Tags
advoacate, Advocacy, Anorexia, Bulimia, eating disorder, Fighter, mental-health, purple love, Purple Project, Reality, survivor, Where I Stan, where I Stand
Meet Olivia Rose
A dreamer, An advocate, A fighter
I have a passion for art, music and literature. My dream is to travel to Peru; to venture the Amazon and climb Macchu Picchu. The next thing on my bucket list is to go skydiving. Being with friends brings me the most happiness; the most cherished of memories. They are what I live for. I find storms to be exciting, and evening skies the most peaceful time of day. I see beauty in nature; in the simple things life encompasses, not the material.
Right now you may be looking at me as a normal individual, who has presumably lived a comfortable and fulfilled life. I am always smiling, but behind this ‘mask’ lies a person that has been consumed by an internal struggle for the past 10 years of her life. One that has brought me to the depths of darkness and filled my everyday with indescribable pain. I have spent in total almost 1000 days confined behind the bars of a hospital, being force fed.
I wear purple because I am a sufferer of anorexia nervosa, with dreams of raising awareness, bringing hope, and letting others know they are not alone.
Eating disorders are very complex, baffling and frustrating illness’s, but they have been hidden in a closet that society is too afraid to open for too long. I wear purple because I believe this needs to change. They are some things that we should not be trivialising or ignoring. They ruin, destroy and take the lives and beings of too many. They bring excruciating pain to people so undeserving of such suffering. They are not a game; they are very confronting and real. They are not a phase; they are a long and enduring torture. They are not a choice; they are shockingly spontaneous and often beyond one’s control. They do not have a size; they are invisible for many, but just as fierce. They are not what they seem. No, eating disorders are not glamorous. No, being skinny isn’t inspirational. No, no one would wish to have this. They are very serious, and a nightmare come to life for anyone with one.
Sufferers deserve to be helped and embraced with loving hands, as anyone with any other illness would be. Not feared or judged. We are not monsters, we are people. Some often forget that. They see only the disorder, and forget that beneath that, is a human being with a beautiful soul, or a personality that shines.
For those suffering personally, I say this to you. Keep fighting like you are already free. Believe in yourself, and believe that things can and will get better. You are important. You are loved, even if you don’t feel it. You are strong. You deserve to be in this world and to enjoy the life you were given, not suffer through it. You deserve to be able to live and not just exist; to experience the magic of life on the other side of an eating disorder. Keep fighting until you do. It is worth it, even though it may sometimes feel as though it is not. And you are worth it too.
I wear purple because I believe in recovery. I wear purple because I believe in you.