecting with the disconnected/rejected

·     Juggling

·     Sanity survival in remote places

·     Being happy to be alone

·     Being crazy enough to try pretty much anything.

 
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