I am Australian and grew up as a die hard Carlton fan which is an Australian Rules Football team for any of you non-Aussies. All of a sudden, in the next couple of weeks, I’m going to have hours of my week back as the season is almost over.

Luckily, this week I attended a Procreate graphic design course and I think I might end up being pretty obsessed with creating new artwork.

Great poets have always stirred my admiration. To be able to take what quietly sits within and put pen to paper and bring love, vulnerability and emotion to life is an awesome skill. If you sometimes find it hard to give voice to your internal squishiness, I recommend reading some David Whyte poetry.

Over the past couple of years I’ve contemplated my own ‘why’. What purpose do I want to have in life? What have I come up with?

To find and share the magic in the world.

My brain is not made for planning, it’s made for big picture stuff and so some of the details I’m building out in The Cataverse get forgotten at the expense of the overall vision. AI has been super helpful in this regard especially as I like to voicenote stream of consciousness into Claude. It’s amazing how in logging all of these little stories I’m finding a more robust thread between everything than I ever realised.

Today I’m having an overwhelm day. It feels too big, there is too much to do, building a community is hard and is it all really worth it? Days like this I am learning to give myself some grace.

In my other life, one of my areas of expertise is building brands, defining their essence and helping the company behind the brand scale and grow. Today I realised I want to create my own brand for The Cataverse: what would the cats value if they had a voice?

I’ve been so chuffed by the support my brilliant friends and family have given me as I start on this new path. The overwhelming response is “you have to include this story of the cats”, or “can’t wait to read Chapter 1 when you have a draft”, or “can I have a cameo in the Cataverse!”

I was thinking about this blog and why I felt the need to publish my journey rather than just write a private journal. It’s because I find it uncomfortable and less than perfect and what is life for if not to stretch and grow.

I’ve set up an Instagram account @safari_kittens and a Facebook page The Cataverse. I’m struggling to enjoy the journey, not get overwhelmed by the scale of the task I’ve set myself and just do one small thing every day.

I really have no idea what I’m doing. Its an unusual feeling for me. Most of the time I’m pretty much in control, and just move forward knowing I’ll be okay. Making decisions, believing in myself and taking normal career steps has come naturally. I’ve lived on three continents and in four countries and people called me brave…I don’t know that I’ve ever felt brave.

I’ve been ruminating for a while now, probably a few years, about what I can do to bring more meaning into my life. Slowly words, concepts and ideas have come to me - all centred around creating and building. In fact I’ve written it in big pink letters on one of my windows. I look at it every day. Today I take a leap, be brave and start something new.