the kind of happy that people write embarrassing songs about

i've been fortunate enough to have some really really inspiring people enter my life from afar in the last few days. i had thought, before hearing their stories, that i had been overwhelmingly happy in my life and my relationship/s and the content of my university course right now.. but i have just been filled with so much inspiration to do more and to be more that i know i have the potential to be much much happier even - i'm not living as much as i could be.

i'm going to add subheadings to this whopper, so that you can choose whether or not to read sections / any of it :)

THURSDAY NIGHT - WESTFIELD STYLIST'S APPRENTICE COMPETITION

- i attended the Stylist's Apprentice competition
- at a funny little 'warehouse' location in Westfield Garden City shopping centre
- a bundle of fun, great chats with friends and my brilliant teaching staff
- accidentally nibbled on sushi and cupcakes complimentary only to the VIP attendees (not us)
- other people i would have loved to chat to (and have done so adoringly over email and other forms of social media for many months - if not years in one case - and so should have been 200% confident) but i got a case of the rachel shy's. zzzzzzzzzz

FRIDAY NIGHT - FASHION SUSTAINABILITY TALKS - X&Y BAR

- night of talks re: sustainability in fashion, as hosted by Undressed Brisbane
- tiny entry fee of $5, leather + vegan bows / bow-ties handed out at the door
- the first speaker was Alice Payne, who i've been fortunate enough to have for a guest lecturer + tutor
- she brushed over some of the main courses of action currently being taken in and outside of the industry to help to sustain resources and not pollute the earth
- as well as the issues at the helm of the current eco-attack
- a real focus on what isn't being handled so well + consumers can (and should) be the ones making one of the biggest differences through purchasing / recycling decisions
- i liked that notion - that it shouldn't all be left in the hands of the manufacturers and designers
- an analogy that if the entire history of man on earth over the last 70,000 or so years was compressed into a 1 hour feature film, only the last minute would involve man cultivating and harvesting crops, while only the last second would cover the period of industrialisation - from inventions such as the steam train, onward
- fascinating to think of the damage that has been caused in such a 'tiny' amount of time..

- next, an eco-fashion model, Amanda Rootsey spoke
- she has been modelling for ~ 10 years
- she was in Italy for work a couple of years ago when her agent noticed a lump on her neck, it was Hodgkin's Disease - a cancer
- she had had a few fleeting moments beforehand in her work when she had worn a fur, for example, and had felt a little squeamish by the idea but quickly made the idea leave her mind - largely out of convenience, as we do
- she researched her cancer
- a number of properties in dairy and animal products often quicken the onset of certain cancers. while Australian dairy products are regulated for this property, European dairy products are not. she had just been over there for a fairly long period, eating and drinking, particularly products such as the local cheeses
- she found that animal products, such as leather, in clothing are meant to perish but we treat them with so much to preserve the colour and the texture and etc, that these chemicals often enter the skin when they are being worn
- her entire attitude to her work and eating habits were turned around
- she moved to Byron Bay with her partner and lived in a shipping container with minimal possessions, some water tanks, a vegetable patch and a solar panel for survival. this further instilled in her the idea that the earth and its resources are incredibly precious.
- she also found out that the livestock industry is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases (?) - even more so than any of the world's transportation industries and outputs combined
- she now works purely with brands and publications that support similar vegan views

i'm sure i've missed or mis-quoted several major parts of that story..but hopefully you get the gist..

MONDAY NIGHT - FASHION ILLUSTRATION LECTURER LIFE ACHIEVEMENTS

tonight, my lecturer and tutor for my current fashion illustration subject had about 20 minutes left over before class officially ended and so asked if we wanted to listen to her autobiography. that sounds a little self-absorbed, but the humour of the situation was not lost as she mentioned that she only has it in a powerpoint presentation as it was required for her doctorate / appointment of lecturer at QUT / i can't really remember but it was academia-related.. (?)

