Perspective

For most of you, the beauty reviews, the YouTube videos and the occasional tweets regarding work are all you see of myself and my life. But like most people, there is always so much more beneath the surface.

Today I wanted to take some time to talk about my second occupation. As you may know my primary occupation (full time job) is in IT, which I love and very much enjoy. What you may not know is that for the last five or so years I’ve also been employed by a local channel as an online interviewer; Where I’m given the opportunity to interview for various shows and magazines.

If I were to say that my full time job has taught me a lot about myself as a person, then I would say my job as a chat typist has taught me a lot about humanity and the world as a whole. Many of the stories range from entertaining, frightening, nerve racking and thought provoking. And that is a pretty accurate representation of how I feel as I conduct the interviews.

I have met some of the most interesting, some of the most frightening and some of the most entertaining guests. And many who leave me affected for days later.

Once I interviewed a man who had died under a snow avalanche and was lately brought back to life by his son. I’ve never talked to a person who had died before, and to know that he felt no pain as he went under, strangely left me feeling a sense of calm.

Another time I interviewed a journalist who was first on the scene at a tragic earthquake in China that killed hundreds if not thousands. Listening to him compare the life and privileges we have here in Australia to those who had lost everything, and yet still held on to such positivity in life really impacted me. I don’t have a right to waste my energy being upset over the most petty and trivial of things when another human who has lost everything is just so happy to have their life.

Other times though, I get to interview people whom I’ve admired in the media for many years and I can’t help but get filled with butterflies before I begin an interview. No matter how many years pass, there are just some individuals who literally make my heart flutter.

But I will admit that only one time have I cried during an interview, and that was when I listened to a man tell me the story of how his beloved sister was brutally murdered and that the man who killed her received a mere 3 years. How 25 years on when it was time to bury his own parents, he saw the pain in their eyes as they breathed their last breath knowing how they weren’t able to bring justice for their daughter. It’s one thing to read something like this, it’s another to listen to someone personally affected by it, listen to the tones in their voice, and to their inner strength.

I’m not saying the fact that I almost exclusively blog about beauty is completely irrelevant, or that we should all dedicate our lives to “greater” things. But I think sometimes when life is tough, or seems tough, it’s important to put it all in perspective.

There is so much in the world, and if you are one of the few privileged people in the world who have a roof over your head, who have electricity, who have a computer, who have the internet that allows you to read this blog, then you really do have so much to be grateful for.

Sometimes, it’s nice to take a step away and reflect on life a little differently 🙂 Don’t worry, we’ll be back to our regular programming tomorrow 😉