Wrapping Up the Year: Mum's Take on One Wild, Wonderful Ride

As the year draws to a close, I’ve found myself pausing more often than usual. Pausing to breathe. Pausing to reflect. Pausing to quietly say, how on earth did we get here?

Because if you’d asked me back in February where this year would lead, I could never have imagined this version of it.

February was hard, but not in the way people might expect. It began at our dinner table, during a conversation about a book Nat had been talking about for a long time but could never quite move forward with. Ideas were big. Details were complex.

Everything felt stuck. In that moment, I challenged Nat to stop overcomplicating things and simply write ten pages, with just two sentences on each page. Nothing perfect. Nothing polished. Just start!

If you’d like to read more about that moment and how it became a turning point, I shared it in Seven Months. One Wild Journey!  which still feels incredibly close to my heart.

As the year unfolded and Nat stepped further into growing their creative business, the real challenges emerged. Pushing boundaries, especially in social situations, came with a cost. Shutdowns happened along the way, not because Nat wasn’t capable, but because growth often demanded more energy, interaction, and recovery time than most people ever see. Learning to balance encouragement with rest became part of our shared rhythm.

What we didn’t know then was that February would also quietly mark the beginning of something extraordinary.

With support, scaffolding, and a lot of learning together, Nat took a brave step and we started Zosimos Curra. Not as a grand business plan, but as a gentle response to creativity needing space to exist. One small step at a time.

By late April, we attended our very first market. And then another. And then another. Since then, we’ve attended 13 markets, met countless kind humans, and watched Nat slowly build confidence with each conversation, each sale, each “hello”.

Somewhere along the way, Nat published their first children’s book, You Can’t Rush Friendships. We even held a book launch, which still feels a little surreal to say out loud. Just in time for Christmas, Nat’s second book, Kindness Over Rudeness, was also published. In 2026, we’ll be planning a launch to celebrate that milestone too, and that thought alone makes me smile.

To date, we’ve sold 182 books!

Whoot whoot!!! 🎉📚

But numbers only tell part of the story.

This year also included Year 12 graduation, completing the Maker2Market Taster Pathways Program, and navigating many shutdowns along the way. Growth did not happen in a straight line. It happened in pauses, in quiet days, in learning when to rest and when to step forward again.

One of the biggest shifts I’ve witnessed has been in Nat’s social confidence. Early markets were draining. Conversations were short. Recovery time was long. And yet, by our final market on Sunday, after two consecutive weekends leading up to Christmas, Nat calmly said, “I need to recharge my social battery.”

Not a shutdown. Just self-awareness, confidence, and advocacy.

That moment alone felt like a milestone worth celebrating.

As we wrap up the year, I feel immense gratitude for the:

⭐ community that showed up;

⭐ people who believed in Nat’s work; and

⭐ lessons this year taught both of us about trust, pacing, and letting creativity unfold in its own time.

This year was wild.

It was tiring.

It was joyful.

It was real.

And it showed me, once again, what is possible when we stop pushing and start listening.

Here’s to rest, reflection, and a little Christmas magic as we close out the year. And here’s to whatever unfolds next.

With gratitude, Debi

Parent Advocate and Co-founder Zosimos Curra