Stepping Up: Feeling the fear and doing it anyway

Ever feel like this little red fish?

It's probably part of the human condition to feel like the odd one out at least sometimes in our lives.  Sooner or later, though, the feeling passes.  Or is that just us rejoining the stream I wonder?

Eventually though our discomfort with the status quo means we can't just rejoin the stream.  We feel a growing need to stop, reassess and swim the other way.  But how do we find the energy, the strength, the bravery, even to put aside everyone's opinions and actually STEP UP and STEP OUT into that truth?  And more than that, how do we sustain that effort over years?

At Pregnancy Birth and Beyond Media our aim is to inform families and their communities about their choices in parenting, health care, education and more, so we can make choices that are not only informed, but choices we ourselves can live with.  However, when we have decisions foisted on us without the opportunity to get informed and have discussions, we are left with questions that can be very hard to live with.  All too often this happens to families, particularly in the field of health care where they may be lacking the safest form of care for decision making, continuity of care.  Too much health care is delivered in a fragmented way, even though international health safety research has found fragmented care leads to poorer outcomes and higher costs.  So, seeking continuity of care and building a relationship of 'partnering' with your carer is one of our big themes.  We are also keen to inform because it takes on over 17 years for scientific discoveries to make their way to clinical practice - even more reason to seek a partnership (rather than subservient role) with your health care provider.

Getting informed is just a part of the puzzle though.  We also need to be inspired to act.  Like that little red fish in the picture, what will it take for that fish to actually head off in the other direction?  This is where the stories we publish come in.  Stories help the listener see how they can implement information into their own lives because they get to hear how someone else did it.  This brings the information from the realm of theory to practicality.

And so we have organised this event "STEPPING UP, STEPPING OUT" for our community to hear stories from our MC Jannine Barron (founder of Natures Child) and four people who have changed their game in completely diverse arenas:

• Zenith Virago Founder of the Natural Death Centre
• Luka Lesson (by video)  Australian slam poetry champion
• Dr Robyn Thompson, Midwife and breastfeeding researcher
• Joel Orchard, Farmer and founder of Future Feeders

We have also lined up music from Shai Shriki, Amir Paiss, Avishai Benanatan and Ohad Rein, as well as dance to embody the messages of stepping up into the change you want to make in your life.

When we make positive change in our lives, we set the example for our children to do the same, without question or delay.  They'll be so much more inclined to just step into their truth without needing cajoling or coaxing - or events like this :)

Now, more than ever, our world needs everyone swimming in their right direction.

​This little clip below gives you more of a feel for the event....

You'll also get to hear from our team, and how we're getting ready to STEP UP and STEP OUT into our next stage of development.  We started out 7 years ago as a weekly radio show on 99.9 BayFM, Byron Bay Australia, put together by a small team of parents who wanted to share the sort of information we wish we knew when we started out.  Since then, we have branched out to podcasting, and our weekly show is now syndicated to the national community radio network.  And this year our team has expanded considerably and we are ready for more, which you'll get to hear about at this Friday's event.

In our latest podcast, we hear from Nicqui Yazdi, founder of the Byron Schoolies Hub and long-time advocate of young people.  Nicqui shares her journey of transition to becoming a volunteer and supporter of local and visiting youth, initiated mainly by a massive personal crisis.  Nicqui's tips for taking that first step for change? "Feel the fear and do it anyway" she says, and "everyone has something to give", so consider volunteering, which Nicqui feels has repaid her more than she has ever given.  Even when life feels really hard "volunteering is so good for your mental health".  

This clip shows Nicqui's work in more detail.  And she is looking for vollies right now to help her with the upcoming Schoolies' season. You can contact her at: hubvolunteers@yahoo.com.au for more information.

And you can hear more of Nicqui's story in this podcast.  Enjoy.
​- Sally Cusack

Listen to "Stepping Up: Feeling the fear and doing it anyway" on Spreaker.