Hello and welcome back to The Influencer Blog, this week we are bringing you a brand new self love blog post featuring the lovely Lucy Thorburn. As always we are super grateful for all the love and support across all of our social media channels and if you have anything you want to see on The Influencer, be sure to let us know! Hope you're all doing well.
Lucy is 22 years old and originally from Manchester, but moved down to London 3 years ago to study musical theatre at the London College of Music. While Lucy has a passion for musical theatre, she also loves the environment and animals and works at Pets at Home alongside her degree. We LOVE a productive queen!!
Lucy was diagnosed with panic disorder and anxiety 2 years ago, and was born with one hand due to a blood clot in the womb. Lucy wants to use her platform to help other people know that it's ok to break societal "norms" and also realise that the word "perfect" is damaging and an impossible creation we should not live by. UNREAL!!
We asked Lucy if she had always been confident within herself...
"I have definitely NOT! I was a prosthetic wearer from the age of 2 (well as young as you can be to have a tiny fake arm fitted). This helped me with a lot of day to day things but my parents always said “I would always find ways to do things anyway”.
"Eventually I stopped wearing this as it was starting to become something I wear to hide my arm. This caused me to not truly accept it as I desperately tried to “fit in”. I began to panic if I didn’t have it with me going out or if I misplaced it (imagine losing your arm ahah) so now it’s hidden away and thanks to my family, boyfriend and friends I am learning to accept it much more. "
We also wanted to know if her love for musical theatre had impacted her levels of confidence...
"I feel different when in a character or on stage. But I think the best moment was when I played Maureen in Rent back home and it was the first time I didn’t wear my prosthetic! It was incorporated into the show where I took it off during a song.
As soon as I performed the first show and realised the audiences LOVED IT and DID NOT CARE I felt so much more accepted.
"Musical theatre is becoming a much more open and accepting place and I cannot wait to be in it as it grows further."
As Lucy already mentioned, she wants to use her Instagram profile to spread positivity and confidence, we wanted to know why this was important to her: "The phrase Instagram VS reality says it all! Instagram has been used to show our “best” or our “perfect” photos but this is not our reality and it is so damaging as we begin to pick ourselves apart asking “is that photo good enough” “Do I look slim enough” “Does my makeup look flawless enough” “Do I look curvy enough”. The list is endless and a lot of the questions contradict themselves!
"We need to spread positivity and body confidence as it is lacked SO MUCH in the media, government and in day to day life. The more we share it, the more we create a new and accurate normal that shows everyday and isn’t damaging to us."
"A time when I felt self-conscious due to pictures I had seen on Instagram was definitely the end of high school/start of college. I was a bit of a late bloomer and even when I did “bloom” it wasn’t as much as a lot of others.
"I was constantly on Instagram trying to see why or find people that did have these “perfect” figures. I then tried to find their diet and their exercise regime! It was ridiculous.
I began to follow models or celebrities because of their figures and use them as my inspiration. But instead of building myself up to get there, I was knocking myself down every time I saw a photo from them.
"Every body is completely beautiful and different and what works for one might not for another."
We asked Lucy do you think social media creates a standard for women's bodies that is almost unrealistic?: "100000%. I did a post on this on my account. We are told to be so many different Things but also this can change all the time! Curvy, skinny, muscley the list is endless.
"It’s not a secret that there as Instagram poses people use (I have in the past) to aspire to these ideals. Pushing your butt out, sucking in etc. You then take those shots and finally get one you think is “worthy” and post it.
"Then it’s back to reality. YOU RIGHT NOW THIS REALITY AND YOUR BODY IS PERFECT! Don’t do changes for society or to fit in, do something for you if you wanted to! I have been there and I’m so glad now that social media is slowly changing. It can only fully change if we all work together to post what we like, not what we think others will! Eventually it can be used to celebrate our beauty and our differences but in a realistic and positive way!"
Lucy's advice for someone who is struggling with their own body image is: "Firstly stop and think if there is anything or anyone in your life RIGHT NOW that doesn’t serve you or makes you feel unworthy, get rid of it. Whether it’s an unfollow, a bin of something you possess, a conversation with a friend that really just puts you down. DO IT.
"You are with love, kindness and support for who you are. Once you surround yourself with support and motivation you can feel more self love.
"Mirrors were always my worst enemy, I only realised a year ago it was a reason why dance studios made me so uncomfortable. You are forced to look at yourself in full and surrounded by others. I’m just going to ask you to look at yourself in a mirror! No one else there to compare to.
"Now list things you like, not things you don’t. Do this as often as you can! And then question if there is something you don’t like is that solely your opinion or is it forced upon you by society. If so LEAVE IT BEHIND. Be happy with your body for you. Not anyone else. Be selfish with it as you can be! You are so special, how can you ever try have a body like someone else when NO ONE IN THIS ENTIRE WORLD IS THE SAME!! One “perfect body” does not exist! It never can. Instead create your own perfect!"
Some of Lucy's favourite body positive bloggers on insta are:
@themeganedit
@lifewithlyd
@tamarazjohnson
Thank you so much to Lucy for speaking to us and being so open and honest. Be sure to check out her Instagram @lucyethorburn.
And finally thank you for reading this blog post!! Lots of love from Beth & Liz Xx