Diana, Sydney, Australia

“ At 30, I feel liberated from a lot of preconceived ideas.”

Name :  Diana Viraj

Gender :  Female

DoB :  29.08.1982

City of Birth : Nove Zamky, Slovakia

Status :  Single

Family :  2 brothers, 9 and 5yo

Hometown :  Sydney, Australia

Education : Marketing & Economics 3y + Natural medicine 3y

Job :  Nutritionist

Religion :  –

Politics :  –

As a child… How would you picture yourself at 30?

JOB – How did you decide to do this job?

I wanted to be an air hostess!! I thought it was super glamorous! (laughing). Another of my dreams was to own my own hotel… maybe because my parents worked in the hospitality/hotel industry.

Gravity and stability are physical laws that one take for granted… The ground does not shake normally! And when I felt it shaking for the first time, my whole reality falls apart and I started thinking about other things.

HOME / PLACE OF LIVING – Where you thought we would be living by now?

I did not really think about it… I always thought I would be living in the same place in Slovakia or in Turkey because this is where I spent most of my childhood. I then moved to Australia when I was 13, mainly for political reasons. Since I was used to always move due to my parent’s job, I never really had a plan for my future! I was not the one who made decisions at the time!

Diana spending some time in Manly beach (Sydney) with a friend. Diana loves the sea and goes to the beach as often as she can!

Diana loves to hang around the streets of Sydney to discover new street art pearls.

Striking and memorable events…

IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE – What are the most memorable event of your personal life? I remember of the first earthquake I witnessed while living in Turkey. I was only 8. I was home with the baby sitter while my parents were working at the Hilton hotel, the power went off and the ground started to shake… we did not know what to do… The reason why it is important is that before this event, gravity and stability are physical laws that one take for granted… The ground does not shake normally! And when I felt it shaking for the first time, my whole reality falls apart and I started thinking about other things.  I was not really scared though, and I witnessed 6 other earthquakes just as bug (6,7 on Richter scale) after that one.

The other event is much more recent, I left my job and everything last year to live a “farming experience” for a few months near Byron Bay. This experience enabled me to connect back to the earth and live in a simpler way. Instead of spending 8 or 10 hours indoor, I would spend them outdoor.  Think this experience changed the way I see life and my priorities! It made me realize what is important. It is very easy to get distracted, not to think, especially if you live in a big city. For instance, when it comes to waste treatment at the farm you have to think about it, whereas at the city you threw it away and someone else will do the job for you. But when it is not just one person but 4.5 million it becomes an exponential thing.

IN THE WORLD – What are the main events that stroke the world you are living in? Last December (2014), there was a terrorist attack that killed 3 people (gunman included) right in the center of Sydney in the Lindt Shop (chocolate). First I started
laughing because I told myself that maybe they wanted chocolate! But this event stroke me cause I did not understand the reason and also that anything could happen… It turns out he was just a lunatic that happened to have a link will Al Qaeda or other trustiest organization and they used him as a puppet to create a lot of attention.
BEST MEMORY – What is your best memory? The first thing that comes to my mind is a funny memory… I was around 5 years old… I had a dog that often went out of the fence and came back after few hours with that guilty look, as if he was asking me to cover up the whole he made to escape… So I would do it with all my toys!! Was so funny because I thought I was the fastest and the smartest and that nobody would know I did that but with all my toys around 😉 my parents knew exactly what happened!

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT – I am proud of my career change when I started to practice as a nutritionist. I am really happy that I am able to change people’s perspective on their health. And if not change it, at least inspire them and make them aware of the importance of health. Even during my current job at the store, I am really glad when someone comes back to thank me for my tips! Last time there was this guy who thanked me because my tips gave him much more energy to play with his kids.

Looking back / Reviewing expectations

10 YEARS AGO, On a professional ground, I knew I thought I would be really successful in a big company like doing business of some sort.
I did not think about having a family at that time, and actually I was convinced I would not.. Because a lot of divorces happened in my family… I pictured myself living by myself in a big and beautiful apartment… maybe with a dog!

TODAY, Im quite far from this career…. But I’m happy! I guess that I just did not know at the time… At 20 you are so young… You just study, you don’t know much about life and are not really exposed that much to your independent life… You think you know the world but you really don’t know much at all.
I though working for big firm was glamorous and that glamorous would make me happy! But reality is that it did not, I have worked really hard in big multinational company; the money was great, I was able to afford a nice apartment but did not have time for me, my friends, travel… My life is so different now…. I’m still sharing a flat… I don’t really mind tough, it’s more social and I get to meet more people.

Diana mainly gets around Sydney and to work with buses and walking.

Diana shopping at one of her favorite tea & herbs shop.

30 years old, a turning point?

WHAT’S NEW? – Did you notice some changes since you are 30 YO? Yes… I feel liberated from a lot of preconceived ideas. And I guess I just let go a lot of the family traditional values I was raised with. My grand parents still want a great child and they want to come to my wedding. But I made them understand that I was a bit different… That was very liberating. Today I also feel very liberated in my career and it feels so good…

At 20 you are so young… You just study, you don’t know much about life and are not really exposed that much to your independent life… You think you know the world but you really don’t know much at all.

OLD OR YOUNG? – Do you feel « old » or « still young »? A bit of both… Sometimes I feel like I am more than my age but look in the mirror and tell myself I look 25… (laughing).

I feel old because life just taught me a lot of things; I have been through lots of different changes and experiences…. Moving countries, learning languages, my parents not being together, the fact that I changed carrier before the age of 30… I think I there is still a lot to go but this was a lot!

And I feel young cause I still like to do stupid things like sprinting in the middle of the street, or cat wheels on the beach… just cause I feel like it! Those kind of spontaneous things.

CHANGES OR REGRETS? What are the things you would like to change? You can’t really change the past… I honestly don’t have regrets, for me it’s a waste of energy to think about what has been done. I just want to try to learn from that and move on.

My Values

My Typical day

And tomorrow?

YOUR STORY IN 10 YEARS – What is the story you want to tell within 10 years? I want to be part of a project, which makes a difference, whether it is a product of a service. Something that would change people’s life.
Sentimentally, I’ll probably have some crazy stories!! But I don’t know!!I also feel like I will try to travel and actually spend some time living abroad.

THE WORLD IN 10 YEARS – How do you imagine the world you will be living in within 10 years?

Australia : Economicaly speaking, I hope Australia will be heading to a different direction, moving away from coal mining and heavy industry, and finding  a more environmental friendly way. Unfortunately, we are the country with the highest rate of pollution per capita, due to mining and shale gas. I hope that there will be some projects that will steer the country away from that and create a sustainable economy and jobs. I think there is already some changes happening, especially in South Australia.

World : The world is very complex and many things are happening in our world…. I think something big will happened because there is a lot of negativity in this world and a lot of that will need to go away. We may poison ourselves with food… But eventually I am certain that we have the capacity to change it, it is just a matter of getting enough efforts in it.

Fears and Dreams…

FEARS – What are you afraid of?  I am afraid if other people stupidity… Especially if they have lot of power and make stupid decisions… Politicians for instance…

ACHIEVEMENTS – What are the things you want to achieve?  I want to go to every single continent… And I want to make the choice of living in 3 different countries myself, because in the past I have moved 3 times because I followed my family!

DREAMS – What is your craziest dreams? I would love to go to space… If there was no physical laws that prevented us from living there! I would love to go to Venus. Just to check it out! And I would love to see aliens! Would be awesome to have a chat and get on board in one of there flying things!!!

More pictures…