- Deborah Fisher grew up on a property with the closest 'neighbours' 75 miles away
- played with barbies as her 'friends' and would steal her mum's visiting friends' lace handkerchiefs to cut up and make into dresses for her dolls
- she attended primary school for the air - via radio transmission, though moved to a property near the Gold Coast in highschool in order to avoid the prospect of boarding school.
(in grade 10, she was part of a play with Keith Urban who was then in grade 8 - she was his first kiss hehehe)
- she had an interest in drama and intended to pursue it after school until her drama teacher / production person (?) ironically broke their leg (..'break a leg'..) and Deborah volunteered to make the costumes
- she fell in love with the world of costume design and studied fashion at the Queensland College of Arts (i think)
- in the 80s, the college was brimming with creative types with interdisciplinary interests and new ideas
- up and coming bands such as the Triffins, the Go-Betweens and Hunters and Collectors hung around playing music between classes
- she was the only one in her class to secure a job straight out of graduation, and her desk was hidden behind racks of bridal and 'mother of the bride' clothing. she was told to design uniforms for the new Sheraton Hotel that was arriving in Brisbane.
- she ran into a friend and they launced a fashion label together - 2D Designs
- they went into the venture with only $500 between them, and while they won a number of design awards, could not financially keep up
- Deborah decided to go to New York alone at 21 years old to gain more business insight to help the label
- she went to study merchandising and management (?) at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, one of the most highly regarded Ivy League creative institutions
- during her degree, there was a day trip (?) led by a woman (who's name escapes me), a major, major tastemaker at the time (think the Devil Wears Prada, though within the Buying / Retail world)
- following the tour, Deborah asked to spend a day with the woman. the next day she did just that and sat in on a meeting with Ralph Lauren pre-fashion week
- the woman oohed and ahhed, explained what she did and did not like and what would sell. the board asked Deborah of her opinion, and she blurted out that she hated the khaki colour. the room was silent and she said that she could have thrown up.. until one of the board members finally exclaimed that she had also thought that all along
- she was then offered an assistant position (unpaid due to her student visa), working full time for six months as well as studying and still working at the cafe..doing anything and everything that was asked of her.
- after six months, she graduated and was awarded a $50,000 cheque by the company as a 'graduation present' and offered the woman's job as she was being promoted
- she travelled a great deal with the job and had millions of dollars worth of responsibility - and all at 23 years old
- she was poached twice after then, once for a private consulting firm and another time for Liz Claiborne designs. she lived the good life.
- she married and had kids. one (presumably, her first?) son was not reaching the regular milestones and at a checkup it was found that he had Cerebral Palsy + Autism. this was extremely humbling for her, as was the realisation that all of the carers that she came across were amazing life-savers.
- she had a big realisation that her job was actually entirely shallow - she was, after all, just making frivolous frocks.
- a doctor mentioned that she had recently gone into surgery to separate two twins at the brain. upon finding out that Deborah worked for Liz Claiborne, she told the story that after that surgery, she had gone home and out to dinner with her husband who had mentioned that she looked beautiful in her Liz Claiborne dress. she said that if Deborah is able to make someone feel beautiful and loved and womanly, then her job is just as important as the doctor's was.
- Deborah worked on a job in Romania, after the Berlin wall came down. a rural factory had only made white singlets for years during the war for the soldiers, and she went there to show them how to instead make tee-shirts, in order to be able to sell to America and sustain themselves.
- she showed them how to add sleeves, collars and pockets to the singlets. she ate 3 Wiener schnitzels a day for meals, for months (hehe).
- toward the end of the project, she was woken to a knock on the door in the early hours of the morning, and expecting the worst, was led to the front doors of the factory. she saw families and grandparents (and donkeys!) lining the streets along the way, and they were all singing their national anthem. no-one could speak English, but they had realised that she had opened doors for them to be able to trade and hold their own internationally - she had literally saved the village. she said it was the proudest moment of her life.
- another time, in a joint venture with the United Nations, she travelled to Mexico. there was an old weaving technique that was dying out as there were only a handful of 80 year old women left who knew and were practicing the art.
- amongst other consultants, Deborah was brought in to 'pimp it out' and get the youth to see the appeal of the cultural tradition. the village is now self-sustained and around 200 people are onboard - most under the age of 30.
- still working in the fast-paced fashion world in New York, she came across a Mexican taxi driver one night when she was tired and irritable. he said, 'hey lady, did you forget to choose happiness?' (she still finishes every email and QUT Blackboard announcement with 'choose happiness').
- she decided to come home and learn to be a mum. she volunteered in the school tuckshop, covered books in the library and became a soccer mum.
- today, she takes part in a truckload of charities and community events, such as one that she runs alongside Carlos Santana and his wife for Californian kids (i think ?), and a Queensland folk organisation involved in things like the opening and closing of Woodford Folk Festival.
- she is now also teaching as a way of giving back, at institutions such as TAFE and QUT
- she practices buddhism and kung-fu

i mean....!!