10 Ways to Shake Up Your Life

Pie in the sky thinking does take you places!

Sometimes, just to shake things up, I like to do something that’s a bit different, a bit unusual. Here’s ten things I’ve done in the last year that you may like to give a go too.

Meet up with someone from Twitter
Remember, a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met!

Travel far and wide
Travel, travel, travel, and see all those places you’ve always wanted to. Go as far and as long as possible.

Give a new city a go
 Live in a new city – get down and dirty with the locals; talk to them, drink with them, dance with them.

Try the local delicacies
Eat weird food! Duck embryo, snake, rat, tortoise, dog, scorpion, cricket – I’ve tried it all, even British ‘pie and mash’.

Talk to randoms
My conversations often start with a really lame opening line, but often lead to wonderful new friendships.

Take the 100 Things Challenge
Can you live your life with only 100 things? You can live with less and still feel rich.

Deeply and profoundly believe in yourself
When I remind myself ‘I deeply and profoundly believe in myself’ – challenges that only seconds ago scared me become totally doable.

Face your worst fears
Sometimes you not knowing if you can succeed becomes a great motivator; cowardice can lead to courage.

Give a tourist a tour of a city you’ve just arrived in
Taking the lead means you do things that you’ll be more inquisitive, daring and bold.

Share yourself
Wearing my heart on my sleeve was scary at first, but the rewards are great when you share with others.

Back to Zero – The 100 Things Challenge

Back to Zero is a philosophy of mine that made it possible for me to travel the world living out of a 26L bag without debt and without fear of failure.

Freedom and independence is important to me and there is certainly joyful feeling I get when I zip past lumbering giants shouldering 150 litre backpacks at airports.

Recently though, when I moved apartments in London I realised I’d begun accumulating again. My hereditary genes of hoarding were trying to take hold. I’d been lured by the ‘shiny’ in Singapore, ‘cheap’ in Hong Kong, ‘cheap-cheap’ in Vietnam, ‘designer’ in Seoul and ‘stately’ in London. More luxuries than necessities in my life? This could not be!

Coming to my rescue was this 100 Things Challenge article. I did a stocktake and pared my life once again down to the bare. I counted one hundred and ten. Not bad. If I donate ten more things, I’ll happily gain another ‘zero’.

How Do You Measure A Year?

This year many of my life long dreams came true.

I’ve had many people say “oh, you’re so lucky” because I’ve spent 6 months travelling, free from work. I have a standard response to that compliment now, borrowed from Walt Disney;

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

Well, it’s the time of year that people compile best of lists, and so too have I. I want to share the important moments of the last 12 months. I am pretty lucky to be living my dreams, but remember you can be too. Just believe in yourself and your ability to make the impossible possible.

January

My personal theory of ‘Back to Zero’ took me to a space of exponential growth. Having planned for three years, I found myself financially free, my professional and private life was balanced, and having rejected material possessions I was unburdened. I had the means to live my dreams. I also unlocked the door to healing and began recovering from the sex abuse I survived as a child (survivor, not victim).

February

I vividly remember the hot, sexy man sidling up to me, shaking my hand while staring deep into my eyes. I almost spontaneously cumbusted when I met and interviewed porn star Brent Corrigan at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. As a bonus, I also made it onto his website. Oh yah, I’m on a porn website (check it out here)!

I almost didn't recognise him with his clothes on!

March

A two year radio project came to a natural end. One of my last interviews for my program The Fool and The Opera was with world renowned conductor Richard Bonynge. I was deeply moved when he also invited to attend a masterclass. It was a great honour.

April

I helped co-ordinate Australia’s first same sex formal for Minus18. I spoke with a girl who told me she was so excited because her girlfriend couldn’t go to her ‘real’ school formal, but they were coming our event together. During the formal, when performer Jessie Upton sang acoustic Somewhere Over The Rainbow the two girls, in tuxedos, slow danced. I cried over how utterly beautiful it was.

