Courageous Women

Courage is something I’ve learnt a lot about in recent years since I decided to wear my heart on my sleeve and show the world and myself what I was capable of. I first really understood what courage meant whilst watching Brene Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston in her infamous ted talk on vulnerability. She defines thisThe root of the word courage is cor - the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart." I think this stopped me in my tracks as I was personally looking over the edge of vulnerability and kept letting fear get in the way of what I truly wanted. I had the typical loop of “not good enough” “not creative enough” “not smart enough” etc etc.. swirl around in my head which made me heavy, restless and exhausted. Courage takes time and demands patience. To be courageous requires you to look at yourself deeply which can be painful at times but absolutely necessary to find out your core beliefs.

For the second Birthday of my Vulnerability Baby Mosey Me, I decided to photograph 6 females (myself included) who I believe have shown immense courage in their take on life, we are celebrating the challenges just as much if not more than the wins because you have to go through those rough/weird/terrible/uncomfortable & painful times to reach your full potential and probably the most challenging part of it is that its ongoing! These women show up every day and I find them all simply Courageous. Please take the time to read their stories.

Stef.

Opening a restaurant has been on my mind for a long time. I remember people saying things to me like, 'do you know how much it costs, or how hard it is to open a restaurant?' and thinking to myself that if I let these words discourage me, simply because I don't have the answers or the resources, I'll never get to where I want to be. Relying on pure conviction, I maintained the belief that resources, people, opportunities would appear if I tapped into what was around meand remained focused on my vision.

I've never associated the word courage with myself but I guess that through my journey of opening a restaurant, courage was unknowingly uncovered by passion and perseverance. I've found courage inadvertently but also through the shared courage of other people, who inspire me to continue to take chances in life and trust myself.

Ema.

I guess when I think of courage it is waking up each day to work hard at something I believe in without any assurance it can return. An example of this in the past 12 months would be taking on the project to renovate one of my stalls only to find a couple of months later I would have to shut it down. Courage to me is pouring every ounce of yourself; blood, sweat, tears, every dollar and minute you have into something that could just as easily succeed or collapse from underneath you. When I think of courage I think of risk and pressure, usually in that order. You need courage to take a risk and hopefully you have enough courage left over to handle the pressure that follows (this is a constant challenge for me). Courage is the fuel that allows us to do what we want and be who we want to be. So I guess without courage your life would pretty much suck?

Liz.

Courage for me right now is getting through this pregnancy to meet my baby when the pregnancy has impacted every aspect of my being. Trying to get through day to day life when my back, my brain and entire body feels like it’s going to explode and not being able to shake the deep sadness of perinatal depression.

Trying not to compare myself to others or let the guilt creep in for not feeling excited or ‘normal’ despite it being a welcomed pregnancy.

Courage is talking about it to help others through what can be a confusing, difficult yet exciting time.

Sophie.

Taking a leap from the security of full time employment into a world of the unknown to pursue a long time dream of working for myself, may be seen as risky or even stupid. Particularly during other major emotional change in my life. But there's only so long you can ignore your gut instinct.

What's the magic in playing it safe anyway, right?

Courage is one of the rarest human attributes. I am so grateful everyday that I have the ability to tap into that condition to support myself in making major life decisions, based on my intuition.

You gotta risk it to get the biscuit. Wise words from my favourite old T-shirt.

Rach.

Courage to me means stepping outside my comfort zone, it's being vulnerable, speaking my truth and understanding what is really important to me. Transitioning into my 30's didn't go as I'd expected it involved moving countries, career uncertainty, social anxiety and relationship tension. While the road was rocky it was a journey I had to take as I now better understand my values and the importance of aligning them in my every day. The last six months have been full of change learning from the expereinces I've had in order to put thoughts into action. One of the biggest and scareist changes was leaving a well established career in the Fashion Industry (the type you dream of as a teen) to study User Expereince Design in the hope I can create products and experiences with purpose, that use our environments precious recources in a more meaningul way. Courage to me is leaning-in and trusting the uncertainty in order to grow and evolve.

Eliza.

Courage to me is perseverance, patience and complicated. Its learning to be ok with not being comfortable all the time but knowing that if I persevere I’ll eventually understand why it’s all happening and be grateful for the lesson instead of being angry and frustrated. For me its facing everything from a place of honesty and understanding, it’s so easy to face things/people with criticism and judgment. I’ve definitely been guilty of that in the past but as I grow older and connections become more meaningful I really have no space for it. Courage for me is being able to show up every day against the odds and despite what people think continue to do things like this project and listen to my heart.