Somehow, somewhere, at some point we are apt to find ourselves believing that in order to do what we feel intrinsically called to do (especially those called into creative industries) we must sell our whole selves to an industry in order to be taken seriously.

To be a writer, one must be churning out manuscripts, scripts, poems and plays like machines.
To be an actor one must be in every topical show, series, performance that the current society is raving about on twitter.
To be a visual artist, one must have a booming social media account full of Lucious images that gain a million likes within seconds of posting.

Somehow we have found that this means ‘success’ and that this is what we need to do in order to be validated in our work, our life and our ultimate existence on this earth.

It’s all a lie.

All of it.

If you write, you are a writer.

If you act, you are an actor.

If you make visual art, you are a visual artist.

How much or how little is irrelevant.

How many people know your name is a selfish and silly game the creative industries and society have taught us to believe equals our self worth.

What matters?

How much of yourself is in the work you do?
How are you showing up for your work, not just in the moments you do it, but also the moments you don’t?
How do you cultivate and create space for those that consume, collaborate and support the work?
How do you honour your own rhythm and pacing?
How are you living not just within the work, but outside the work?

Everything informs everything.

Martin Short is known to have this idea that he is only the sum of his total whole self. If he has nine sections of his life, and one aspect of his life isn’t doing the hottest at any given moment then the rest of those parts, no matter how seemingly important or unimportant are all part of the balance to remind oneself, being successful at one part of life, but terrible at the other parts does not mean success. But to find ways to honour varying aspects of oneself, is to approach life and work as a whole person.

Creatives like to think they are the best or the worst depending on the day.

I’d like to see more of us believe that we are just like each other.

Human beings answering a calling as best they can while working to be there for their friends, family, side projects, personal growth and everything inbetween.

We are more than our awards, subscribers, honourable mentions, our nominations and our successes, or lack thereof.

We are people.
Living.
Breathing.
Thinking.
Reflecting.
Working.
people.

Rebecca MacDonald

Real Estate Agent

Rebecca ‘end goal’ was to become a real estate agent. With the awareness that there were going to be barriers due to her young age, at the time, and the constant ups and downs of the housing market, Rebecca grew other skill sets (graduating as an American Sign Language Interpreter) while also keeping real estate as something to study and grow into.

When asked about her values in the work she does, for Rebecca it all comes down to honesty. She treats her clients like family members and says she remains transparent for them. She recognizes that she is able to observe and take note of her clients values, long and short term goals. She looks for her them to be excited and at peace with their decisions.

What it all comes down to for Rebecca:

She protects her clients interests like she would her own.

INSTA LIVE <——-

MORE REBECCA

INSTAGRAM

https://instagram.com/realestatebyrebeccaig?igshid=19dakx0a6qzc3

FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/RealEstateByRebecca

Happy New year to everyone who continues to make Brilliansea a vibrant and growing community!!

2020 may have derailed our plans, but in many ways, it allowed us to see how we can focus in on community more, make connections with those outside our own province, and look at our values in a new way.

Here is what we got planned so far:

Expect in Studio Interviews

When possible, we are going to record in studio again at a minimal and maintainable rate. Without setting number goals, we are aiming to take opportunities safely as they occur and are hopeful to begin releasing one studio interview a month starting early this year. We miss those spotlight vibes and hope to bring them back to you.

Expect Insta Lives

It seems important that we maintain insta live interviews, not just for pandemic reasons, but also to reach others we may not be able to interview easily in person. This allows us to delve deeper in the world of different mediums, backgrounds and range in our interviews.

Expect More Engagement

We want to know what you want. And this means talking to you more.
What do you enjoy seeing from us the most?
Re-posts, interviews, lives, outdoor events, collaborations?
We genuinely want to know how to serve you.

Expect Mindfulness

The one thing we have naturally evolved into, is to wanting to create space that isn’t about the hustle of creators, entrepreneurs and innovators, but about what it takes, what it looks like and how to care for oneself and one another. This means we don’t want to be the feed and platform that feeds the monster that says you need to die to yourself to create, be seen and be heard. We want to share what others are up to, learning, and doing to commune, to celebrate and to collaborate.

We expect great things to come from this new year and it’s been a shake up for everyone, so now it’s time to shake out and press in to new things, new perspective and a new way of doing things.

