I stared down the barrel of change in the past few days, the philosophy that by changing yourself, your lifestyle and your patterns that you somehow become a better person. You keep your insecurities to yourself, re-plaster the emotional walls that you have built, and let go of people who bring you down. Change is inevitable, it’s part of life, but Is change good? Does changing yourself change your situation, your acceptance by society, your health? There are countless articles and quotes stating: Do not change yourself for anyone. Society has us in an invisible room, a comfortable room. A room which makes us feel safe and grounded, taken care of and accepted, even if the foundation of this room is built on insecurities, comparison and unreachable standards. Stay as you are, they tell us, then bombard us with appearance issues, weight control images and mental health stigmas. All of the above, including a recent self-loathing, has led me to think: What if change yourself isn’t...

Have you ever felt like your stuck, or in a ditch? You've tried to claw your way out, but you keep falling back in. You're waiting or someone to grab your hand and pull you out, or hand you a ladder to make your climb out easier. You're waiting for someone to save you. I've been here so many times. Stuck, alone and afraid. Waiting for a hero to save me. Sometimes I feel like I live in this ditch, but that no one is coming to help. And I know that so many people reading this are in that place right now. That you're worried you're not strong enough. That the climb is too high. The time is too little or the troubles too great. Truth is, there will be bad days. There will be times your ditch seems deeper, your fall greater or your climb more difficult. There will be tears and screams, anger and confusion...but there will also be good days. Days where your ditch isn't so deep, and the climb not so challenging. BUT, the difficult climbs are revealing something I...

I have suffered many scars in the course of 7 years; mental scars, emotional scars, and physical scars. I see my scars and experiences as pieces of progress and character, but I didn't always feel this way. For a long time I tried to hide the pained side of me, and it's much easier to hide the invisible scars than the visible ones. The scars from my self harm are far more visible than my emotional scars. Today I want to encourage you by sharing how I turned my self harm into self love and learned to accept every part of myself, good or bad. Why do people self harm? This is different for everyone! I did it because it made me feel something. My disorders made me numb - my cuts made me feel. However, this feeling of 'feeling something' doesn't last. Self harm does more harm than good. The reasoning behind the self-inflicted pain is different for everyone, but I can guarantee that the results never live up to expectation! After time, they just add more pain and sham...

You're ugly. You're worthless. Why are you even alive? You mean nothing and never will. Don't even try because you'll fail. You'll never be happy. No one will ever love you... I have heard these words more than I can count. When I was 13 I started experiencing intense bullying, both physical and verbal. To be told these things every day, no matter how hard you try, you start to believe them. No one ever told me any different, so what was I, as a young teenager, to believe? I started to hate myself. I mean HATE myself. I fully believed that I would never accomplish anything and that my life was a mistake. To be honest, sometimes I still do. Words are incredibly, ferociously powerful! They have the power to build or destroy you. And it is so true and so sad that you are more likely to believe what others tell you then what you tell yourself. In 11th grade I decided something had to change. I couldn't live hating life, and I wanted to prove those people wrong. Lo...

Failure is something no one wants to deal with. It makes us feel hopeless, worthless and tired. So tired that when we fall, we stay down. Our spirit is too weak to stand up and try again, so we give up and fall down, defeated... What if I told you that people who have failed are the strongest and most successful people. People who fall down, and get back up, are MUCH stronger than people who never fell down at all. They gain a tenacious attitude and strike the world with fire. Yes, failing SUCKS. It puts out your spark, and that's ok. But when you stand up again, don't just stand with a spark, but with a whole damn fire. You are not your failures. You are your progress. And failure is a part of progress. It isn't a sign to give up, but rather to take a breath, get up and fight harder. Don't let your failures allow you to miss out on your destiny. To fail is not the opposite of to succeed. It just means that your journey will be prolonged. And isn't the journey th...

I spent a long time trying to find a source of power in my life. It felt like the more I tried, the more people would take that power from me. They would destroy my wings and give me scars. I felt weak and not worth fighting for. Powerless. But you see, people can be cruel because they don't understand. Or maybe because they do understand, and their pain is shown through cruelty. But all those people who were breaking my wings forgot one important fact...I have claws too. When I spent all that time searching for power, I didn't realise that I already had it. Power comes from brokenness. Truly powerful people know pain. Understandably it's not the ideal place to gain power. But that power is so unimaginably strong that no one can come against it. It's the power that comes from small things that others overlook: getting up in the morning, going out the house, washing your hair, choosing to live in the midst of your war. That's power! That's strength! The miscon...

I am not here to hide. In fact, I'm done hiding. It's exhausting. I am here to be honest, to be sincere, and to be a voice. 5 years ago I was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety. It felt like I was drowning, like everything and everyone was against me...that I wasn't good enough to even live or breathe. I didn't have the strength. If it wasn't for Jesus, the only strength and hope I had left, I would not be here today. He was, is, and always will be my light. A few weeks ago I was diagnosed with Dermatophagia. It is not a well known disorder, although many people suffer from it. At first I was ashamed, I felt that I had to hide and fear myself. Like I was a monster.. But I'm not. I'm not perfect, but that's ok. I may be on the road to recovery, and there are days that I feel like all hope is lost, but I am strong. I'm a fighter. Everyone is. There is a warrior inside everyone, no matter your gender, age, circumstances or mental or physi...