May

I farewelled the folks of JOY 94.9, the gay and lesbian community radio station that I’d worked at for over 5 years.  I remember when I joined I was an over-eager young kid of little more than 21. It was the right time to leave because I learnt all that I could and I was aching for new adventures. I left the station, still, an over-eager young kid.

Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke - Lynda Barry

June

My media mentor Addam Stobbs passed away and my world was a little sadder. At Addam’s funeral, I held hands with my dear friends Petro and Micah and I remember never wanting to let go. I know it’s from Addam’s lessons that I’ve drawn my most powerful quote, “Gays don’t deserve tolerance. We deserve respect, equality and love.”

July

I hopped on a A380 with my eye on the horizon. Over five months I saw Singaporean soldiers dance in formation, re-learnt to speak and write Vietnamese, sat in on a real Japanese tea ceremony in Tokyo, kitted myself out in hot Korean clothes, walked along the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and met a British prince.

September

I celebrated my 27th birthday by flying to Tokyo. My happiest moment was hearing the sound of the cicadas and warning alarms at a local train station. The sounds were exactly as they are in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, the very show that made me fall in love with Japan when I was a mere teen. It took over a decade, but I made it to Tokyo.

October

On the tenth hour of the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year, at an outdoor cafe near Hoan Kiem Lake in flawless deep-southern accent Vietnamese, I ordered drinks for my southern American friends. Some I’d met days earlier, others that very day, but we had one thing in common, we were there to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime festivities for Hanoi’s 1000th birthday.

November

When I was 12 I pretended I was born in Britain and had a posh accent. I’ve always wanted to be part of the world of David Attenborough, Blackadder and Bond (more recently Skins, Harry Potter and Bond). Now, I can happily proclaim I live in the city where it all happens; London.

December

Sitting in a production meeting at my new job, my heart skipped a beat when a colleague mentioned ‘BBC World Service’ and again when I saw a household name from British TV and Hollywood show pop up in my email. I find myself working for a major UK media producer with very recognisable names. I’m still amazed by this!

The Hoberman sphere is impressive when open, similarly your heart is most impressive when open to your dreams.

The Fool and the World

"A fool who persists in his folly will become wise" William Blake

After two years, my radio programme The Fool and The Opera has come to an end.

Yet, I persist with the idea of the fool, and that I will always remain one.

The Fool is the first card in the Tarot; the beginning.

He has no prejudice or judgement because he is at the start of his search for experience, knowledge and meaning. That’s why there’s a zero above his head.

The zero hints at his zen-like existence; only a small bag of tricks on his shoulder, it’s how I imagine myself when I set out on my tour of the world.

Take heed, the fool stands on the edge of a cliff and blindly steps into nothing. I call that a leap of faith – letting the universe take care of everything (a happy landing one hopes)!

Back To Zero

In 2007, my goal was to go “back to zero”.

A mantra I invented to help me get out of debt, it was part Zen scripture part Hollywood tagline (think Fight Club).

Actually, I’m pretty close to zero. I’ve restructured my life; I live within my means, sold my car, buy modest clothes, don’t accessorise (tough for a gay man!) and where possible, delay gratification until I know what I want for sure.

As part of the process to make zero hero, I wrote a living will and gave away my beloved possessions to family and friends; including my record collection and record player, antique cameras, and old school gaming consoles. Then I scanned my photos and diaries onto portable hard drives. Once this was done, I found everything I owned fit into a 26L backpack!

I watched George Clooney’s Up In The Air with my friend Jade, and she pointed out (like George’s character) though my backpack is light on material possessions, it can be emotionally heavy.

My focus now is to define the space between my professional and personal life and let go of projects, people and  problems that are not part of my core beliefs or being – to be true to myself.

I know that great distances can be travelled by even the smallest of people (and I am indeed a little person) and the next part of my journey is to allow my perspective, purpose and priorities to be challenged in new ways.

So while I say I’m close to achieving my goals, I’m still only at the beginning. You could say, back at zero.