As 2020 came to a close I began to feel a desire to well up within me.

She was whispering to me from a drawer.

I put on music to drown her out. I tried distracting myself with meetings, with the trappings of Christmas and the approaching new year to ignore her.

I caught myself thinking about the last time we sat across from each other.

Humilation, tears, disappointment and misunderstandings.

A gulf between us.

The louder I tried to turn up my world, the more persistent she has become from her spot in that filing cabinet drawer.

This is the way it is with projects and their creator. They don’t just come easily. They are an investment and sometimes they mean more to you than you’d like to admit.

Like an ex-lover who proved to be someone who couldn’t stick around when times got tough. Who just couldn’t explain themselves honestly and true enough for the world or you to understand them. They disappeared in the fog and stayed there while you floundered trying to fill a void.

It’s a bit like this for me and her.

We needed each other and then when I thought it was our time, she made herself scarce.

So I slipped her into a big fat file folder where she has been sitting and almost busting out of and for some reason she is choosing now to make noise about it.

This year, of 2021 to raise her voice and try to come back to me, in some strange and unknown format.

I am not sure whether I should serve tea when we meet again, or perhaps I should just uncork a wine bottle and pretend to have forgotten the glasses. See how she manages that.

Should I play Kanye West rap or Taylor Swift’s folklore?

Should I wear a revenge dress like Diana or just show up in sweats like Meredith Grey?

You might laugh at this. You might even call me fickle, but the truth is,

she was something. She was my proof that I understood the pulse of the creative world and to meet with her again, to look her in the eyes, means I have to open myself up to possibly see that she isn’t as perfect as I have remembered or that maybe we weren’t supposed to go the distance and that is that.

But there she is, making a fuss about being relegated to a file in a cabinet.

So off I go…

I think I’ll wear my oversized sweater and let my hair down.

Since March 2020 I have done monthly vlogs to better understand what it means to use Final Cut Pro. Although I haven’t even scratched the surface as far as what the program is capable of, I think I was able to hone in on what it means to curate content, edit it down, add some fun shot ideas and maintain a through line with each episode.

This is the last episode in that personal challenge to myself.

Not sure exactly what my next personal media project will be, but I have a few ideas up my sleeve.

Stay tuned!

Entering 2021, there was a strong rising up in me to embrace the growth and shifts that had occurred in 2020, not with a rebellion, but with a spirit of quiet confidence.

Much has shifted in the personal and professional aspects of life this year that it seems the only way to continue is to merely that: continue.

Sometimes one needs a shakeup, and other times, one needs to allow the growth from before to allow the next wave of change and progression to continue.

Flow

noun 1 [in singular] the action or fact of moving along in a steady, continuous stream: the flow of water into the pond.

I have recently come into an awareness of how to harness my daily rhythms to allow me to work more openly and efficiently. Starting work at six o'clock am, getting the bulk of my tasks down first thing to free up my mind for any lingering or surprising tasks/events has allowed me the creative space to be innovative in my work.

It's easy to get caught up with the busywork. Scrolling on social media, answering emails and falling down rabbit holes when researching.

Embracing the idea that I can plan my days to flow in a natural way instead of trying to cram every second with a to-do list and inevitably numbing my mind with scrolling as breaks that were inefficient methods of pretending productivity was a game-changer.

The questions I keep coming back to:

How can I harness this new awareness?

How can I not lose what I have learned?

How can I go into a new year and not forget?

And there it came.

The concept of flow.

That you can go from one thing to another with a steady and continuous movement. That it doesn't need to crash or bang, or even shout. That it can be as simple and beautiful as the quiet confidence of moving from one year to the next.

Throughout this new year, I hope to continue the work I have begun. To push projects into production and to the writers' rooms, be them physical or virtual.

I will remember the rest that is required when working hard to create and collaborate. I will set up boundaries to keep myself from getting distracted with the mindless busywork that seeks to distract me, like fast food.

I will remember that to create is to also allow the concept of flow to produce a rhythm that is as sustainable as it is in motion.

I heard the rumble beneath my feet.
A storm warning.
I think we all heard it.
I think we all knew that 2020 would change us.
I’m not sure that any of us knew how much.

How much wreckage, ache and wounds it would leave in its wake.

