CAITLIN JANE PHOTOGRAPHY

Interview of Sandi Tighello, Editor of Onya

Interesting interview of Sandi Tighello, the editor and creator of Australia online Magazine, Onya (soon to be launched into print). I love her enthusiasm and motivation.

A snippet from the article, on Wordsmith Lane (a blog by freelance journalist Sarah Ayoub).

“Tell us about your wordsmith career path so far:

I started writing when I was six years old – I’ve always loved it. I used to write poems, songs, musings, stories – I still have quite a few of my old journals – most importantly the one I wrote when I was six that declared, ‘When I grow up I want to be a writer.’

It wasn’t until I hit high school that I pursued the idea further – working on the school newspaper and the end of year poetry anthology. When I was 15 I started writing for my local newspaper on a fortnightly basis – reviewing films and books and writing opinion pieces. In Year 12 I entered a competition being run by The Age. It involved writing a piece on maintaining balance throughout Year 12 and the winner would have their piece published in the newspaper. I got home from school on the Friday at 4.15pm and remembered that the competition closed at 5pm that day, and, even though I had every good intention to submit something, I had not written a word. In fact, I completely forgot all about it. So, I sat down, wrote and then submitted my piece without even reading back over it. On the Monday afternoon I received an email, from the Editor of The Age, saying I’d won the competition and that I had, ‘The gift of words.’ And that was it. From then on, I knew writing was exactly what I would do, because I loved it, and because someone else out there did too.

From there I wrote for university newspapers, print publications, street press, blogs and online publications. I was offered the position of Editor for Mink Magazine when I was 22, and stayed with them for two years. I then launched my own publication, Onya Magazine, on June 1^st, this year.”

Getting Burnt, and a Few Things I Know…

I also like this list by Sandi Tighello on her blog, “In the Thick of It”. She’s basically summed up my philosophy on life, and it’s nice to think other people agree.

• Your intuition is your best alarm. When it goes off, listen, don’t ignore it.
• Some people are just nasty. The same way some people are just nice. They don’t deserve to be treated equally.
• Don’t kid yourself into thinking that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It’s the sincerest form of someone not being able to think or create on their own.
• When you get screwed over, fight it. Correct it. Fix it. Ignoring it for the good of avoiding an issue, or a drama, is no good at all. You are allowing yourself, or someone else, to be screwed over again.
• I often internally debate what my stance on ‘people’ as a whole is. I’m wowed, astounded and in love with people that are kind, funny, giving and intelligent. But I, far too often, come across people who are dull, selfish and malicious. I’m still deciding.
• Once you’ve been burnt, the best thing you can do is carry on, but more fabulous than ever. Don’t hide. Don’t wallow. Come out shining.
• Don’t expect people to be happy for you. If they are, they’re genuine. The most important thing is that you’re happy for yourself.
• And, much the same, everything that you do should be for yourself. The way you dress, carry yourself, what you do, why you do it, where you go, what you watch, everything should be for you. If you’re soaring, then the people that you love will be too. Do things because you want to do them. That’s the only way to be successful. The most amazing people that I’ve met – even the ones with children – do things for themselves, and rather than being selfish, they are exactly right. When you’re occupied, inspired and happy, it makes everyone else around you exactly that too.
• Eleanor Roosevelt once said, ‘No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.’ She was right. Stop giving people so much power.
• If you’ve been burnt, never assume that you’re silly, in any way at all. It happens to everyone. And so it should – to be a reminder of who and what is good in life, and who and what is not.
• Choosing sides is never an easy thing, but it is always, always much better than sitting on the fence.
• Getting burnt in life forces you to toughen up. So toughen up. Don’t accept ridicule. Don’t accept rudeness. Stand up for yourself.
• Disappointment and hurt is everywhere in life. Happiness and wonder is also everywhere in life. Choose what you will focus on.