Monday 17 March 2014

Here at Everland, we know that blogging is a serious business. What might appear to some as a page of text and a few photos is actually the result of many hours of research, drafting, formatting and of course the requisite obsessing over sentence structure and adjective choice.


But what about the people behind the posts? We asked ourselves the same question. This interview with Holly Waanders is the first of a multi-part series featuring some of our favourite bloggers.
Holly has been on our radar from way-back-when Everland was a newborn. Her effortless style and naturally freckled face has us going gaga. But there's much more to Holly than a pretty face. Not satisfied with her BA in Primary Education, Holly is trying her hand (or brain?) at telekinesis. 
We talked to 23 year-old Holly about her impending university graduation, moving objects with her mind and her life in the fast paced city of Traralgon, VIC.


EVERLAND: When you were a kid, what was the worst outfit your mum made you wear?
HOLLY: Oh gosh, this ones a horrid memory. I think the main reason I hated what my mother told me to wear was more about my issues with authority than it was about the actual clothing items. Actually no, in this particular case it was a bit of both.
My best friend had just invited me out to our local roller skating rink and thinking about it now, I don’t even know how old I was. Obviously old enough to skate but not quite old enough to dress myself or think for myself, so I was probably somewhere between 1 and 21.
Mum had just brought me this olive green and cream pin striped two-piece leggings and turtleneck set. Yes you read right, I was pretty much wearing a skin-tight onesie and just so you know I wasn’t the thinnest child growing up. I cried so hard when she showed me what I had to wear but mum thought it looked so adorable and mother knows best.
Long story short, my friend got a blood nose, which she was prone to and saved the day. I shoved the two-piece under my bed with some old lunches I hadn’t eaten that week at school and my private collection of Orlando Bloom posters and never saw the dreaded thing again.


EVERLAND: Which historical time period would you like to visit and why?
HOLLY:This is quite possibly one of the hardest questions I’ve been asked. I’m going to choose three time periods instead of one because each side of my personality feels a different way about this.
First- Elizabethan Era. What’s that like the 1500’s? Later. Some where around there. Mainly because everyone was so incredibly proper. I would have to be super rich though or I don’t think I would enjoy myself.
Second- Medieval. Because magic was real and you just don’t get scary immune diseases that reek havoc on civilisations like you did back then.
Third- Now. Because I love everything about my life right now. And it’s taken me a really long time to get to that point but I feel I finally know who I am and what I want.
If I could just have a time machine though that would be great. I would love to test out each different period in time, maybe see some dinosaurs or be a muse for Charles Dickens.


EVERLAND: What might we be surprised to know about you?
HOLLY:I’m pretty open about most things in my life so everything that comes to mind like my ability to sleep in excess of 18 hours a day shouldn’t shock or surprise anyone.
Maybe one thing would be my struggle with anxiety and OCD. They aren’t dirty words guys and its taken me a long time to be able to say that out loud. Also I really hate worms and snails, 9 out of 10 times if I see one I will throw up and once I stepped on a snail with my bare feet and I crushed the shell between my toes and I cried for hours.

EVERLAND: How do you divide your time so you can fit in work, blogging and having a social life?
HOLLY: I don’t. I would love to say that I’m some super organised 22 year old with everything going according to plan but it doesn’t. Some days I’m so under the pump that I wake up and instantly think, nope, not today and go back to sleep. But when I have deadlines I go from very lazy to very, very on edge and I use stress to fuel my long hours and late nights. One day I’ll master the concept of organisation but today is not that day.


EVERLAND: Close your eyes and draw us your best self portrait:
HOLLY: Just between you and I, I didn’t close my eyes for this.
 



EVERLAND: What are the best things to do in the town where you live?
HOLLY: When I figure that out I’ll be sure to let you know.
Going to see a movie at the cinema is always a hit, but that’s like 10 minutes away and in the next town over. There’s a local footy rivalry that goes on between the two towns and a fire that’s been burning for weeks now that made the national news, but that’s also in the town over. So really, we have nothing.
Oh wait, we have a craft and farmers market every second or third week or maybe it’s like the second Saturday of each month excluding leap years. I’m not entirely sure; in my last 22 years I still haven’t quite mastered the timetable.

EVERLAND: What physical object do you treasure the most?
HOLLY: Wallace, hands down. But dogs aren’t really objects so maybe my Mac. It has my life on it and if anyone ever found it they would have a field day reading all the novels I’ve attempted to write.





EVERLAND: If you could wake up tomorrow with a fully mastered skill in anything, what would you choose?
HOLLY: Telekinesis. I’ve actually watched YouTube videos of people attempting to move objects with their minds. They hardly ever succeed though.
Oh there is actually a really funny story about this, I can’t believe I haven’t told it more times. I’m contemplating saving it for question nine. I once spent hours researching telekinesis after watching American Horror Story. Like I’m talking, note taking, tutorial watching, understanding its history ect. When I thought I knew enough about it I really, truly believed I would have the ability to physically move items with my mind. There was a moment were I had no doubt in my mind I could do it. So there I was in my room surrounded by note pads, telekinesis wiki page open and a pen, my brain and a hand hovering over the pen. I concentrated and focused and did all the other shit I was told to do until something caught my eye in my peripheral vision. My dog- staring at me with undeniable pity and worry. I honestly feel he was scared for my sanity. And I just stopped and thought, what the fuck am I doing- get a god damn life, Holly. But if I could wake up tomorrow and have opened a part of my brain that sends out energy or whatever and moves objects with my mind I would go on a rampage.


EVERLAND: Tell us about something you’re really proud of?
HOLLY: Next weekend I graduate with a BA in primary school teaching and despite the fact that I’m not using my degree it will be the greatest day of my life. Purely because for 4 years I couldn’t never see the light at the end of my ridiculously long university corridor but now it is just around the corner and I promise I will go out with a bang. If only they had the equivalent of valedictorian for my course and I got it because I would most certainly just re enact Elle Woods Harvard graduation speech and be all like “We did it!”






EVERLAND: Finish this sentence: In 2014, I’m going to _____
HOLLY: Grow up, move out of my parents house, get a real job hopefully as an astronaut or the prime minister or something, earn heaps of cash and retire by 30. Seems pretty reasonable.
I would lastly just like to thank Kira and Marisa for this great opportunity. I love working with these ladies and I wish them all the best in their ever growing and successful company.





Thanks for your time, Holly! As usual, it's been our pleasure. Feel free to stop by any time! 
If you, like us, can't get enough of Holly, you can find her on Instagram @waanderland or check out her website

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