Personal Growth

Addressing my mental health, body image perception and chronic illness in full force has led to one of the most freeing summers of my life thus far.

No longer am I solely concentrated on how ashamed/gross/insecure I felt wearing a swimsuit in public but instead I’m focussed on the feeling of sand between my toes, diving into turquoise waters in Cornwall or swimming in the dark lochs of the highlands. And the absolute bliss that comes from cold water swimming.

Instead of getting frustrated at my body and it’s abilities while out hiking or wild camping I can now thank it for carrying me and my belongings to beautiful places even if they aren’t always the furthest or highest.

Not getting caught up in the fear of failure has pushed me to try my hand at things like outdoor bouldering & trad climbing which are activities I never could have dreamed of doing just a year ago. And feeling thankful to have found such a supportive community of any and all abilities.

It’s not always easy or straightforward and I still have wobbles but life is too short to give up or miss out on doing things for fear of appearance or how “good” you are at something.