Your Bag is Empty
in conversation with maddison brown
friend of bassike, actress and model maddison brown, recently returned to australia with a plan to join a conservation project on the great barrier reef, work that was hindered due to the most recent bout of lockdowns.
with optimism, intention and synchronicity being the key motifs behind the bassike spring 21 collection, we asked maddison to share what these notions mean to her, in light of the events of the past two years.
written by maddison brown
maddison wears the optimism t.shirt and brushed cotton utility pant.
The last year and a half has brought all of us a unique set of difficult challenges and circumstances. Someone once told me that no one chooses to be a war horse, but it is the qualities arising from hardship that make a war horse beautiful and strong. If nothing else, the challenges of the present have shown me that if we move through life with intention, optimism and a little help from the universe in the form of synchronicity, we can get through anything, and come out the other side stronger.
optimism
I spent a year and a half in the US not knowing when I could see my family next, and at times I wondered if I’d ever see them again. The pandemic meant the film industry shut down indefinitely, leaving thousands of jobs hanging in the balance. On top of the uncertainty and fear the virus brought, 2020 was a time of long overdue social reckoning in the US, and contributed to a greater sense of disruption from the lives we once knew. It was very easy at times to feel hopeless.
Living life with optimism doesn’t mean expecting to never having a bad day, it means knowing that when you do have a bad day, a new day is on the horizon. Optimism to me is not a sign of naivety, but a sign of resilience and wisdom. Choosing to focus on the positive over the negative requires great mental discipline, and is challenging at times to commit to. Having the opportunity to spend time with my family in Sydney after waiting for so long, enjoying time in the beautiful Australian bushland and swimming in the ocean has filled me with hope and optimism once again. Spending time in nature and with loved ones always reminds me there is truly so much to feel optimistic about, and helps me get through those inevitable bad days.
maddison wears the twill traditional trench, optimism t.shirt and brushed cotton utility pant.
intention
I live life with intention when I can connect to a purpose greater than myself, it helps me become more mindful of my decisions and how they impact the world and those around me. The pandemic has had a profound effect on all of us to be more responsible in our treatment of each other and by default, the earth we inhabit. My intention for each day is to spend as much time connecting with nature as I can, as well as trying to be more mindful of my consumption habits, their wider impact on the environment and whether or not they are ethical and sustainable purchases.
On this trip home to Australia, I had planned to visit the beautiful and endangered Great Barrier Reef on an expedition with marine biologists to see damaged, recovering and pristine reefs. Unfortunately due to covid lockdowns and border closures we had to cancel, but my intention is to educate myself as much as possible on how we can better help the planet around us, starting with the most important ecosystem on our planet, the ocean.
Setting intentions every day to be grateful and kind is how I feel purposeful and confident about what I intend to create in my life and for the health of the planet.
synchronicity
Synchronicity to me is when all the elements fall into place effortlessly. It’s that feeling you get when you are aligned in the right place at the right time, and good things just seem to happen, like a little kiss from the universe that you are on the right track. Synchronicity is hard to create and impossible to force, but is undeniably the magical element that makes those spontaneous random days so memorable, the force that makes you ask “did that really just happen?” with a smile on your face. Being able to come home and see my family was a beautiful gift of synchronicity, there were so many elements working against the possibility of me being able to come home, and somehow with positive thinking and setting the intention to make it happen, synchronicity found me.
maddison wears the intention t.shirt and adjustable tab utility pant.
maddison wears the synchronicity t.shirt.
maddison brown photographed by sonny vandevelde.
follow maddison on instagram @maddisonbrown.