
Hi, I’m Matisse. Notetaker, storymaker.
Here’s a collection of stories (hopefully fun, hopefully heartwarming).
Welcome to my story list, September edition. This is a list of the imaginary or reimagined worlds I have been inhabiting over the past month. Whether via books, podcasts, tv…
I don’t really know what my first love was. I think I started to fall in love with things fast and furiously from a young age. Jonathon Taylor Thomas might…
This month, I have been inhaling love stories. Where I am in my life right now, keeping an eye on middle-age as it lurks in from stage left, this is…
NOTE: This article is an intentional simplification of a complex concept, as a tool to meet people where they are. It does not attempt to capture or represent all the…
From Anger to Optimism. The Climate Movement was born out of the deep dark silence of what industrialisation was doing to our planet. We were making Mother Earth sick and…
Oh my. What a year. Something. Something is speaking. Can you hear it? It feels like the skies are screaming. Something out there, whatever you believe in (you beautiful soul…
I had the pleasure of sitting down with the Beyond The Narrative team late last year to talk all things love and life, grief and my enthusiasm for ideas as…
While it can be tough at first, as someone who worked remotely for almost four years, I’m here to tell you it can also be great! Up until late last…
Get your shift together. As I watch the Australian skies blacken, the news channels go ticker-tape orange or decide whether or not it is smoke-safe to take my children outside,…
Bula, Aloha, Hello, and Happy New Years to you beautiful people! It is I, Matisse! Here with you once again, sans my high horse (tied her up out back), with…
If we are being honest (and I hope we are), I have always had a really complicated relationship with fashion. In my late teens and early twenties, the industry paid…
Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old climate activist from Sweden, is quickly becoming the real life Mockingjay of this generation. Within a year, our very own teenage Katniss, has unified over 4 million…
This is SUCH a common occurrence in my life, I should be sponsored by Google. Honestly. I spend a good amount of my youthful(ish) existence googling the meanings of things,…
Welcome once more, to #BAFFLED … a series of notes for the utterly confused, truly perplexed and entirely bamboozled by pop-culture hot button topics. Hello again. As previously mentioned (right here)…
WELCOME TO #BAFFLED … a series of notes for the utterly confused, truly perplexed and entirely bamboozled by the pop-culture hot button topics. This is a safe space for those…
I brought sparkles and sequins and leopard print. But the two things I forgot to pack are pen and paper. Which was so silly. I seem to have forgotten. The…
Hello again party people let’s make some noise !!! Just kidding. Let’s do this quietly. The kids are asleep. SO! I have yet another (fab) idea to impart on you.…
Ladies and Gentle-People it is time to do another blog! For those of you who have been loyally following my journey of life via the ol INSTA-STORY today, you will…
(*Gets coffee. *Sits down to write blog. *Thinks to self: Gosh. What AREN’T I an expert in. *Sips coffee with a smile.) Hello again all of you out there! So,…
How you sense of purpose will knock down any pretty sandcastle, if it can’t see itself in the architecture.
How to embrace all the different, contradictory, outrageous, fabulous & horrifying parts of yourself…
How Australia always sides with coal. Always. And how that … a climate leader doth not maketh.
How to back yourself when you have no idea what you’re doing. Specifically applies to the journey that is MOTHERING. (Not at all dissimilar to going North of The Wall.)
How to try and introduce your unborn child, to the woman you were before you had her.
How to not be afraid of prenatal depression.
How the Pacific is more powerful than rest of the world wants us to think.
“The Girl Who Tweeted From Cupboard Through The Storm” Miss Cayla Tikaram !
How I disappeared when I found out I was pregnant. How that confused me. How I got my dreams back.
How I am the naughtiest of the naughty … but … “who am I?” (Hmmm now you’re thiiiinking..)
How I got sick and it was so scary. How I got better and never felt more grateful.
