The 2Summers 2021 Support Group: 3 Influencers Who Make Me Happy
I feel anxious and uncertain about life right now. I could go into it – write out a long list of reasons, empathize with all the other people out there who are feeling a similar way (I know there are many), etc. But I don’t feel like doing that so here is a quick summary: Life isn’t normal, life hasn’t been normal for a long time, and life probably won’t ever be normal again.
I feel insecure and inadequate, like I’m not doing enough, like I don’t have a real purpose in life, like I’m not motivated enough or cool enough or pretty enough to be the person I really want to be, or should be.
I just listened to a podcast about Simone Biles, who is probably the best gymnast who ever lived, and the story of her career and recent withdrawal from a major event at the Olympics. I cried while I was listening, partly because I’m still a little jet lagged and jet lag makes me super emotional. But I also cried because the podcast reminded me of all the pressure that so many girls and young women (and boys and young men, and older women and men, for that matter) put on themselves to be perfect, and how we carry that pressure around with us for our entire lives and feel bad about ourselves for reasons that aren’t real to anyone except ourselves. I hate that we do that – I hate that I do that.
Rather than say more about my feelings or speculate about the feelings of others, I want to quickly share three social media influencers who cheer me up every time I look at their feeds. These three people, who I don’t know in person or know anything about outside of Instagram, make me feel better about myself almost every day. Maybe they’ll do the same for you.
I don’t need to say much about them as their posts speak for themselves. Just watch and be wowed.
@noordinarynoire (Achieng Agutu)
Now here is a woman who understands and embraces her value. She makes me want to do the same for myself.
A post shared by Achieng Agutu ???????? (@noordinarynoire)
A post shared by Achieng Agutu ???????? (@noordinarynoire)
@hebontheweb (Heather Chelan)
Smart, sensible, fun advice from a damn good singer/songwriter.
A post shared by Heather Chelan (@hebontheweb)
A post shared by Heather Chelan (@hebontheweb)
@iammoshow (The Cat Rapper)
A beautiful man who loves cats. The Cat Rapper, who is from my home town of Baltimore, Maryland, has an entire episode devoted to him (episode 1) on the new Netflix show, Cat People.
A post shared by iAmMoshow????(The Cat Rapper ™ ????) (@iammoshow)
That is all: I hope one or all of these posts made you smile or even laugh out loud with joy. (They all do that for me.) And if you follow any other happy influencers you’d like to recommend, please comment and share. I need more of this in my life.
I’ll leave you with a photo of myself, taken with my phone in the mirror earlier this afternoon, wearing a new pair of jeans I recently bought in America and an old pair of Doc Martens I recently found in the back of my closet.
Fun fact: For my whole life, I have almost never tucked my shirt into jeans, shorts, or skirts because I thought that look wasn’t flattering for my figure. Also I think negative thoughts about my body about 50 times a day – every day, except during the very rare periods when I feel “skinny” – and almost never admit it out loud to anyone.
But I recently realized these thoughts are absurd and actually I look cute with my shirt tucked in, regardless of whether or not I feel skinny that day. Thank you @noordinarenoire for helping me see this.
Have a fabulous weekend, besties.
LOL :)) the cat guy “When someone tells me they hate cats” I wish my memory worked better so I could remember my mental note not to trust them.
Exactly.
Thanks I needed this right now, also feeling pretty much like you lately. Take care.
You too - see you soon I’m sure :)
Thanks for sharing your upbeat influencers. And you do look cute. And healthy.
Thank you!
Great post Heather! At my great age am lusting after a pair of Doc Martens but might just settle for a pair of veldskoens! Yes - we’re certainly living in very strange times.
Lovely photo! Luv the Docs! :-)
There’s a great influencer who always cheers me up when I get depressed about the state of the much loved country of my childhood. When I read several Facebook pages full of sad stories and hopeless, angry rants, I turn to my favorite….it’s positive, loving but realistic…….oh wait! I think you know her! She appears in your mirror every day.
This might just be the best blog comment I’ve ever received. Thank you :)
Yup, we love your blogs, it feels they have purpose. Re: jet lag. I recently asked my two former wives how they felt about my 15-odd years as a month-in, month-out travel journalist. What a belly laugh we had. :)
Haha, yes. Traveling journalist partners can be a real pain ????????????
Your posts have this way of helping me feel more positively connected to myself, to South Africa and to the “world”. Thanks Heather!
Well that is a lovely compliment. Thank you and you’re welcome :)
I’m sorry you’re having a hard time and surprised to hear how critical you feel of your purpose and appearance. Because on the outside it seems you’re rather successful at what you do (your blog, photography, book, Patreon, etc). It also looks like you are able to support yourself as a creative. But I suppose we could “have it all” and still feel inadequate, right?
Maybe writing out a list of things you feel good and proud about, and even a list of things you like about your body and mind could be a nice exercise. And then for extra Heather-therapy <3 you could write another list of things you don’t feel so great about like perceived “failures” and then next to it brainstorm what you learned or gained from the experience. Just a thought. xxoo
Thanks Lani. I guess like everyone I’m pretty good at hiding my insecurities. Those are great suggestions - thanks. Hope things are going well in your new town!