Think Positive

Today I found out about a campaign being done by South Australia Health to demystify mental illness. I'm a big fan of the TVCs I've seen - they're well-produced, play on an insight, and are touching.

It's hard not to feel for this guy

As someone that's dealt with mental illness, I guess the issue hits a soft-spot. I know what it's like to go through issues such as the ones displayed in the commercials, and can totally relate. It can be bloody awkward having to explain away absences and inability to do simple tasks, and it takes a lot of energy to take command of what is typically a banal social situation.

Yesterday, I announced a new direction for the blog. I'm aiming to get my own story published by employing my own style. I've got a strategy and intend to execute it. This blog is about those attempts. And hopefully the story will eventually transcend and hit the audience I want it to. There's still a massive gap to be closed between suffering silently and being able to talk about it and I want to illustrate that it is possible to succeed.

 

Now with rapid-fire editing

My approach is a bit more in your face, but sometimes you have to jump up and down and shout loudly to get your message across.

It's good to see other people going about their business and trying their best too, I'd love to see the commercials I've mentioned being shown at a federal level rather than state.

Until such a time that I'm satisfied, this mental will be promoting himself unashamedly.

You've been warned.

Bound for Glory

I've been brainstorming themes for my blog overhaul. Heres a few descriptions I was toying with:

• work in online, writing a book, trying hard not to be a wanker (and failing)
• there is no shame
• digital media by day, digital glory by night
• self, love, online, writing

There's clearly a theme here. (I liked self and love together on the last point, well played me). And I think I'm slowly edging towards a USP. I've spent most of my time online with reckless abandon, and still seem to be doing okay. I've got a good job, get to travel, and tend to have a lot of fun pursuing both the serious and not so serious.

For example, I'm serious about getting my book published, and not so serious about my approach to online.

I've boned up on some of the blogs out there, and there's a lot I can learn from them that I will begin applying to my blog. Stuff like SEO, online writing, proper coding, managing content, and the like, I can apply. 

Unlike these blogs though, who are catering to an audience who is interested in writing, I'm writing to a predominantly disinterested audience who is largely Australian.

Would you believe it, most people who read Marshwah are Australian

Whoa, whoa, who said they were disinterested?

I do.

Nobody wants to hear about an attention-seeking, self-obsessed loon trying to get his book about himself published.

Yet.

The goal is to get people interested.

The journey starts now.

On Holiday - Be Back Soon

Melbourne, home of the cultured Australian, the tennis (I think I'm getting behind Andy Murray for the Australian Open title), and temporarily - me.

I'm here for a mate's wedding and have been doing the rounds. In lieu of my promised blog overhaul, I'm going to regale you with things I've learned since returning to my homeland.

Facebook is a Complicated Whore
It's pretty safe to say I haven't mastered the thing. I've tried deactivating it, oversharing, public posts, and adopting my online persona all with ill-fated timings. I got scolded last night for deleting family friends and this morning I got scolded for being incessant. I've been told that my status updates are disgusting and deranged, yet I still persevere with my tripe. I feel like a fat kid eating cake who only wants more pie. And when you offend them, a simple "welcome to the Internet" - doesn't seem to cut it. What gives?

If only people at their keyboards were escorted by this fellow.

You don't have any news

You could have:

*Gone on 20 dates (did happen)

*Been to eight different countries since seeing them (did happen)

*Got a new job (did happen)

*Rode on a unicorn made of bacon and vomited magic rainbows (may have happened)

But thanks to the above this news is müt. You could say that this is due to my affinity for sharing the news on aforementioned platform but shutup.

You've been told.

Australian TV is really, really shit

I used to read about the abomination that was The Project. But never thought I'd be exposed to it. Until my stint at my Mum's in Traralgon. It was left on and it was like being anally compromised with a pine-cone (hasn't happened). The self-serving drivel seems to be an institution in this country. All I can surmise is that the collective amount of bile produced from watching Charlie Pickering's smug adulation has export value.

A more smug, self-adulating wanker I am yet to come across.

Australia's still home

I may be jetsetting Australasian these days, but I still love getting back to my town and knowing where to go, walk around, and eat. I took secret pride in the fact that my sister was asking for directions through the Melbourne CBD, and being able to get from a friend's house to my Mum's in less than five minutes in Traralgon almost makes it better than Changi Airport.

Almost.

