Verse Mother Imogen Hewitt: by Eden & Lily

Short Profile
Name: Imogen Hewitt
DOB: 7 July 1976 
Place of birth: Sydney, Australia  
Occupation: chief executive officer

1. What is the best mothering advice you have received?

I think it was my own Mum who said that “love is enough”. Now she didn’t mean don’t worry about feeding them, or keeping them safe, or listening to the experiences of other Mothers and parents. She meant there is no ‘right’ way to Mother, and if you make your choices through the lens of how much you love your little humans then it will all be ok. The second best piece of advice I received was “they’re really hard to break” - which came from a very sensible, very funny friend.

 2. How do you grow your creativity?

I work in a creative field. Plus my girls are imaginative and inventive. So I am surrounded by inspiration and noise and demands for attention all day long. That’s cool, but it can also be a bit intense. So when I need to creatively recharge I like to do something alone. Stalk around a gallery. Hide out in the back of a book shop. Indulging my op shop addiction. Breathe in the history of a place or space.

3. What energises you?

There are two sides to that coin for me. On one side - people, ideas and adrenaline. On the other side - silence, nature and perspective.

4. What has surprised you most about being a mother?

That’s hard. It’s a journey of pretty constant surprises in my opinion. I guess I am continually surprised by how strong the physical bond is. I anticipated an emotional bond that could stretch through time and space but I did not expect that I would hurt when they hurt. Maybe it’s obvious to many but it really is like having your heart beat outside of your body. When those eyes are full of tears from a tumble or a friendship bust up, the ache in my body is real. My nerves fizz. My heart beats faster. My every desire is to make it go away but I can’t. Well maybe I could but in many instances, for them to grow, I should not. Having said that, Mumma cuddles are in fact magic.

5. Is there a moment or event that radically changed the way you saw the world?

On the morning that my dad died, I remember sitting on the veranda of my parents’ house and watching the sun come up. Of course the rational part of me knew the sun would rise that day but I was surprised to actually see the wheels of the universe keep turning. It made me realise that the contribution my amazing father had made to my world, and therefore the impact you can

have on other people’s worlds, is not limited to your lifetime. The good you do can be infinite and that changed my perspective on a lot of things.  

6. How do you ground yourself in stressful times?

Still working that out.

7. What are your favourite mid-week dinner treats?

My husband makes a mushroom risotto that literally makes my world a better place. My husband also makes my world a better place. But, seriously, the risotto.

8. What is your biggest fear as a mother?

Woah, another big question. I spend a fair bit of time inside my own head as a person and so… I worry. About everything. I fear passing on my worst habits and not my best ones. I fear that the world is more complicated and less kind for my girls than it was for me. I fear that happiness can be really bloody hard to come by in a world that has weird measures of success. I fear we’re ruining the world faster than we’re healing it. I worry that respectful debate, the kind you learn something from, is being lost in a culture of right or wrong... ok so maybe I could do with thinking a little less and embracing the moment a little more.

9. What is your morning routine?

Make it out alive. Alive and dressed.

10. When did you realise you were no longer a child?

You don’t ever have to have that realisation in my opinion. I might be someone’s Mother. but I am also silly, wide eyed, occasionally juvenile and often a little too enthusiastic. I will always be someone’s child and someone’s childhood friend. I can be restless, curious and irresponsible at times. I can also stomp like a child and act out like a child and not listen on purpose like a rather petulant child. But I like the way children see the world. I like children. I have no intention of growing up as I grow old. In fact the opposite strikes me as much more fun.

Imogen wears a Verse Two Letters & Heart Necklace 

Film photography: Eden Avril (11) and Lily Grace (7).