IN AWE OF KAYLEIGH
Kayleigh is an anorexia recovery warrior. She may be “dainty” but she is tough and mighty, sharing her recovery struggles in heartfelt posts to her followers. We are in AWE of her commitment to positivity and love how our Serenity Choker works with her AWE-some aesthetic.
IN HER WORDS
"I do not share my story because I demand sympathy or recognition. I share my story to help even one person ask for help. I do it to help break the stigma surrounding mental illness. Because that's what it means to be a survivor."
"I’m beginning to measure my worth in memories I create and the challenges I conquer, not pounds."
ABOUT KAYLEIGH
Mental Health Advocate || Body Positive Feminist || Recovering from Anorexia Nervosa || Learning to Live a Positive Lifestyle
KAYLEIGH'S STORY
Because that's what it means to be a survivor. I never thought of myself as a survivor, even with the countless hospital trips and times my mental disorders have tried to kill me. I think stigma has a lot do with this. Because isn't coming back from an illness that made you starve yourself to the brink of death the definition of a survivor?
Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder. I'm still surviving it. I'm surviving the ways it challenges me daily and the permanent damage it has inflicted upon my body.
I do not share my story because I demand sympathy or recognition. I share my story to help even one person ask for help. I do it to help break the stigma surrounding mental illness.
KAYLEIGH’S RECOVER LESSONS FROM THE PAST YEAR
- You have to consciously choose recovery every single day (even on the bad days).
- You cannot recover and simultaneously restrict "unhealthy" or "unclean" foods.
- Relapse doesn't equal failure. It shows you're aware of what you're doing and can pick yourself up, learn and try again.
- You may lose a friend to this disease. I have. Feel the sadness. Don't let it swallow you. Let it motivate you to keep fighting. If you don't, you'll die too.
- No matter how many admissions, you will never believe you are sick enough to recover. You absolutely are.
- If you are wondering if you are sick enough to ask for help, you are. You are absolutely sick enough.
- Recovery is 100% possible.
TEN FACTS ABOUT KAYLEIGH
- I have 15 tattoos (and counting).
- My dream job is an illustrator, but I'm too shy about showing my work.
- I love to read more than anything and my books are my most cherished possessions.
- I took 7 years of ballet as a child.
- I've been happily married for 3 years, we have a 4 year old daughter named Lydia.
- David Bowie is my favorite musician and lifelong hero and I still cry whenever "Space Oddity" plays.
- My husband proposed to me at a Bob Dylan/Wilco concert.
- My favorite author is @neilhimself
- I went to cosmetology school and my hair has been every color of the rainbow.
- My favorite movies are The Dark Crystal and Coraline.
CONNECT WITH KAYLEIGH
