She is the daughter of the man who directed Love Actually, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones for one thing.
It would be assumed that her life is therefore a walking-talking rom-com. But actually, she is very open and honest about the fact that it isn’t.
She suffers from mental health issues and has shared a lot of her experiences online and in her books.
She is passionate about feminism and her first curated and authored book, ‘Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and other lies)‘ promotes the voices and opinions of many women from all different walks of life. They speak about what it means to be a woman and it is so refreshing and game-changing in a lot of way. (Highly recommend)
Her second book is ‘It’s Not Okay To Feel Blue (and other lies)‘ shares the experiences of people with mental health issues. Actresses, singers, comedians, celebrities, and everyone else in between.
Often people feel too awkward to talk about their mental health struggles because there is a stigma around this a lot of the time.
However, bit by bit, this sharing and caring is proving to be really powerful and makes these topics feel less grotesque (because they are not grotesque at all… in fact, they’re very, very normal).
I thought I would share this recent post from Scarlett Curtis that made me feel a bit better this week.
Scarlett has been open about the fact that lockdown has played a big role in her mental health. With the latest lockdown news coming our of the UK, she posted:
‘Imagine your hair looking this good and having just come out of a depressive episode just in time for lockdown #2… IMAGINE.’
She says, ‘In all seriousness. This week I saw a psychiatrist, a therapist, a GP, an acupuncturist and went to @bleachlondon and I think the hair might have helped most (don’t take this advice seriously. I’m not a doctor).’
We couldn’t agree more. Sometimes all you need is a good wash, cut, colour and blow-dry. It can really do wonders for your happiness and bring about those tiny sparks of joy that you might have been missing.
So book a haircut in. Oh and watch Love Actually. That will also help A LOT.
Beck from Cheshire, UK, is normalising bodies one honest instagram post at a time.
Known as ‘The Bag Life of Beck‘ on instagram, the young mother has been an ostomate since 2011 when she had lifesaving surgery called an ‘ostomy’ to create an opening in her body for the discharge of body wastes.
This means she now has to wear a Stoma bag every day.
While changes to our bodies cause many of us to feel a little insecure, Beck reminds us that, ‘there is no wrong way to have a body’
“It took me a long time to realise this. I thought because I have my ileostomy I should hide my body because its not what is deemed as “normal” by society,” she says.
“Some days I’ll quite happily wear my bag on show and others I’m happy to cover it up.”
“Just because I have my Stoma bag it doesn’t mean my value as a human decreases. It doesn’t mean I’m no longer worthy in this world. It doesn’t mean I should be ashamed. I doesn’t mean I should hide away.”
Beck says that if anything, it means the opposite. She sees it a chance to educate people and create some change so that others accept their new lives and bodies as they are.
“This surgery saved my life, there’s a high chance that I wouldn’t be here today without it.”
“Imagine if we looked in our mirrors and our imperfections were shining back at us. Glistening in the mirror reminding us how beautiful they are and how beautiful we are with them.”
