blogger – Nadia E Westbrook Creative

Lingerie – a self power move

August 12, 2020August 12, 2020nadiaewestbrookcreative

So as a woman we find we have been programmed from years of advertisements that getting lingerie is a treat for the special someone in our lives. I say a big F@#& that and glad women are empowering women now and moving away from that mind set. I was shopping with a friend recently and I had not bought lingerie for a while and was in one of those treat yourself moods so I did. My friend was looking at a smoking hot body suit and she said there was no point getting it as she had no one to wear it for. Being the friend I am I said well that’s bullshit the one person you should be buying it for is YOU. You like it, it makes you feel sexy, it makes you feel hot and empowered buy it for yourself.

I feel lingerie can be a self power move in the sense that knowing what we are wearing underneath our clothes can make you feel confident and sexy. We need to retrain ourselves from years of misogynistic advertising that lingerie is only for a mans pleasure. When I get up in the morning I sure as hell dont pick my clothes or undies thinking about what a mans going to think. I think about what is going to make me feel good. It could be sweats and a t for comfort or a cute dress. I choose what will make me feel good that day.

In saying all this though there are still men that comment on what I am wearing or how I look when out and lets just say when I call them out on their misogyny it does not go down well. I normally say something along the lines of “I did not realize I would be seeing them that day, and I should have had my crystal ball that a stranger had decided that I should be wearing something different”. Doesn’t go down the best as these types of men don’t like woman that speak up. Times are changing but woman still are not treated as equals by many and feel our clothes and bodies are free for them to pass judgement/comment on. I will continue to call out these men that find me fair game to make comments as they are the problem.

Do not let others or lack of others decide what you wear or feel about certain articles of clothing. I got two new sets recently and love them both. I am also a photographer ever working on my skills and they made me feel good so I took some self portraits. We should all embrace what makes us feel good. The confidence I get from wearing a sexy little number under my clothes brings out my cheeky side and makes me feel more alive. So treat yourself and get things that make you feel good, that makes you feel empowered to be YOU.

An open letter to myself

July 11, 2020July 11, 2020nadiaewestbrookcreative

A wise friend of mine I called when feeling low gave me some sage advise to write a letter to myself. I decided to share it. To share that rawness of what I needed to hear and what others may need to tell themselves to sooth their soul when it needs you to love every piece of it. When facing hurdles or struggles write a letter to yourself to remind yourself you are enough.

To me

You are enough, you are unique, you are creative, you are special, you deserve to be loved and that starts with loving yourself. You are normally bubbly and open, kind and caring. You let people in with the best hopes that they will return that openess. DO not give up on yourself or others just because some dont meet those expectations you set yourself. Dont let the pain of taking a chance and being burned close you off to other beautiful things in fear of getting hurt. You deserve love do not let the hurt win.

You are beautiful. What you see when you look in the mirror the imperfections and the health worries that weigh on you daily is not what others see. Listen to those around you when your inner dialogue is not so kind. The health worries and upcoming surgeries that make you feel ugly, insecure and worried that people will be disgusted with how you look. In these time’s of lows look through others eyes. They see big blue eyes that light up when you are happy or passionately sharing stories about the things you love. They hear a laugh that is contagious and makes them want to know more. They see you for all that you are and are not focused on the things you have zeroed in on and tear yourself up over. They see a daughter,a mother, a friend, a person that brings joy to them even in your darkest moments. They choose to be in your life when others walk away. DO not focus on the ones that walk away focus on the ones that stay. The ones that want you to succeed, to lift you up, to soar with you and climb into the cave of darkness when things get overwhelming. Not to pull you out but to sit and support you until you are ready to emerge stronger than before as you are ever evolving.

You are surrounded by love even in times you do not love yourself. You are not hard to love. You are loving, passionate, caring and kind. You want to make a difference to people, you want to inspire. So I choose me, to love myself, to inspire myself to push through on those days I feel stuck in quicksand. Listen when they tell you how strong you are when you face mountains everyday of being a special needs parent. The daily challenges of life. The fear of being stuck in the motions and lose of self. You may feel weak and it may get to you, but where you see weakness those around you see strength, they see someone facing giant hurdles with grace and humbleness. To come out the other side learning lessons and being stronger, becoming more than you were before. Remember no matter the hurdle even if it takes a while you reemerge like a blazing phoenix burning for life. When in the ash of the problems you face you will re emerge.

