13/12/2024
As people start to find this little tribe here in the land of the 'Book of Face', I want to take a moment to thank those who've reached out, commented, messaged and encouraged me. I am grateful and humble and proud to be able to create and provide space for so many to land!
Let me tell you about how Brave Bi***es came about (I am pretty sure there are a few people on the page who may have been part of some of these original conversations about 5 or 6 years ago! Do let me know if you recognise any you were a part of so I can attribute acknowledgements 🥰)
2019 Dave was posted to Melbourne and I remained in Wodonga with our kids as it was only a 1 year posting. We would travel down on weekends and holidays while he worked and very early this year I received tickets to a workshop for writing a book which I'd been joking about doing for some time. This sparked a bit of a fire within me and my brain was ticking away, then a friend invited me to meet her publisher so back to Melbourne I went! That weekend with a bit of a prompt from other authors I boldly named my yet-to-be-written book Brave Bi***es and headed home to Wodonga to get started. (I STILL haven't pulled it all together yet, there are some key stories missing, maybe this will help it come together!)
Anyway, whilst most LOVED the concept and name, there were several people who were slightly horrified, so I started asking a few of my fellow military spouses what they thought.
At the time, I could see a little light in the eyes of all those whom I already knew some of their stories and I knew THEY were themselves "Brave Bi***es" even though no-one had started a club for them yet 😉.
They grabbed onto the title and proclaimed what it meant to them or how they saw it (one said "people all already THINK we are bi***es thanks to all the rumours of the old married patches and wives who think its their job to be calling rank... so you need to tell them the real reasons!")
And of course 'Bi***es' in this case is a term of endearment - in the same way as Rebel Wilson says Pitches in the Pitch Perfect movies!
As I interviewed people, and people told me of other courageous women I needed to talk to, it became really apparent to me that military wives aren't the only ones. In my own circles I have friends smashing life with a first responder, with similar and worse statistics of PTSD (worse because some services haven't even acknowledged PTSD was an issue until recent years so help hasn't been easily at hand!)
Even those living the FIFO wife life like only a Brave Bitch can, experiencing similar (albeit more regular or consistent) ups and downs of the comings and goings of their partner, which creates those same hormonal stress patterns that wreak havoc as you hit peri-menopause and beyond, and navigate life with children at all different ages and stages.
No one teaches us why it happens or how to handle these - yet - but its ok - I've got you, and it is coming!!!! I had to dig and research desperately to find this information when I really needed it, and I was horrified that it wasn't already public knowledge and easy to find. And knowing some of the most simple things can make a massive difference in how we feel and interact about ourselves
Aside from a space of learning, this will become a space for all those Bravest of Bi***es to safely share their story, others may be inspired by their courage, or celebrate and encourage them as they take steps towards their goals.
And with everything I know about brains and stress and women's health and achieving goals and creating connection and personal development and growth and challenging oneself... I plan to create a transformative travel experience each year for a group of the bravest of bi***es... but there is more planning and connections to be made to make that become a reality.
Thank you all for jumping on board and sharing the vision!
