3️⃣ Had an appointment with my #naturopath to discuss my #health goals for the new year and 4️⃣ had a good long chat about #bodyimage with my therapist. ✨ ✨ ✨ I’ve been seeing my therapist for about two years here in Seattle, but my relationship with #therapy started over a decade ago as a middle schooler struggling to understand an #eatingdisorder. I felt then that therapy just wasn’t for me: that it didn’t work, that my therapists sucked. Over the years I would go back and forth between wanting help from professionals and struggling to be open with them when I sat down in their office. It’s only been since 2013, when I officially committed myself to #recovery, that I’ve finally understood what all of this therapy stuff was really about. ✨ ✨ ✨ I’m at a place now where I get to approach therapy with #intention and #love for myself. I look forward to it every week because I’ve learned to see it as a gift I’m giving myself to #grow. I talk about things I’m struggling with, whether it’s a difficult conversation I want to have or something from a long time ago that still haunts me, and #together, my therapist and I talk through those things until they no longer feel so giant and scary. As a result of this commitment I’ve made to myself, it’s been really gratifying to be able to witness my progress over the years. I genuinely can’t believe how much has changed. ✨ ✨ ✨ Seeing a naturopath for my health challenges came on a result of my frustration with my conventional health care experience. My doctors did not have the time to treat me as a whole person, examine my symptoms critically, or ponder whether my medication could be the source of rapid changes to my body. I finally managed to muster up enough self worth to realize I deserved better than that, and was lucky to find a naturopath who was willing to help. ✨ ✨ ✨ Flash forward to now, and I’m working on healing an #autoimmunedisorder and transitioning off of my medication. The journey will be long and it calls me to be patient with my body in ways I’m not used to, but I’m learning #grace through the #process of working with and not against myself. ✨ ✨ ✨ What was your #onebravethingaday?

2️⃣Last night, I did something new! My partner’s coworker invited us to meet up with her and her friends at a local bar to play trivia. I didn’t know the people we would be getting together with, and I also don’t think I’ve ever sat down and sincerely played trivia before. ✨ ✨ ✨ Doing new stuff always scares me a little. I have anxiety, and my mind always comes up with a knee-jerk response of why I can’t go as a way of protecting myself from feeling uncomfortable. I knew it would be a good opportunity to meet new people in my neighborhood and a fun way to bring in the New Year. So I committed to saying yes and being brave. ✨ ✨ ✨ I am so glad that I went! We had a great time and I was actually pretty good at trivia, which was a cool surprise. I knew quite a few more answers than I would have expected and I felt good about being able to contribute to the team. It was also just fun to form a think tank with a group of people I didn’t know well. ✨ ✨ ✨ Last night was a confidence boost for me because I chose to put myself out there and try something new. Every time I do something like that, the experiences build on each other and it becomes easier and easier. I’m already excited to see what my willingness to try #onebravethingaday will bring my way this year! ✨ ✨ ✨ #brave #anxiety #goals #motivation #tryingnewthings #confidence #anxious

1️⃣Posting my New Year’s Resolutions on the internet. ✨ ✨ ✨ There you have it, folks. Those are the things I’m hoping to accomplish this year. I’m admitting it in front of you, Instagram, and most importantly, myself. I really want to learn how to play guitar, even if it’s just a couple of chords, so that I can collaborate more seamlessly with my girlfriend on songwriting. I want to capture portraits of my friends this year, doing the things that they love with the people that they love. And I definitely want to go camping more this summer. ✨ ✨ ✨ They’re such modest desires in the grand scheme of things, but they’ve come to represent a theme: there are changes in my life I’m afraid of to make because I don’t want to look like an amateur. I tell myself I’d rather just do the things I’m good at and stick with that, but the stifled curiosity in me keeps knocking at my heart. Be a beginner. Be unafraid. Just begin. ✨ ✨ ✨ This is such a small list: I have many more thoughts spread out over the pages of my journal and things I want to do. That’s part of what this project is for me: a reason to keep going in the direction of myself. ✨ ✨ ✨ What’s on your list this year? What have you been afraid of? ✨ ✨ ✨ #newyearsresolutions #newyears #goals #dreams #motivation #inspiration #selfcare #grow #change

Some of you know I’m trying to do this #onebravethingaday challenge in 2018, and yes, it’s as cheesy/millennial as it sounds. I was wondering if any of you would like to do it together? • The stuff I’m trying to cross off my #bucketlist is all over the place. Some things are really cool (go to France) and some are really small (call my grandma) and some are even really easy for other people (having anxiety can make simple tasks seem scary). I want to set up my IRA account, call my representatives more regularly, climb mountains, go on road trips, start volunteering somewhere meaningful, kick caffeine for good, and write more essays. I’ll be using this Instagram to hold myself accountable for the ways I want to grow as a person next year. • Maybe there are other people who have stuff they want to cross off their bucket list in 2018? Or are having their holy-shit I’m-closer-to-30-than-I-am-to-20-moment and want to do something about it? Maybe you want to try a new coffee shop across town or commit to learning a new skill or read more books or finally say goodbye a harmful habit/person/idea. What if we did it together? Like on the internet and maybe sometimes in person. That’d be cool. • When we’re better people, we can create a better world. We can make a home here that’s less racist, less ableist, less xenophobic and transphobic and sexist and homophobic and fatphobic and less divided by class, gender, and other differences. I know that if I’m honest with myself, I can do more about all of those things if I first commit to being brave. • Signed, A millennial with an Instagram (@emily.kei) • #2018 #goals #motivation #inspiration #inkandvolt #together #resist #samelove

I’ll be posting every day of 2018 with acts (big and small) of bravery, vulnerability, creativity and defiance. Follow @onebravethingaday and use #onebravethingaday if you want to do this together. ✨✨✨ #motivation #inspirationalquotes #motivationalquotes #selfcare #mentalhealth #2018 #inkandvolt #goals

I’ll be posting every day of 2018 with acts (big and small) of bravery, vulnerability, creativity and defiance. Follow @onebravethingaday and use #onebravethingaday if you want to do this together.