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Turia Pitt: 'My mum is my role model and taught me the single most important lesson about life'

By Turia Pitt|

My mum is my role model.

She taught me, while I was very young, the importance of making space for yourself กญ. for fun, for joy, for whatever it is you want to do just for the sheer pleasure of it.

She's a writer.

And when I was a teenager, she wrote a successful trilogy that was internationally published.

Mum's books put Tahiti on the map. She was one of the first Tahitian writers talking about Tahitian life.?

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Turia Pitt has written her first children's book - with her mum.
Turia Pitt has written her first children's book - with her mum. (Supplied)

It seems commonplace now, to have First Nations writers writing about their lived experiences, but when Mum's books were published in the noughties, it wasn't.

She wrote this successful trilogy, not by going away on fancy writers' retreats or by hiring a cabin for the week, but by carving out small windows of time every night when us kids were asleep.?

I remember falling asleep every night to the sound of her tap tap tapping away in the room next door.

Let me be clear here:

She wrote three internationally published books while she had a full-time job and four kids - all while living on the other side of the world from her family!?

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Baby Turia and her mum
Baby Turia and her mum (Supplied)

Crazy, right? Who does that??

A woman who believes that her enjoyment or her passion is worthy enough.?

Now, things weren't perfect in our household.

I started doing my own laundry when I was in Year 5 because my Mum kept shrinking my clothes.

I made my own lunch, the house was never really clean and there was always stuff everywhere.

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Turia Pitt with her mum and brother
Turia Pitt with her mum and brother (Instagram)

But we were fed, and happy, and most importantly - Mum really laid the foundations of what's important for me. My belief in making time for myself, the understanding that it's an impossibility to get everything done, and so instead, you gotta make space for yourself to do the things that you enjoy. Fill your cup first and the rest will follow.??

That all came from her.

And so it is an immense joy now to have written a book with her.

Over the past 18 months, we wrote Koko and the Coconut - a kids' book about the resilience of a small coconut crab named Koko.?

Writing Koko has helped me know more about my Tahitian heritage and Polynesian roots. It makes me feel more connected to Mum, more connected to our ancestors, and more connected to my mana.

Turia Pitt and her mum have written a book together (Supplied)

To some, it will just be the small story of a cute crab who climbs a coconut palm.

But to me, it's a story about my culture.

It is about courage.

It is about the South Pacific.

And it is about the next generation, carrying on tradition.

And writing this book with mum? Well, it's reinforced those other traditions in our lives. Two women, making time for the things that bring us joy.

Carving out space to be creative.

Letting go of laundry and mess, and writing - through the early mornings, and the late nights.

I hope this small story will encourage you to do the same.

Whatever it is that brings you joy, make time for it.

You're more than worth it.

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