You are enough and deserve love, happiness, respect, safety ,security ,a positive future. Its ok to feel sad and low sometimes without those dark days there would be no balance and joy. Love yourself so you shine bright and light up those around you and remember there is always people that care no matter what struggles you face. You are loved, you are enough.

School holiday activity – The Pirate Ship Mandurah

October 3, 2019October 3, 2019nadiaewestbrookcreative

School holidays are in full swing and we are loving it. We are trying to fit in a few big activities this break. So we decided to be Pirates because we rrrrrrrr. We took some time out on The Pirate Ship Manduarah : https://pirateshipmandurah.com.au/boat-cruises/pirate-cruise

Waiting on the jetty as the ship docked ready for our pirate voyage Abi’s whole face lit up as she yelled PIRATES at the top of her lungs. The other kids in line were just as excited as we were ushered on board by our pirate tour guide.

The ship is full of character with the pirate flags and a big kraken painted on the front. The staff are amazing and from the very first moment you get on the boat they set the mood and have everyone (parents and kids) entertained. There are pirate jokes galore. They provide dress up stuff for the kids and even I got a pirate hat.

The ship departs every hour between 10-3 every day during the holidays or Thursday-Sunday during the school term and sails between the mandurah canals. We were treated by some of the bottlenose dolphins swimming next to the ship for all to see. There is a large pod of dolphins that live in the canals so there is a good chance of seeing them during the pirate tour.

It is a great and affordable family outing for all to enjoy. So when visiting Mandurah get your tickets and enjoy being a pirate on the pirate cruise arrrrrrgg.

Coming out from between the pages and letting my creativity flow.

July 5, 2019nadiaewestbrookcreative

I have written about my love of reading before. So what made me take the leap to write a book? What a big jump it is from my passion of reading and constantly devouring books like some crazed bibliophile. Books have forever been my escape from whatever is going on. To lose myself between the pages of a book and enter new places and worlds. The truth is I have been through more heartache and trauma than most do in a lifetime in my 32 years. These things I have lived through, these life experiences, made me want to have an escape to channel the emotions that came with them. How better to channel them than through a creative outlet like writing. It allows a writer to escape to wherever their mind takes them and to take others with them on that journey. To put the emotions into scenes with characters in any place and time of the writers choosing. I also do this with my blog series life’s a journey sharing some of these life experiences.

I am taking my time and slowly tackling writing my book. This isn’t something that happens over night I have had the idea for my book for many years. The past 2 years or so I have been doing the research needed as it is historical fiction meaning the places , clothes, plants all the finer details have to be correct for the time as well as location of places. I have done short stories, poems, essays, blogs and creative writing projects through uni but never a book. This is a challenge and goal I have set myself.

Over the years I have read thousands of books and always come back to fantasy, history and historical fiction. My book is based in 839-843 AD in what would one day become Scotland. It could be classed currently as a mix of historical fiction and fantasy as its based loosely around events that happened and also folklore. I am doing allot of research to ensure everything from the animals and scenery of the time are correct. I want to do what my favorite books do, take readers into the story, set the scenes so it takes them away into that place and time. Jean M Auel did it beautifully in The Clan of the Cave bear. It is evident how much research she did of the time with the knowledge of plants and animals that went into it but the research on how they communicated to make the characters more 3 dimensional to get you to understand them on a deeper level.

A lot of authors get inspiration from history. George RR Martin was inspired by the battle of the roses. The War of the Roses was a series of civil wars that were fought for control of the throne of England. It was fought between two rival branches of the royal House of Plantaganet, the House of Lancaster, associated with the red rose, and the House of York, whose symbol was a white rose. These civil wars were fought between 1455 – 1485. Reading his books and watching the series it becomes clear the inspiration he took from historical events and he weaved it into magic that captured the intrigue of millions of people.

Some authors are even inspired by other stories. Sarah J mass book A court of thorns and roses was inspired by Beauty and the beast. It’s a much more grittier version to begin with then transforms into something you wouldn’t see coming. The second book in the series was inspired by Hades and Persephone. Every writer is an artist and sees one story that can be transformed into something else or can make something from nothing and make it enthralling.

Sometimes it just takes that spark of inspiration. For me my passion for history and missing my homeland inspired me to research many years ago. As I read more it came to me. The idea of the story, the times in history I wanted to work round. As read about the time period I also read about the folklore of the times of the Sidhe and wulvers. Before I knew it characters started to come to mind, a story to re-write history.

