General updates – my life and my new show!

Hey folks!

I have been pretty slack about blogging lately so I thought I might just write up a little update about what I’ve been up to. It’s been an exciting and very busy few weeks. As most of you know I do my wildlife and presenting work in addition to my normal “day job.” I’m hoping that in the not to far-off future I will be able to forget about my day job and do presenting full time but it’s all about baby steps, right?

I actually recently got laid off my day job. I was one of many people in my company that got cut due to overall problems that the business was having (which I knew about) so it wasn’t anything I took personally and honestly, I think it’s the best thing that could have happened. It gave me the opportunity to look at my life and re-focus my energy.

I actually received a couple of job offers for full time jobs very soon after my lay off but I turned them all down because the thought of stepping into another serious role just made me want to throw up! I’ve decided instead to work as a temp for now and keep my focus on my wildlife and presenting work. At the moment I’m working as a receptionist and then next week I become an assistant to a project manager on a construction site for a few months. It should be pretty cruisy and fun

Have you ever heard the saying “if you take one step towards the gods, the gods will take ten steps towards you”? Well I feel very much that that is what is happening for me now. Within a few weeks of being laid off I heard about a grant that was available to artists in the ACT. The grant is set up to assist artists in projects that will have a big positive impact on their careers. I am applying for the grant to get my documentary started. Keep your fingers crossed for me! If I get the money I’ll be able to fly up to Cairns next spring to film Flying Foxes in all their mating glory. I’ve had this project in my mind’s eye for years so it would be so amazing to see it come to life.

And even more exciting, my good buddy Les Herstik asked me the other day if I would like to work as a presenter for a new Australian travel show that he is creating called X-Roads. He has been calling it “a travel show with an edge.” I (of course) immediately jumped at the opportunity. I will be one of three presenters. There will also be Chris “Darlo” Darlingon, an adventure presenter who has won heaps of awards for skiing and kayaking. He is one of these nuts who throws himself off of waterfalls! And then there is “Cosmic Carl” who is a history buff and looks a bit like a World War II aviator (and also, coincidently, like my Uncle Dan! haha).

The pilot for the show has already been created using footage that Les filmed with each of us separately in the past. I’m really excited to film more episodes, so far it seems that my segments with involve a lot of waves and caves. Yay!
So it’s all exciting!

I’m also in the middle of a big “stuff purge” in my house. I’m about to head to the local Salvos with a big donation. I’ve been reading a lot of blogs about minimalist living and am finding it fascinating. It’s amazing how when you pair down your belongings you get in touch with what actually matters to you in life. Plus you save money and don’t fund the “affluenza” virus that is so costly on the world’s resources. But that’s a bit of a tangent, I suppose. Something to discuss in more detail in another blog on another day.

Love to you all

Carly xo

Tagged as: animal, animals, baby, carly, day, documentary, energy, excited, exciting, fauna, focus, funding, grant, herstik, job, layoffs, les, minalism, native, new, show, steps, tv, wild, wildlife, wilson, work, X-Roads