The people who died.
The people who suffered.
The people who wailed for a nation and a world to wake up.
The people who lost incomes and opportunities.
The people who were trapped.

2020 was a year I proclaimed boldness over my life. I knew that if I was to continue in the direction I was heading, I would need to harness my fears and daily make choices that went against my own tendencies to anxiety. So with an understanding of what it would mean to be bold, I went into the year asking for the grace to keep space for myself and others as I navigated the unknowns, and the confidence to trust the calling.

And then it began.

My steadfast and strong grandfather being taken by cancer in mere weeks, gripping onto my cousin as we grappled with the loss we just couldn’t comprehend and the realization that we couldn’t hold a funeral. The world announcing a pandemic, and staying home to stay safe. Thirty-three people murdered near our city by a man dressed as a police officer. Watching the outcry of the Black Lives Matter movement and discussing the systemic racism found in every corner of our world, including our own mixed-race family. Finding that our current home might not be the best place for our little family to continue growing, trying to sell our little home and find a new one. Kidney stones. Sending our daughter to her first year of a public school during a pandemic with masks in her pockets. A grandmother diagnosed with cancer….

But I see it there.

Boldness.

It’s a golden thread.

It’s in those quiet moments of attempting to hold each other close in the grief despite past traumas and pain. In that persistence in writing applications despite a lack of work opportunities. In the discussions with those in Women in Film about how to better support our BIPOC community. Trusting that our next home was waiting for us as we did the work of preparing and searching. Accepting sponsorship to take online classes from a producer and writer in England and learning how to collaborate with colleagues in new ways. Advocating for my own physical health in an emergency room. Supporting our daughter through so much change into her first year of school. Pitching ideas to broadcasters and honouring contracts. Finding a new sense of ourselves after so much heartache and pain.

& so,

We’ve suffered, and we’ve come out battered and a bit wounded.

I would also argue, that a lot of that wounding and reshaping…

It was for a way to be made new in this new decade.

We are called to new things.

If we stay the same,

Live the way we always have lived

See-through the same lens we’ve always been viewing it all through,

We’ll never be truly becoming.

Making the bold next right move has transformed the way I look at things. The world is a place full of beauty, and full of pain. How we hold space for both of those truths is something that will define us and those around us.

I want to continue into the next year continuing the work that boldness showed me.

It’s possible to call out what is dangerous, what is systemic and harmful and not lose the grace and perspective that allows us to recognize the pain and wounds that have shaped the situations before us.

Ever complex, ever-evolving, ever-changing and always needing someone to hold space for the next bold right thing.

Amy Trefry

Actor, Producer & Filmmaker

Amy can be found working hard on various projects in both pre-production and production while also making sure to cultivate and continue a supportive collective atmosphere in the Atlantic film and television industry.

Amy is passionate about harnessing her fears through her creative work and has a tenacity that keeps her grounded and open to embracing vulnerability.

She also happens to use her broad experiences in life as a way to connect to the projects and those she works with on a deeper and connective level.

INSTA LIVE INTERVIEW <——

MORE AMY

IMBD

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7988155/

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/amy.trefry/?hl=en

A summary of November in a vlog…

Started using monthly vlogs as a practice of learning Final Cut Pro.

Baby steps.

Being sponsored through Screen Nova Scotia for the third week of teaching with John Yorke was a surprise. We had all only thought the series would be two weeks altogether.

Fresh off of being short-listed for a producer's program through the National Screen Institute, having yet another week with John Yorke was a great way to jump from one training opportunity to another.

Takeaways from the third week of classes:

Be willing to continue pushing a narrative to its next edge.

It's easy to think you have the narrative down. Here are the characters. Here is their world. There is the arc—the end.
Think more in-depth about subverting expectations, hone in on the more profound meaning and message, and ultimately practice thinking outside the box.

Understand your why's and the characters' why's.

Know why you want to create this story, with these characters, this way and with these people. Consequently, understand why your characters matter and why they do what they do. Know the questions they seek to have answered. Know how you want to answer them.

Work as a team

From day one, we were thrown into groups to create a pitch. We had nearly four days to complete, cultivate, and refine a television series for pitching. I was privileged to find myself in a group with two local writers/filmmakers in my province (a surprise to all of us considering the class was full of others from Europe and other countries.) We worked together efficiently, passionately and in the end, found ways to hone in on each other's skills to create a pitch we were all proud of. Of course, given more time, we would have wanted to hone it in even more, but I would say the three of us were quite proud of each other and the process itself.