For more on my upcoming book as it develops stay up to date with my blog. As I delve more into the story write and then re write I will post up info on characters and bits and pieces of the story.

Life’s a journey – part 2 – Emergency C Section

June 22, 2019June 22, 2019nadiaewestbrookcreative

……As the nurse stood there shaving the top of my lady jungle I was scared about what was to come. It was a laugh or cry moment. I normally revert back to humor when nervous so joked and asked her “are we going steady now?”. The nurse could see what I was doing and cracked a few jokes in retort to mine to lighten the mood. She helped me get in the gown and my hands began to tremble.

As we opened the door to the room I had been prepped in there was another nurse waiting for us in scrubs. He had a wheelchair and asked me to hop in. They put my stuff in a bag and we immediately headed to theater. We went down halls with no windows and so many lights. I remember one flickering, distracting me if only for a second of my impending fate.

I kept thinking this is not the birth I had planned. I had planned a water birth minimal drugs as I didn’t want the baby affected. With my partner and Doula there to support me. A Peaceful environment with my relaxing play list I had put together. I had only packed my baby bag days before hand still sitting in the unfinished nursery not realizing it would be needed so soon. I realized we hadn’t even contacted my Doula in the rush of everything happening so quickly. On the grand scheme of things and how fast everything had gone that was the least of my problems. In a perfect world it would have went according to plan. Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world and it’s always throwing curve balls our way. All we can do is ride the wave and hope it all turns out ok.

Entering the surgical theater I wanted to run I wanted to pretend none of this was happening. It was all too real. I felt sick and I wanted to throw up. I smiled politely at the staff but inside I was freaking out. I thought to myself this shouldn’t be happening this was a nightmare. I had to concentrate on my breathing to try ground myself as I didn’t want to make anything worse for my baby, even if I was freaking out and scared for her. I asked the staff what happens now? They said they didn’t have time for an epidural that scared me even more, and I thought to myself how bad is this? Is my baby going to survive? is she already dead?they already lost her heartbeat once. If they don’t have time for an epidural this situation must be really bad. I asked if I could be knocked out as it was all too real, but they said it would be too dangerous as anything I have passes to her. They said they would do a straight spinal block. No numbing just a big needle straight in my back. If I thought I was freaking out before I was really freaking out now. The nurse could see I was obviously scared and started chatting to me to take my mind off it while they prepped the drugs for the spinal block. I wondered if it would hurt and the doctor told me not to worry as “he makes a great cocktail”.

They leaned me over a cushion while I held my partners hand. I felt the coolness of the liquid they used on the area tingling cold on my skin before inserting the needle. The cold of the liquid gave me goosebumps. It was the most unique pain I have ever felt when they put the needle in. Too scared to move but in pain I let out a small noise and squeezed my partners hand while tears rolled down my cheeks. After it was done they lay me back on the bed and got me in what I called my Jesus pose my arms were out and I could see them moving my legs but I could not feel them. It was bizarre to see part of my body moving but not feel it. Then the screen went up. The nurse next to me held one hand while my partner held the other. I thought to myself laugh or cry so we reverted back to humor quoting silly lines from tv shows like the mighty boosh, trying to distract myself from the fact my body was being cut open behind a screen.

I felt some tugging that brought me back to reality. I asked the nurse if that was normal and she said yes and made sure I wasn’t in any discomfort. Then came some immense pressure, I felt winded. When I caught my breath I yelled out what are you doing? I will never forget the face that popped up from behind the screen. He looked at me and in a calm voice explained they were pushing the baby out. Confused I said don’t you just pull it out? I seen his eyebrow raise and he said no we dont just pull it out. His head still looking at me went back down behind the screen. It was a rightio as you were moment. I felt more pushing but kept telling myself what they were doing was getting my daughter out. I had to grit and bear it and wait. Then I suddenly felt lighter and a tiny angry little squeal was heard. She was alive my baby was ALIVE. It was the most beautiful little noise I ever heard. Relief washed over me. I watched as they immediately moved her to check her over. I could see she was absolutely tiny. I had never seen such a small baby before. One minute she had been in me the next she was out naked and screaming. She was tiny perfection. They checked her over thoroughly and said they would be moving her immediately to the neonatal nursery and asked if her father wanted to go with her. He chose to stay with me as I still had to be stitched up.

