Bree Grant

Tell us a little bit about yourself
 I’m 25 years old, almost 26 and I’m a walking bleeding heart (read: a true Cancer). I live 500m from the beach — just the way I like it. I am the beauty and wellness writer for a global publication. Which, if you know me, is kinda funny considering I’m lucky to wash my hair once a month, but I can and will tell you a million things about skincare. I have over 1000 notes in my phone and an entire manuscript for a book (thank god for the cloud). I’m a sun chaser and a moon gazer. I’m sucker for deep conversation, pulling all nighters and big, grand romantic gestures, but I’ll never say it out loud.

Who or what inspires you?

Ahh, it’s so hard because it really depends on my mood. I’m a little bit erratic like that. If we’re talking people, I really admire women like Patti Smith, Orion Carloto, Maggie Rogers and Florence Given.

I hope one day I write something as powerful as each of these women have. If we’re talking in everyday life, the people, places and things I surround myself with. 

How did you get into creative writing?
 I’ve always been a bit of a word nerd, despite being absolutely terrible at spelling and grammar. I started my ‘life’s library’ when I was a kid. I used to collect books and line my walls and shelves with them. I’d read them over and over again under the covers. 

Flash forward to now and my bedroom floor is still covered with piles of books. I feel like you can tell a lot about what mood or life phase I’m in by staring at the pile next to my bed. Right now, it’s tarot cards, every book Patti Smith has ever written, Know My Name by Chanel Miller, Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés and How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell.

When I was little I feel in love with the way books could take me to another world. Now as an adult I love the way that I can make sense of the world by writing down what was inside my head. For me writing has always made digesting life a little easier, like sucking a lime after a shot of tequila.

What’s your favourite way to express yourself?

Anything creative — writing, painting, acting, creating content… at the moment I’m currently painting a surfboard to hang in my room.

I love the fact that I can create something that means one thing to me because of who I am and my life experiences, but then someone else can look at it and relate and connect to it

in a completely different way because of who they are and their life experiences. Physically we see the same thing, but emotionally it just hits different. 

A challenge you have overcome & how did you do it?
 In my early 20s I was diagnosed with depression and high-functioning anxiety. At the time, it was a lot to accept as I didn’t really understand mental health, and hate feeling vulnerable. I self-destructed in a big way and had to rebuild my life and figure out who I was. The process of ‘unfucking myself’ as my therapist and I liked to call it. So I packed a bag and moved to LA, to this day it’s still the best thing I ever did.

What is your proudest moment so far?

The day I walked into my psychologists office and she told me that I didn’t need to see her anymore — Id love to buy her a wine one day, she’s an angel on Earth I swear. Her and my dermatologist.

Anyway, that moment was the moment I realised that there’s no shame in everything I went through. I came out the other side better and stronger than I could have ever imagined. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.

If you could give any advice to your younger self, what would you say to her?

Never stop learning. Wear SPF. Instagram is as fake as you think it is. Eat the fucking fried food. Kiss the boy you like. Throw out the eyebrow tint (or at least invest in a lighter shade). Take the acting class. Stop asking for permission from others. No one truely cares as much as you think they do. See the psychologist. Stop thinking you don’t deserve what’s coming for you, you do. Enjoy it. Write the book. Oh, and hold onto your confidence for dear life, my girl. Somethings will really rattle you but you got this. 

Something that made you smile recently

I’m currently in my sixth week of self-isolation and I’ve seen like three people during that time so things are getting kinda weird ‘round here. The other night, the family that lives next to my apartment building were playing Singstar in their backyard and really belting out the classics. Some shitty track came on and I yelled out my window “skip, next song” and someone yelled back “fuck off” — HAHA I miss people.