Jamila Rizvi finds a room of her own

Last month we sent our very own Jamila Rizvi to her home city and our nation’s capital on Ngunnawal Country. Little did we know we also sent her to the place she feels safest in the world: coming down the escalator at Canberra airport.

She didn’t jump into her dad’s car and stay with her parents though. This time, Rizvi played tourist – taking the time to unwind, get creative and, perhaps most importantly, to be alone.

In our second instalment of A Room of One’s Own, in partnership with VisitCanberra, we follow the best-selling author, gender equity advocate and Future Women’s deputy managing director, Jamila Rizvi, as she tours her home city and escapes reality for a weekend to write.

“I don’t think creativity tends to thrive in really pressurised environments,” says Rizvi. “It’s one of the reasons why being given that gift of ‘a room of one’s own’, as Virginia Woolf said, and being allowed to step away from the normality of life for a period does tend to lead to new ideas.”

So what, exactly, did she get up to? And what does her creative process look like?

When Rizvi wasn’t grabbing a cocktail at Monster Bar or touring one the more than 40 wineries within a 35 minute drive of the city with her best mate Pip, she was spending a morning walking around Lake Burley Griffin and getting cosy in cafes without her phone or laptop. The author consciously made space to be alone with her thoughts: an act she admits she has a hard time doing.

“I have a phone-radio-thing in the shower so that I don’t even have to shower without a podcast,” she laughs. “Sometimes you’ve got to be alone with your thoughts for your thoughts to start to percolate in a new way or an interesting way. And the best ideas tend to come at that point.”

Rizvi also made space to look back and explore the untold stories of women throughout history. The author attended ‘Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages‘ at the National Museum of Australia. The exhibition, which runs until August 2023, crosses timelines and cultures to recognise the contributions of women over history.

“I think our history books have determinately either left out or minimised the contributions of women, particularly in the vast majority of societies where throughout history, women have not had equal access to power or work or influence outside the home,” Rizvi says. “Nonetheless, women have managed to do incredible things and very much shape history, despite the fact that they weren’t given the same opportunities and platform to do so.”

Finally, the author made time for self-care – but not the type you might assume. (“I don’t like baths,” she says, “I think baths are disgusting.”) Rizvi did not bathe during her stay at the equally artsy and luxurious Ovolo Nishi, but did indulge in the hotel’s lavish Japanese and Middle Eastern inspired food.

As a woman living with disability and chronic illness, Rizvi admits that self-care is something often not done on her own terms. Sometimes, her body demands it.

“Disability and chronic illness are part-time jobs that sometimes unexpectedly become a full-time job,” she says. “Self-care means making sure I give myself space to rest.”

In her day-to-day life, this can look like working from bed or pushing back a meeting because she’s not in the right headspace. On a weekend away, it’s indulging in a nice meal and slowing down to make space for new thoughts.

“It was honestly an absolute delight being given this invitation by VisitCanberra to check [the city] out through the eyes of a tourist,” she says. “But also to have that time and that space to write and to create work and to do it without a small person asking for an orange juice, or a big person asking me if I paid the bill or whatever it might be… It was a real joy.”

A Room of One’s Own is proudly supported by VisitCanberra.