Getting stitched up felt like forever. The stitches took longer than the surgery as they had to do 3 layers of stitches. The uterus, the muscle wall and then the skin. I was growing impatient but the nurse kept talking to us to distract us talking us through what was going on behind the curtain. By the end of it I was wondering with all the stitching if surgeon’s maybe moonlight as seamstress’s. When they finished the hundreds of stitches I was wheeled into recovery. I kept asking if I could go see my baby? was she ok? what was happening? They just kept distracting me with questions then every now and then asking if I could feel anything yet. Then to my surprise they pulled out a zooper dooper (icey pole) and they were testing my legs to see what I could feel it. I couldn’t yet but I sure wanted to eat the zooper dooper ( I ended up eating 3) As the spinal block faded I started to shake violently and had a bit of a rash. I was kept in recovery until the block wore off and I stopped shaking.

I was not sure how much time had passed by but all I wanted was my baby. Part of me was missing and in another part of the hospital. I longed to be with her, with every fiber of my being. When they wheeled me to my room on the gurney I asked the nurse what can I do to be able to see my baby? I was told until I could get in the wheelchair I could not go up to the neonatal and see her. I was willing to do whatever it took. They wanted me to rest for a bit but all I wanted was my baby girl so they got me some strong painkillers and warned me it may be very uncomfortable to get in the chair as I had just had major surgery. I didn’t care, I took the medication and waited anxiously for it to kick in. I was so close to being able to get up and see her. Then my world went fluffy….. whatever the painkiller I had been given was , I was now floating on clouds. My daughters father looked at me and asked if I was ok? I was wonderful no pain not a care in the world. The nurse walked in and had a half smile on her face ” I see the medications working how you feeling” So I told her I was flufffyy. She laughed a little “you ready to go in this wheelchair and meet your baby?” to which I responded “BABIES all the BABIES” the nurse and my daughters father both burst into laughter at that. I got off the bed and onto the wheel chair with a bit of help. Even in the haze of the fluffyness I felt excited and scared I was finally going to see my baby.

Down the corridor and through the double set of locked doors we entered the neonatal nursery. There were incubators and plastic tilted bassinets. A small room filled with tiny babies and that sterile hospital smell. All I wanted was my baby. They wheeled me over to her incubator. The incubator had little windows I could open and put my hand through. I burst into tears as I held my daughters perfect little hand for the first time “hello Abigail I have been waiting to meet you”. Seeing her for the first time up close she was so tiny. Her skin looked thin and I could see little veins and the pulse on the soft spot of her head. The nurse told us she weighed only 1.72kgs (3.79lbs) I wanted to hold her and to my surprise and delight the nurse got my baby out and put her in my arms for the first time and helped me hold her. It was everything I imagined and more nothing ever prepares you for the moment, the euphoria, the overwhelming love that hits you. There aren’t words that truly cover the feeling you have when you hold the life which you grew and created for the first time bundled in your arms. Everything else melts away and its you and this little soul. In that moment I pledged myself to my daughter. To do everything I could so she grew up happy and healthy. Where she goes I go.

In that neonatal nursery we started the longest 3 weeks of our lives. We entered the NICU bubble………………

Charity – we can all make a difference to someone in need.

December 6, 2018December 7, 2018nadiaewestbrookcreative

Since I was a child I have always been brought up and believed that it is up to all of us to make a difference. Whether it’s donating what we don’t need or donating when we could. I remember my primary school doing a food drive for non perishable foods that was donated to those in need. Fun runs to raise money for charity’s. Ever since I was a child I have always had people around me trying to help others. My mum was always very generous to those around her and is the type to give her last dollar to someone else if they needed it more. I have always found it important to try help when I can. I’m in no way rich in fact I’m a single mother to a child with special needs. Rich or poor we can all make a difference if we want to.

As an adult I have worked for company’s that have worked alongside different charity’s, when I worked at Dale Alcock Homes we were able to volunteer at the Salvos at Christmas time during work hours to help pack food hampers and Christmas presents for family’s in need. It was encouraged as I found Dale to be a very kind and charitable man who encouraged his staff positively. That was 10 years ago and every Christmas time since then I have volunteered time and items around this time of year. Even when I lived in Margaret River I donated at the local community center packing hampers for families in need. The past few years it’s been harder as I have had my hands full with Abi so I like to donate items. This year I donated to the It’s in the bag Campaign by Share the Dignity Australia. I have also raised awareness and donations for CBM Australia whose mission is to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities in the poorest countries.

