Becoming my own version of success

Despite living on a farm, Brittany Siti could never be mistaken for having anything in common with a sheep. In fact, she wants you to know just how much she doesn’t care for your ideas about what success looks like. Brittany is becoming her own version of success and she’s here to tell you exactly what that looks like. 

Every morning I wake up to the sound of chirping birds. I figured that if I set my alarm as something that sweet I couldn’t be mad about my 6.45am wake up. I was right it does help.

As I write this it is the night before my trial HSC exam. I know, I know, they say I should be studying. But would you believe me if I told you that I honestly couldn’t. care. less about my HSC mark? I’m not even kidding. I don’t care.

We’ve been getting amped up for this for almost two years. Our whole schooling career has been leading up to this moment – it will determine EVERYTHING!!!!! Shut. Up. Please.

Because I’m a 21st century woman I must care about my ATAR. I must care, because I’m supposed to be an intellectual; I’m supposed to be leaving the nest to go and explore the big bad world of university. I should make my parents proud by getting a fancy job behind a desk at some accounting firm, or even better: I should become a psychologist or teacher, or nurse or at least SOMETHING where I’m working towards a doctorate. Then I will be good. That will be just fine.

This was my idea once upon a time. I would work my butt off to get an ATAR worthy enough of a good university: and then I would be happy. But my dreams of the birds, and pretty flowers in my garden kept beckoning me, and beckoning me to paint them.

Fine. Quickly. Mix some blue. Add some green. That flower there deserves lilac. UGH! Okay cool, back to study.

And as I typed one last word into my pristine and perfect King Richard III essay, I realised that I no longer cared.

Instead, I found myself writing, painting and editing. Just creating something that would fulfil my own happiness. And instead of trying to fulfil society’s idea of what success is, I decided to work on pleasing just me.

I tried to explain this to a friend, only last week, and it was obvious what they were thinking: ‘oh my god…what a bludger…’

See, I don’t have the same goals as you; but I am not any less of a hard worker than you either. We creators spend a great deal of our time constantly coming up with new and unique ideas, ensuring that the accountants, doctors, teachers and all of you intellectuals have something pretty to look at or listen to, to break up the boring.

Just like doctors and mathematicians, we too play an important role in society, and I don’t think we get the credit we deserve.

As Missy Higgins put it: ‘A triangle trying to squeeze through a circle.’ I’m not an intellectual – but that’s okay.

So here I am. I’m Brittany Lee: a radio presenter, jazz vocalist, video maker, writer, artist, coffee enthusiast, entrepreneur, and risk taker. And what I’m not? I’m not conforming to your messed up ideals about success.