Why am I here?

Why am I here?

A question we all come to ask ourselves from one time to another. It can be brought on by many things, from a near-miss in your car to a boring day at work. It can also mean a lot of things. Why am I here could be a question about why you are alive. It could also be a question about why you decided to take a certain path in life. In this moment of time the question is, for me, about why I am writing this blog.

What is my purpose here? Why do I feel compelled to put my thoughts out in long form for everyone to see? What do I hope to achieve? Or is it just for the release of getting my thoughts out in front of myself, and if that is the case then why choose to do it in public?

Certainly it’s about the release to some extent. There is too much going on in my head at times and it needs to be taken out, stored away somewhere else to make room for new thoughts, ideas or information. But it is much more than just that.

I feel I have a need and indeed a responsibility to write about the things I learn, the wisdoms uncovered and the failures too. We are living in a world now, where we are involved in constant communication, but one in which the communication is often of little value or consequence. We are too oft caught up in unimportant discussions about issues of little consequence while major social, political, economic and especially personal issues are hidden or avoided. It has always been my role in life to break these taboos.

Continue reading Why am I here?

A long time coming

It’s been a very long time coming for me to start writing a personal blog again. I used to do it regularly, almost daily back in 2005-07. Even while I was studying at uni, working full time and the founder/editor in chief of collaboration blog about Iraq, written by Iraqis. But at some stage I became  overwhelmed by it all and life took me on a different journey for a while.

Back then Gee (Georgia, my then girlfriend now soon to be wife) and I were in the process of finding and buying our first home, I was 20 at the time and she 21. I was 2 years into a journalism degree and had been working in a Bakery for 3 years as a trades assistant. I was good at my job and for the most part enjoyed it, but I was eager and wanted to earn some big bucks so I could pay the mortgage off quickly and go chase my dreams of becoming a journalist. So, like any West Australian youth would do, I decided it was a great idea to go work in the mining industry.

It worked, to some extent. Surely I found a bit of temporary work which paid well and I had enough contacts to survive the employment gaps in between. Gee and I both managed to progress in our employment and didn’t have to struggle to pay the bills, though we were both working long hours.

Eventually I settled into a role at Australian Pressure Testing Services as a Pressure Test Technician and was good at my job. I was there for a year and a half before they sent me on a 6 month stint on-site at Boddington Gold Mine where I was paid a top-rate wage, which I worked my ass off for. It went well and aside from a few arguments about weekend overtime, which was non-compulsory according to the site agreement, my bosses were both impressed with the quality and quantity of my work. But eventually as the job was nearing completion there was a call for voluntary redundancy from site.

Continue reading A long time coming