Now I’m a mother I want to set the best example to my daughter about compassion and helping others when we can. I think being involved in the community and charities is important in helping children become responsible kind adults.

This time of year is not always a happy one for a lot of people. So make a donation no matter how small and it could make a hard time more bearable and might even put a smile on a strangers face.

Here are some great charities I like to donate to and might give a good starting point for others that want to help.

https://www.sharethedignity.com.au/contact-share-dignity/

https://www.autism.org.au/donate/

Homepage

https://homelessconnect.volunteeringwa.org.au/donations

https://www.makeawish.org.au/?gclid=Cj0KCQiArqPgBRCRARIsAPwlHoXEWXvaO4w-dfP4ucwhv0Sk-_T3uGEN2XXZJeoc8EPAS4m3xzMfSlwaAkEPEALw_wcB

Happy festive season

Nadia – xoxo

My love for Reading

October 25, 2018October 25, 2018nadiaewestbrookcreative

In today’s blog I’m going to talk about my love of Reading. The simple joy of reading about people, places, events and being able to put yourself in the characters shoe’s and live through different eyes. For as long as I can remember I have always had books next to my bed that I’m working my way through. I devour them so hungry for their words.

My love of reading has always been there I related as a child and even now to Roald Dahl’s Matilda in that regard where she was always reading and learning. I was a child that was bullied allot so reading was not just my passion it was my escape. I could open a book and be transported to a different place. I was forever grateful for my mum taking me to the library every week so I could continue reading all different genres and topics.

I hope my daughter inherits my love of reading. From the day she was born I have read her stories everyday. Now she is 3 and I read her books every night until she’s ready to fall asleep. Her face lights up when I surprise her with new books and her book shelves are filling up. I love watching her flick through a book and babble her own little stories as she goes. It makes my soul happy sharing this love with her.

I find reading has been very important to who I have become as a person. It’s stemmed my creativity and my own passion for writing. When I get a block I read, when I need inspiration I read, when I need time out I read, When I want to learn something new I read, when I want to bond with my daughter I read to her. Books can bring you new knowledge, make you laugh or even bring people together. Sitting in my office today I had started writing another blog topic and realized that all I wanted to do was get back to my latest release I got and decided why not write about something I love. So I will leave you with this, think about how important reading is to us all and then think about the last time you enjoyed a good book and grab a new one and enjoy every minute of it.

Time for me to get back to my book

xoxo

6 Months of Instagram

October 7, 2018October 7, 2018nadiaewestbrookcreative

This month marks 6 months since I started building my Instagram account in April. I went from a fairly inactive account with 250 followers to a very active account with a following of over 7400 now. I can’t believe how fast it has grown from just being me. It really warms my heart .

This isn’t one of my normal blog posts this is an appreciation blog to all the people who continue to inspire and teach me so many things. I have a thirst for knowledge and I am now surrounded by so many intelligent kick ass people. I went from 6 months ago being in a bit of a creative rut to getting a better life balance and having so many fabulous new people enter my life. Without them lighting that fire under me I wouldn’t be kicking goals like I am now.

I have joined a few different online communities of writers, bloggers, influencers and kick ass Mummas. I have networked and have met online and in person so many inspirational women that raise each other up and support each other in so many ways. Building my social media presence has got me out and about more. Most recently to an influencer dinner which is where the photo above is from, where I met so many like-minded people. Building my pages and content has me learning and expanding on my personal and professional growth as well as helping me set goals and putting my life in perspective of, wanting to be better and do better. I have got to collaborate with people and companies I could only dream of and I see many more collabs in the future. I love being creative and now I get to work on that creativity every day.

My writing project on my first book is now coming along more than ever. As its historical fiction/ fantasy so loosely based around real places and times my research has really come together as well as chapters flowing onto the page. I cant wait to start sharing character info on the lead up to finishing my first draft. As well as my book my blog which I started fairly recently is also slowly building and I have a lot of topics im passionate about I will be posting soon.

What has got me in the roller coaster of learning the past 6 months is that my self growth is helping me be a better all round person and mother. I now have a clear path of what I am doing and my plan overall is to do as my favourite quote “Leave the world a better place than how you found it” Sarah J Mass ( My favourite fantasy author) I want to make a difference with my writing, blogging and influencing. So I hope this inspires someone to do what they love and follow their passion as it makes your heart happy and life full.

Nadia

xoxo