I’m currently sitting at the Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington DC. Writing this on my phone. Looking out at the city skyline. Eating a turkey sandwhich. (I’m so American now…
In 2013 I had a bit of a ‘Dream Diary’ Debacle some may say. I’m sure it’s a common pickle. I was living in Sydney working in the PR department…
As Originally Seen in Current Issue of Mai Life Style Magazine… HEART CHILD By Matisse Walkden-Brown People usually don’t like talking about their internal fear, their deepest sadness, their…
When I was about 13 years old I remember my legs hurting during the night. They would ache. Stretching and extending and pushing my muscles to the limit. Beginning their…
I am now in my Bob Marley Rasta pants and borrow sun-bleached surf tee, inside my cabin on the crew deck of the Rainbow Warrior. I have new epic shells…
Dear Blog. I haven’t forgotten you. If anything I think of you most days. I don’t think about what I want to use you for, what I need you to…
I’m going to tell you about last week. It was raining against my window and my heart was soaked. There were cyclones. One in the sky. The meanest of the…
I have a story I want to tell. It is called, The Love Story. It is about a man and a woman. When they first met, they adored everything about…
Since being back in Australia for a week or so, I have thrown a few little tantrums and gone on many more a rant and rave over everyone’s obsession with…
2 days ago… it was 5 years since my family and the world lost you. My little brother. It has been a sad, difficult, heart-wrenching, aching, complex and bittersweet journey…
It seems like these days, everybody has a sunset, a swim, a coconut or a horse in their day to day life. Everybody has a tan, a laugh, a natural…
I watch an MTV show called Catfish. I first saw the original documentary in 2010 with a group of friends in Newtown, Sydney. Back then, I thought the story was…
I have been back in Australia less than 24 hours and have somehow already summoned the Federal Police. This morning I got up at 6:30am, put on my new silver…
A friend of mine recently got out of a relationship that can only be described as a catastrophically bad idea. It was one of those unions that you hear about…
The hardest place to be is exactly where you are. One of my most cherished wrote this on her Facebook Wall recently. If anyone has ever known that little pixie…
Last night I went to a Sydney Writers Festival Talk with two of my close friends. It was a Friday night and for awhile, I was simply impressed by our…
A few weeks ago I saw a picture of a little Syrian boy. He was sitting on a grungy hospital bed. Blood around his neck. He was crying. The story…
So I have moved back to Fiji. I do not know why yet. But anyway. This morning over breakfast my dad was telling a story to a group of spear-fisherboys…
To put this as graciously as I can, if I am selling my jugs of milk for $2.50 … but you are Swedish, only here on holiday and don’t mind…
Getting older comes with a lot of crappy things. Medical cover. Mammograms. Matching linen with your teal trimmings. It also comes with some good stuff too. Clarity. The ability to…
When I was little I had a very strict morning routine. I would wake up in my wooden boat-bed filled with sunrise enthusiasm and quickly bound into my parents’ room.“Do…
I have a tattoo on my arm. It is a feather. It is maroon and looks like henna. I got it on my brother, Cormac’s, 17th birthday. I have another…
Mitch called back again tonight. If you don’t know who Mitch is you are missing out on a little ray of sunshine. This is Mitch I wrote on a piece…
‘Disappointed’ would be the understatement of the week and a half. I blame the manner in which this bunk bed found its way into my life, for all disaster that…
Firstly, let me apologize if you think this post is a bit heavy. It’s not. It’s reality. And secondly, let me take that apology right back. Suicide is a taboo…
The cutest thing since Rudy Huxtable just happened. A little boy named Mitch called the radio show I work on. He told me what his name was and that he…
I love a good theory. That is why I called this post ‘Love a good theory’. (#perfecttitle) Over the weekend some friends and I came up with a coupla’ crackers…
Firstly. That is certainly not the way I thought you spelt felafel. I would have guessed faluffel. But that’s not the point. Fell. Laugh. Fell. (Whateverly Beverly) So I was…
Dear Dreams, I know I’ve been cutting down your time to shine. I have been squeezing you in like my boobs in that blue C cup. (Apologies to both of…
Today is my last day of being 24. 24 is a good number I think. Nice easy even numbers. 24 hours in a day. (Then of course there is that…
I felt like a pirate. With a treasure chest of stolen dollar-dollar-bills-yall. I was flying on the high seas of payroll mishaps! Captain Mat Sparrow! But somehow it didn’t feel…
