Well, HELLO old friend. It’s been some time since I’ve put fingers to keyboard for my own blog. I was lucky enough to spend the winter abroad, travelling and doing a bit of work while exploring the best sea swims and coffee shops around foreign cities and countrysides. I thought I was well overdue for a check in to let you know what I’ve been up to, what’s changed, what I learnt whilst overseas and how that might impact my business (for the better).

To be completely honest with you, I felt like I came out guns a-blazing when I first started my business. I was always excited about creating new content and had far too many reel concepts taking up real estate in my brain. A challenging couple of months personally and a busy roster of projects to complete in the lead up to my trip brought that fire to fade. My iCloud storage was bursting with video clips to transform into reels and surely a number of blogs that could have come to fruition, but while being busy in the grind of helping other people be creative with THEIR businesses, somehow my vision diverted when it came to my own.

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My few months overseas couldn’t have come at a better time. I was craving some soul searching and knew it was time to dig a bit deeper into myself in order to figure out what I wanted out of my life, and with that, any new directions for my business. And I’m very grateful to say I most definitely filled my cup. I felt like I managed to go on a journey of self discovery and connection with a new version of myself that I was ready to step into. 
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And it was so damn good.

One of the most profound experiences I had was my reconnection to my creative self - I have all the amazing cities I went to to thank for that. Don’t get me wrong, Dunsborough has many things it offers me, but living in my activewear and spending my weekends exploring coastal walks and local beaches with friends naturally disconnected me from the chaos I often crave from a city. In the confines of a new unknown while travelling, I find myself capable of stepping outside of my comfort zone both creatively and socially, participating in the public space and not holding back when it comes to fashion, social exchange and self expression. 

My first Tuesday evening in Berlin was the perfect example. I was roaming the streets only to discover that it was the summer solstice aka the first day of summer, where the city celebrates with live music literally everywhere. On a street corner someone played the saxophone. Just two blocks over an older woman sang cabernet style at the bottom of her apartment complex. As I approached a famous park in Friedrichshain I could feel the frequency of energy from many streets away. Bodies were pouring out of the park, smiles on every face and the finest späti takeaway beers abundant. There were at least three different DJ decks set up in the park, each with their own crowd dancing and mingling; clouds of smoke and cocktail carts surrounding the exteriors. I ventured to a stage on the opposite side of the park, where I could hear the thump of the bass beckoning me in its direction. As I approached, people of all ages were participating in this shared experience and dancing. Not just dancing, REALLY dancing. Young, old, tall, small, edgy, unsuspecting - all moving their bodies uniquely as if there were not a care in the world. The energy felt light and welcoming, without an inch of judgement. To see people being their most authentic selves, truly immersed in something without fear of appearing silly or “too much” - it really lit me up inside. I too, of course, felt called to move my body in similar ways and just enjoyed this moment to self.

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Moments like these reminded me how being your most authentic self gives space for others to do the same.

As soon as I touched down overseas I was on a very strict mission to get my paws on the finest vintage apparel I could find (within the limits of my 23kg suitcase, much to my dismay). From the men wearing red polka dot dresses and playboy bunny ears in Berlin nightclubs to patrons seeking their caffeine fix clad in casual sophistication in Stockholm, I really enjoyed witnessing how people put themselves together from different parts of the world. This made me realise how much I had been suppressing this side of me due to my recent lifestyle change in WA, and how good it felt to come back to myself in this way. I started to question if there was a way I could merge this interest for fashion into my career more explicitly, and I think I most definitely came to some exciting conclusions. Needless to say, watch this space.

When I was at a retreat in Sweden, you’d often find me cozied up with a coffee (or “fika” as the Swedes like to call it - which is basically just an excuse to eat pastries and drink coffee in the middle of the day), and my usual plus one was my journal. I was so keen to soak up everything I was learning and integrate all my reflections from the workshops I was attending, sometimes as much as 3 times a day. I would have people come up to me politely questioning my sanity; “you’re still going?!”. By the end of the 10 days, I had two separate people tell me they think I should write a book, and I even had a lovely chat with someone from the UK who was in the process himself.

Perhaps a synchronicity I don’t care to ignore. 

This idea has always felt good to me. A young Megs was always writing stories from the age of six. I would create on bold coloured paper and be piecing my stories together with staples before proudly presenting them to my mum and dad. While I was no artisté, these often came to fruition with drawings too. While this idea seemed to simmer away with age, it was not an intentional disregard. I guess I just forgot about the idea. It hasn’t been since this trip that I started to consider the thought of writing a book again. Even writing that down feels warm and fuzzy to me. While this is absolutely something I want to consider, to be honest with you, I feel a bit lost about what to write about. My inner self critic feels that I don’t have anything worthy of sharing from a non-fiction perspective - the imposter questioning how I could tell someone how to live their life or why they should care about mine, while the fiction side of me just doesn’t even know where to begin. There’s literally a million directions that it could go - Aliens? A romance story? A thriller? A coming of age? I don’t have the answers just yet, but I do feel like they may be incoming.

Whilst I’ve always been a social person who feels energised by human connection, I also know deep down that there is more for me to explore in this space. I LOVE running my own business and the flexibility of working from home (albeit the distractions of the laundry and dishes are an incessant inner battle) but a lot of times I miss the socialisation and collaboration of the corporate world. This is what I felt again while travelling - having chats with randoms waiting for your coffee order, meeting strangers on the dance floor at festivals or having a DnM with your Airbnb host. While it isn’t a massive part of my job, a big reason why I love doing my own thing is because I really enjoy connecting with my clients when we do catch up or brief projects in a way that feels really authentic to me. Without giving away too much juicy goss, I think you might also be seeing me dive into this 1:1 connection in a new and exciting way soon…

Thanks for listening to me rant about my goals and reflections. I hope that by writing them down, you can all help hold me accountable for taking action ;) But hey, I have a funny feeling that I’m really on the right path.

With all my love,

Megs xx