If I had anything I wish I could have had more from this series, I have to say it is just more time in class with John Yorke.

He has shown himself to be a passionate, self-aware and authentic filmmaker/storyteller while also bringing all of those elements into his teaching - a rare commodity in this world. Anyone can call themselves a teacher, but few actually create a safe space for effective learning.
To learn from someone who wants to share his knowledge, passion and help cultivate anyone to the next level of their learning and professional growth was a major privilege and honour.

Thank-you to Screen Nova Scotia for the opportunity & thank-you to John Yorke for teaching amidst the chaos we have all found ourselves in this year.

at Lightfoot and Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Over the past few years, I have been working on a writing project and although I am by no means ready to share it publicly I can say that the heart of it is woven into everything I am and do.

It’s about what one does with a calling.

And how a calling generally doesn’t just come up out of nowhere.

It is asked for to some degree, and then in some way, shape or form, it is provided in a small way.

Something to create. Something to cultivate.

How do we tend to what we are given?

How do we create space for what something needs to be.

Like raising a child.

Or growing a garden.

It takes work.

It takes time and space.

Space to step back, take in all that it is becoming and trim and refine the edges.

To hem in where needed and to let go wild when possible.

This is the creative journey,

It is also the soul journey.

I am interested in that.

What it means to become.

There are many ‘becomes’.

We are not just one layer, but many layers.

We make choices of how we become.

I’d like to think that the years of cultivating and creating has been working to develop and ‘become’ a better version of me.

A version that will produce not just once, but over a lifetime.

A version of me that has roots deep down and brings out the best in others.

A version of me that can weather the storms and shine bright in the sun.

It takes work.

It takes vulnerability.

& this is why I share these thoughts.

I share because I know I am finding the heart of something in all of this private writing and sharing with a select few talented writers.

Justine Gelevan

Certified Professional Coach & Consultant

Justine can be found coaching others by meeting them where they are at while also working on building programs that are versatile, relatable and impactful.

Justine is passionate about creating a community of self-improvement junkies and finds fulfillment bringing herself within conversations and digging deep to affect change in another person’s life.

She also has a way of keeping things fun, engaging and relative in all aspects of her interaction with others.

INSTA LIVE LINK <——

MORE JUSTINE

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/jgelevancoaching/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/jgelevancoaching

A new habit I have begun implementing has been taking in the news once a week for an hour as part of my workday.

As a writer and producer, being up to date with my community, province, country and the world is more than helpful. I would consider it part of the job as a storyteller and content creator. To have a pulse on the heartbeat of others, invaluable.

Years ago in Interpreting training, we were taught to stay current with the news and the world around us. I always found this a practical and helpful tool, but with the rise of social media and lack of access to ‘paper’ read news (I prefer to read over watching daily news programs) I found myself only ever checking in during a catastrophic event.

Because news is a constant, overwhelming and often oppressive presence, taking the time in my work week to consume one hour of it intentionally has helped me immensely. It has changed how I view it and has made it less of an emotional journey, and more of intellectual practice.

I have also started doing this to be better equipped to speak to those I interview, to ask the right questions and also, to control how much I allow the '24/7’ news to infiltrate my life.

Obviously, this previous week has been heavy with news updates and current events unfolding.

I can only hope that as I move forward with this habit, I will find ways to continue consuming the news with a mindful, thoughtful and open spirit.

As the Autumn has progressed I am finding the pulse of truth become known to me.

It’s not a new concept by any means.

But it is a practice. A consistency. Meditation in the form of trust and gut.

It’s showing up to serve the work to move it forward.

Moving a project forward can feel invigorating.
It can feel like one is wonder woman and literally saving the day.

It can also feel like monotony.
The dirty work.
The scrubbing the floor just to have millions of feet walk all over it again.

And there it is. That pulse. It is steady and true.

Although one may feel that there is nothing to show for what one did to ‘move it forward’ today. There is an accumulation of days that can bring ‘it’ to the light.

It is something that only tenacity, grace and a bit of a stubborn nature can produce.