I’ll have you know, my preoccupation with all things teenage Disney pop princess aside…. I am in fact a fully grown adult. And here’s the proof
Don’t be a bitch to the waitress in front of your date. This usually results in him leaving his digits on the back the receipt docket. For the .. well..…
I also kinda maybe feel like… if more people took a vow of steady pace, of making up their mind, of walking to their own beat…. we could have saved…
Dear Bubba, Another day another year. I’m not one for milestones. Everyday is big. Everyday is something. Someone once told me…. Don’t think of it like you’ll never see him…
November has gone. And now December has come a hollering in all it’s fairy lit and festive glitz and glam!! So more things to note. More conversations had. More mistakes…
Guys- currently in the media room at the Arrrrrias drinking sugar free red bull. What an incredible day. It was sweltering hot and the girls were smoking hot. We got…
Friendships are funny. They can be confusing and all-consuming. I sometimes wonder if all species bother with making friends. Like… do gecko’s spend thursday nights on the roof with their…
Like every good story this one has morals, tragedies, moments of comedy, tears, laughter, policemen, gang war victims, glow sticks, dogs, vomit, guidos, boobs and lots and lots of chicken…
1) Cookies expand in the oven. You can’t just make letters, love hearts and peace signs. They literally turn into blobs. (Quite upsetting really) 2) Don’t get confused by intrigue.…
At 8.30am we drove out of Bondi in a Pajero filled with Books, Blankets and Blue Cantrell. We drove fast. Got the hell outta there! This time around it was…
Some say there is a castle in the sky. Some say there is an inevitable script. Some say there is a big load of absolutely Nothing. An eternal field of…
1- Cities are cold. Even in the sun. 2- Freedom can be overrated. It really just means ‘single and unemployed’. 3- Weakness is very unattractive. 4- Fate doesn’t rule the…
After all, I am a little bit this girl as well. Just as much as I belong up a creek with star fruit in my pockets.
Dear Chaos, How you doing old friend? I’ve been pretty good over here. You know, sunny days, soft music etc etc. I know we catch up from time to time,…
1- If you are patient… Life can exceed your expectations. 2- Do not overdo the pineapple. Trust me on the this. 3- Treat your friends with tenderness. It is the…
1. Never put your paddle board between you and the wave. It will not shield you. It will wack you in the head. 2. Live your life. Not someone elses.…
Twas a rainy Sydney Saturday. I was hungover. I can’t remember why now actually… Oh yeah that’s right. Boozy dinner in Bondi. Leaving the party to go skinny dipping with…
1- Just because you drink vodka in the same club… doesn’t mean they are your friends. 2- Don’t nail hooks into the walls of your rental. The Landlord sharnt be happy. 3-…
I don’t know when I stopped writing. I think maybe it was when I started a blog. But I can you know. Write I mean. I usually use pencils. Or…
1- When you learn a lesson don’t repeat it. It makes people think you are incredibly stupid. 2- Don’t worry so much about people think. 3- You hate wearing High…
7 year old sobs are sweet and thick. They aren’t guarded. They aren’t worried about mascara. 7 year old sobs are hearty and heart breaking.
If someone asked me how it all happened, I don’t think I would be able to answer them. I mean, I could rattle something off about champagne, hitchhiking, fairy lights,…
Sometimes on Sundays. They say – think big. See that box? Think big. They say- never stop. See that sky? Never stop. They say- want more. See that home? Want…
Dear God. I used to HATE being half way through hair and make-up and having a stranger poking my eyes with eyeliner. Someone behind me chewing gum and pulling my hair. Teasing…
New years eve smelt like salt water and barbecue. As it should. New years eve is the sea, lamb chops and a beach bonfire. It is drunk backpackers and slurry…
Last night I saw you, on a green oval, running a race. Like that one you ran around the grounds of your school. With the boy in the silly shoes.…
I brought pictures. And my guitar. Clothes and anklets. A cork board. Five big black letters. D. R. E. A. and M. My friend gave them to me. When she…
Dear Bent out of Wack Priorities, I have been told to get you straight. So we are going to work as a team here and sort the lot of you…
(c) Matisse Walkden-Brown 20/09/2010
FIJI 2005 MELBOURNE 2007 GOLD COAST 2009 NEW YORK 2006 GOLD COAST 2009 SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC 2006 BRISBANE 2007 CHINA 2004 …
A friend of mine has been with her boyfriend for two years now. They have done everything together. They jumped out of the sky together, seen snow on Christmas Eve…