Your Stories - Kirstyn

Content Warning: These stories contain mentions of body dysmorphia, body image struggles, pregnancy loss, fertility struggles and gendered violence. If you find any of the below triggering, please find a list of helpful and free resources below:

DV/SV: 1800 RESPECT

Mental Health: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

Eating Disorders and Body Image Issues: Butterfly Foundation 1800 ED HOPE

Kirstyn was such an exciting and inspiring person to meet. She’s a FIFO blaster, happily single, very clear about the standards she holds for other people and quietly learning to offer that same respect to herself. She’s done heaps of work on herself to realise she’s an absolute badass and knows what she deserves. It’s so cool to hear her speak about literally anything, but her perspectives on herself, and how she fits in the world are so admirable.

We talked a lot about where her body feelings actually came from, and it wasn’t always social media or comparison or any of the usual suspects. It was years of dance culture and a household where dieting and body talk were just part of the air. The kind of environment where you learn to monitor yourself without even realising it. She’s spent a lot of time unpacking that, especially noticing how those old habits try to creep back in at times and how she navigates that.

In her shoot, she opted to wear her glasses as that’s how she knows herself to look and she feels safe in them. Taylah gently encouraged her to give it a go without them and showed her the first shot taken. Taylah described the moment in such a touching way, Kirstyn welled up in the viewing when she saw the image on the big screen, and that exact one was chosen for her print. 

She came into the viewing nervous, but there was also this curiosity. Like she was ready to challenge the old stories she’d been carrying around. We ended up talking more about the way she speaks to herself than anything else. She’s been raising her standards across the board, in relationships, in work, in life, and now she’s applying that same care inward.

She’s just a really special human. She has so much intelligence and is warm and so easy to like. She’s soft, strong, thoughtful, and very sure that the next chapter of her life includes being kinder to herself than the last one did. And honestly, we all left that day feeling a bit calmer and full  just for having been around her.