May we not discredit our work, no matter how big or how small.
How much the paycheck is or isn’t.
How many likes we receive or don’t.
How loud the applause or how quiet.

May we be more focused on serving the work before us and moving it forward to its next right place, even just a smidge more.

Eventually, we’ll look behind us and realize we climbed a mountain and despite the results and how many people saw,

we did it.

****NOTE: due to technical difficulties Noor’s interview did not come out as clear as we would hope. We look forward to a redo & time we can even welcome her into our studio.

Noor Aubaid 

Brand & Digital Strategist
Creator of the She + Me Podcast

Noor can be found working with others as a Brand & Digital strategist, while also interviewing and celebrating female founders in their journey, lives and work through her podcast She + Me.

Noor is a compassionate and passionate woman who has been actively creating content to show that success doesn’t need to look anyone way and that creativity and inspiration can start from anywhere. 

She also has the insight into what it means to be a creative entrepreneur that enables her to leverage that knowledge and lift up others through all aspects of her work.

Insta Live Link <———

MORE NOOR

Podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/she-me/

Website

https://www.sheme.co/

Over the years, we have found a spark of joy in having a lunch date during a typical work week.
In many ways, this is not that special.
Two people going out for just under an hour, to have a meal and then get back to it.
We are one in millions who do this.
But I would argue there is something incredibly inspiring, memorable and empowering about this when done in a way that creates connection and support.

In the run of a week, the amount of time we spend (as parents) telling each other about our work is minimal. There just isn’t enough time, and quite frankly, at the end of the day, who wants to talk about work?

A work lunch date has been our opportunity to share what is going on in our work lives, pitch ideas to each other, be them in literal or abstract forms and generally speaking, find new ways to support each other.

For us, this generally looks like going to our favourite local restaurant, asking each other about our work and genuinely listening. It’s the listening that sparks ideas even in the subconscious. We let our work thoughts flow in and out of the conversation without expectation.

What do an engineer and a writer/producer have in common?

On the surface, nothing.
Nothing at all.

But so much of our work is creative and collaborative in ways that we can both relate and find ways to support each other in the midst of the differences.

Over the past few months, Kaitlyn Adair and I have been preparing and in the beginning of stages of leading to create a podcast for WIFT-AT. It is an honour to work with innovative, intelligent and thoughtful women in the film and television industry, and this project has me both overjoyed and nervous.

It’s a sacred opportunity.

To cultivate a series that will not only highlight the work of others but also find new inroads, spaces and voices in the industry we didn’t know existed. Coming close to completing our team of various hosts that will span four provinces, we are looking towards putting the pedal to the metal from pre-production to production.

As all creative projects begin,

we don’t know where this road will ultimately take us all, or how it will take full shape. Still, we are confident that it is starting to reveal itself as an exciting and tremendous opportunity to dig deep, embrace vulnerability and hear from new and old voices.

A huge thanks to those at WIFT-AT who keep digging deep and creating a foundation for new ideas, projects and working to clear space at the table for those we have yet to meet and hear from.

Her Business Our Story Your Calling is a short documentary featuring various entrepreneurial women and their businesses' stories. Through their experiences, we aim to inspire and encourage other people (focusing on women but not limited to) to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.

A Brilliansea Production

Director: Claire Fraser
Producer: Amy Grace
Co Writers: Claire Fraser & Amy Grace
Editor: Claire Fraser
Cinematographer/Camera Operators: Claire Fraser Devon Pennick-Reilly Amy Grace
Featuring:
Korayne Romanchuk - Koko Mod Floral Design
Kate Pepler - The Tare Shop
Elana Camille - Elana Camille Creates
Victoria Smith - Fluke Boutique
Sharlene Loveless - Glo Barre (Rebranded:Rehab Body Lab Wellness & Tanning Studio)
Claire Fraser - Claire Fraser - Photography & Videography

In this special edition of the Insta Lives, Amy & Claire discuss what’s next for Brilliansea and announce the public release of their short Short Documentary “Her Business Our Story Your Calling” for September 23rd, 2020.

Watch the Live Here:

Amy & Claire Insta Live

What a whirlwind.

Not much time to hone my filming/editing skills but sticking to the monthly summary for the discipline and the slow learning.

I wonder what this Autumn will bring in terms of time and creative moments?