There's stuff going on with the usual stuff, but I'll revisit them next time.

Writing a Wave

I make no secret of the fact I like attention, and online I'm even worse. Between my time on Inthemix, to my slightly crazy videos on YouTube, and my engagement with the likes of Twitter and Google Plus, it's safe to say that I'm a fan of jumping up and down online.

But what about the blog?
In a bid to resume my love for sharing, I switched from my blogging birthplace at OpenDiary and relocated here. I started off in earnest, with a bold declaration about what I set out to achieve. Boldly declaring:

Lastly, I want the attention. I crave the attention. I thrive on my ability to capture someone's attention. It's why I write... I want your eyeballs, and this blog intends to suck them out of your sockets. 

What went wrong?
I don't think I got there. I treated this space like a stream-of-consciousness recorder. While I started blogging very early on, I didn't really adapt. The way I wrote didn't change. I failed to capitalise.

So what?
You're bold aren't you titular writing device? Well I don't have a problem with simply recording what's going on as such. I quite enjoy using using this medium as a record that I can check back on, reflect, and utilise. But there's a problem with this, you see I keep mentioning something called the book.

54 mentions from 40-odd entries - obsessed much?

A new focus

The more sharp-eyed among you might have noticed some changes to the blog recently. Besides some cosmetic changes, there's an assurance that my book will be published in April, 2012.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now there's a bit of pressure. An imposed deadline. And failing a publishing deal I need to make this happen. I'm not a complete failure, so I've been reading up on what I need to do to get there. And boy it's a lot of work. But it's also exciting.

A year for improvement

2011 was satisfying, the best year I've had in ten. I could just sit back and let it be. 

But why not strive to make 2012 better?

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately. Ones that have stood out include ProBlogger, 1000 Awesome Things,   Jeff Goins Writer, and Nerd Fitness. While they all cover different interests, what was consistent among them is a tale of self-improvement. They're successful because they didn't settle for being good. They're all properties that continually self-improve.

It's time for me to do the same.

Change is coming

Picture this, but in the written form. Yeah!

This year I'm stepping things up again. In the coming days I'll be writing about what this new focus will be on, and this blog will record it all. I hope you can come along for the ride.

Ever undertaken self-improvement yourself? What inspired you? Let us know!

A Befitting End, A Spectacular Start, and a Target

I really need to find a more varied way of blogging abroad. As has become the norm when I'm away, I generally begin with a banal statement about where I currently am (Saigon) and then a remark about my surrounds (a hotel room) and get started. It's a lazy writing device, and something I'll have to step up my game with if I'm to get the book published, but more on that soon.

For a channel that didn't exist in most people's lives ten years ago, social media has been something that's almost become a compulsory tune-in. My feeds are inundated with self-reflection, well wishes, and varied takes on 2011 and the year that was. This entry, will be no different, so if you had high hopes I hate to be the bearer of ill news.

It's not like I have an aversion to this form of contemplation anyway. My own writing, tweets, status updates, and emails to my friends are full of this kind of stuff. And I enjoy articulating my thoughts, sense-checking them, and recording, in order to keep myself honest, accountable, and most importantly, have something to look back on and remember.

As I look back on 2011, I find it quite befitting that I'm sitting in a hotel room in Asia bashing away at a computer. I'm here with a friend I hadn't met before this year, in a place I hadn't been to before this year, and feeling a strong sense of satisfaction that I hadn't had before this year.

Not since 2001, have I felt as satisfied with a year's efforts. I had a couple of beers this afternoon before my disco nap, but let me assure you, I will be downing some more to commemorate the year's that's been.

2012 is also looking like it will be quite the start. I wake up tomorrow morning with a hangover in a country other than Australia, I set off for another working visit to Tokyo, and then get to go back to Melbourne to see one of my best friends get married to his beautiful fiancee. All in the space of January, all in a sense of awe.

I intentionally made reference to the book at the start of this entry, and the sharper-eyed among you might see a declaration on the right of this page with a few words about me. I will have my book published this year. The deadline I've set is April 2012. It's ambitious, but a deadline is what I need. I've got a few leads I'm following up on, and have had a few doors shut in my face, but I'm gunning for this to happen and will see it through.

There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes to make this happen, so keep watching this space to hear more.

