Abundance…is not a thing to hold. It is a feeling of overflowing fullness, in my mind full of dreams. This day, I take one final look behind me. To look at the place within which I did not feel full. To wave goodbye to a path paved in scarcity. A life not fully lived, where things and people shrank me. This day, I choose. Limitless or constrained. Leaning in or walking away. Grateful or resentful. This day, I look ahead at a new path. One that is not contained. It is full of abundance. Changing. Alive. I choose to walk forward. In this feeling, my thoughts are positive. I am confident with an inner strength I knew not before. In my world of abundance, there is enough for everyone. I am happy for my friends’ successes. I am loved. I am better for it. This day, I begin. I declutter my space. I open my windows. I am inspired by the people and environment surrounding me. The gentle sun with sprinkles of rain. A thank

Our thanks to Kidtown for posting a recent book review of Being Brave. We are so pleased that it resonated for the reviewer who read it with her 11 year old daughter. One of our goals for Being Brave, was to open up the conversation between parents and their children about their worries, providing tools not only for our little ones, but for ourselves as we bravely put one foot before the other. It’s an important read for youngsters as it confirms their feelings are not out of the ordinary, and therefore they’re not alone. Olivia Wilson

Need something to do in the holidays? Download our Being Brave Activity Book and start a conversation on what being brave means to you.

We are so honoured to be interviewed by Karen Comer, our editor for Being Brave, as part of Karen’s blog. Being first time writers, we were always going to need the guidance of those experienced in their fields. Karen was just the right editor for us. She believed in our vision and pushed our storytelling to a more coherent and consistent level. We had several rounds of edits: where the structure of the story improved, where better explanations or descriptions were required, then finally a once over to make sure everything fit in together. With her guidance, we believe our story and characters were given the best chance to shine. Being Brave to Karen means showing up in an authentic manner every day, taking risks, speaking her truth and daring to dream big. Karen told us she was a quiet, sensitive kid, and she’s still that way now. It’s taken her a while to understand that those qualities – which she didn’t think were amazing attributes – are now her shining characteristics. And we agree with her!

What do you do? I’m a maker of illustrations, animated films and stories. I’m remarkably fortunate to be among those who are self-employed and get paid to play with ideas and do what they love. Art and expression, in all their various cinematic and poetic forms, have always been a profound passion of mine. Moving people through the teaching and crafting of my animation, writing and design is the greatest privilege of my work. What does Being Brave mean to you? To me, being brave means being honest with yourself and letting that be what leads the choices you make about who you are and who you want be. Being you Having a second European culture, I’ve always been fascinated by language, stories and the differences between people. I followed this curiosity to university where I studied Film and mastered Animation. Growing up on Sydney’s eastern beaches, most of my life has centred around a passion for the ocean. So when I’m not swimming, you’ll find me writing or creating films that explore the surrealism

We often get asked how do we collaborate? How do two people write together? Well, thanks to Google and technology, it was not that hard for us! First we had a brainstorming session. We knew the topics we wanted to write about – that came easily to us through our friendship and through talking about the issues that were important to us. We spent some time brainstorming roughly what a story would look like and what we wanted our characters to be. We knew as there were two of us, a natural thing to do would be to have two voices, two characters who were different yet were friends. Having two characters let us explore different perspectives, different writing styles and also the way different people might approach a problem. We didn’t take a character each – that wasn’t the point – we wanted Ellie and Alyssa to be part of the story together but to have different personalities, like us! Once we had a rough idea of the story line, we just went for

Hi, we’re Ellie and Alyssa. We had a crazy time last year camping at a national park near where we live. You can read about our adventure here, but right now we want to share with you some of the tools that help us be brave! Ellie has a backpack where she keeps special things that mean something to her, or has happy memories about. We each have our own set of tools to remind us of what’s important or that guide us through the day. Here are some of our tools: Item What they mean Shell Breathe Take a deep breath and relax when you’re feeling cross or stressed. Pencil Imagine Always good to have a pencil on hand to capture your creativity. Journal Perspective Sometimes writing it down helps to see things differently. Photo of friends Empathy A friend can support and help you and you can try to understand others. Beaded necklace Awareness and presence Feel the weight against your skin. It will remind you to be aware of what’s around you