Welcome to my Blog!

Hello and welcome to Bravely BeYOUtiful - I'm happy you're here!  A little bit about me: My name is Allie, and I am currently a Communication Studies graduate student in the  beautiful state of MinneSNOWta.  The idea to start this blog came about the other day when reading a chapter from "Girl Wash Your Face" by Rachel Hollis. I've been thinking about writing a book or publishing my poetry for a while now, and Rachel's chapter sparked a flame in me.  So here I am, starting from scratch, being vulnerable, and taking a leap of faith in sharing my thoughts with the world.  Let me start out by saying I am by no means an experienced blogger - heck, I wrote a blog about being gluten-free when I was in undergrad, which I then proceeded to delete after starting recovery for my eating disorder in 2016.  This blog will be very much a work in progress.  I don't plan for it to look fancy or have amazing formatting.  I am simply hoping that this blog becomes a platform where I can share my creative work and thoughts.  I have held back so much in the past when it comes to sharing some of my writing, and well, I figure that a blog is a good place to start.  I am passionate about intercultural and health communication, and really all things mental health related.  I'm in currently in recovery from an eating disorder, and it has been one of the hardest things I have ever done.  The name of this blog, Bravely BeYOUtiful was inspired by a quote that used to be on one of my therapists' doors: "be your own kind of beautiful." It is by far one of my favorite quotes that keeps me moving forward in recovery.  I hope to inspire at least one person with this blog, and I hope to grow in the process as well. Thanks for joining me on this beYOUtiful journey, dear reader! 

xoxo,

Allie