And that's really it. Tonight we've got drinks at a sky bar, dinner at a restaurant and then a table at a bar. I've been laying low the last few hours but as I understand it Saigon really converges on its CBD on New Year's Eve and I look forward to seeing it. Judging by the sound outside my hotel window it's going to be loud, confronting, and in my face.

Bring on 2012.

Keep Smiling - My Take on 2011

The weekend's been productive. I went out on two dates, trialled a new writing program, and had a ridiculously good time at a Swedish Christmas featuring Glögg.

Good use of a weekend in my opinion, but I'm not hear to wax on about the merits of a successfully-spent-Saturday-and-Sunday. Instead, I have decided to review 2011, a year of many firsts, and one that I am very thankful for the many opportunities it presented.

I was inspired by trawling through my old blog, The Tomes of Marshy, and recognised that in the earlier years, it was quite customary for me to do a year-in-review-style synopsis of what went down that year.

Given, that this year has been the most eventful by many measures this year, it only makes sense to resume this tradition.

****

Where to start? Let's start with some statistics:

Number of new countries visited this year: 7
Times I saw Gabriel & Dresden: 1
Times I have listened to Gabriel & Dresden sets since being disappointed: less than 10
Video log views:1,300+
Amount of guests that stayed in my new Singapore apartment: 13
Jobs had this year: 3 with two companies

And I guess that will do, I just calculated them on the spot and I guess it's indicative of what has preyed on my mind this year. Travel, music, personal development, friends/family and career.

And if this were a role-playing game, I've racked up a shit-load of experience and improved my stats in all the key characteristics. And I'm Level 28 now, I can dish out some serious pwn

First the travel. It's fair to say I used to eschew it. I had a lot of stuff going on in my life and shitting on about travel and trips and what I have/haven't seen did not interest me in the slightest. But, it's a bit of a life-experience impediment not having seen the world and I took it upon myself to do just that.

Without ever having left the country I jumped on a plane to Singapore for work, and in the meantime have managed to see Krabi, Chiang Mai, Bali, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh, and Manila. Some of these places more than once, and managed to go back to Australia to brag about the experience three times on top of this. Winning.

It's given me a fresh, new perspective on the friendships that count, reaffirmed my ongoing love for my family, and made me completely forget the people who aren't worth the time of day - who? Exactly.

While I've been further than ever away from my favourite clubs, my love for tunes and music has only increased. It's been a bloody good year for sounds and appreciation of it. So much so, that after years of deliberation, I chose to get a tattoo of my favourite song from my favourite band, Crystal by New Order.

I've been enjoying it so much that I might undertake another project, let's watch this space in 2012.

Speaking of projects, I made less headway on the book than I would have liked, but am realising that there's no rush and that progression comes in many forms. Another project is the entitled Marshwah, which has been a tremendous amount of fun and given me some great insights into video, editing, and new media.

Career has been the other big story for me this year. I've worked hard and reaped rewards far more rapidly than I've anticipated. If making the call to move from Melbourne to Sydney for work was smart, moving from Sydney to Singapore was incisive. I'm blown away by what I've achieved and have to shift the goalposts again. Not that I'm complaining.

The year has been colourful, chaotic, and an absolute pleasure. Next year has a lot to live up to, something tells me we'll be up to the challenge.

****

Another tradition I used to have from my old blog was a saying that I'd append to the end of each entry, it's ringing true for me now so I'm going to dust it off.

Keep Smiling.

Like a Boss

If you're a friend of mine on Facebook and other platforms, you would have noticed my newfound affinity for this phrase. I like the false sense of arrogance it denotes, while having a laugh at myself and the situations I append it to.

Things have been happening like a boss lately however. It's nothing short of astounding what this year has brought.

Almost a year ago, I relocated to Singapore to pursue a new dream. I needed to go international, I'd never left my homeland and the wanderlust was simply too strong. What had held me back in years before was no longer an issue, and with the loss of an account I was working on was the catalyst for a new opportunity.

I continued with the agency I was working with in Sydney, and took on a new role, new challenges and new markets. I've learned some things as I go, and have embraced each change as much as I have worked through new doors that have opened.

People told me Singapore is a great place for travel. Having spent the last ten months living there, I've been surprised by how much I have been able to do. I've racked up eight countries thus far, and am only hungry for more.

---

I was writing the above on the way back from Philippines, and we had to turn off electronic devices. I had a tale unfurling in my head but I'm distracted now. So I think we'll leave it at this for now. Like a boss does.