This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at NMSU chapter.
National Period Day is approaching, and what a better way to celebrate than to fill your Instagram feed with positive, inspiring, and relatable posts created by or representing empowering self-sufficient women?
We all know how addicting social media can be, and how it can affect women’s perceptions of things such as beauty and body standards. Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, and even knowing of all its negative side effects, I find it hard to permanently let go of (yes, I’ve tried numerous times). But instead of battling myself in a war of deleting and re-downloading the app every couple weeks because of the negativity I’ve found myself buried in as a result of daily use; I turned it into something positive and beneficial to my growth. Over the past year, I have followed many accounts whose posts fill up my feed with daily inspiration, motivation, positivity, and mindfulness. Corny? Yes. But it truly has helped me take away the negative side effects of using Instagram, without having to delete the app. The best part is that they come in the form of cute illustrations made by altruistic women. Following accounts who spread awareness about important topics and post uplifting quotes is a good way to bring positive thoughts and self-love to your feed that you check every day. Not only are these accounts using their platform to solely spread kindness and awareness, but they are also influencing thousands of people to do the same. Here are some of my favorite accounts I follow that have aided in my journey of refocusing on positivity, and a little bit about each:
@justgirlproject
Just girl project fills its feed with inspirational posts and illustrations that remind us, women, we’re in this together! Their page shares the most unique art of women figures by side of beautiful reminders of strength, love, friendliness and more. Plus, how often do we see the artwork representing women with their eyes closed that aren’t engaging in disheartening acts?
@mindfulmagazine
Pursing a healthy mindset begins with mindfulness. Being mindful and centered on the present allows you to focus on yourself and needs. This page is dedicated to sharing the cutest illustrations from various artists that remind us to be mindful and positive when our lives can get rapid and chaotic. Not only do they share artwork that helps remind people to practice simple mindful techniques, but they also have their own magazine (hint: their Instagram handle). Each magazine issue features strong, intelligent and empowering women talking about the various benefits of mindfulness; including all the different issues that can be tackled by practicing it.
@themindgeek
For all things mental health, Sarah Jane Crosby makes it easy to validate and identify various emotions. A psychotherapist from Ireland, her illustrations (or “mental health sticky notes”) are made to make mental health education accessible, relatable and interesting. In my opinion, she has done just that and more with her post. Reading through her comments, it’s easy to see that she has no doubt been pivotal in many individual’s growth and healing journeys by writing about numerous topics surrounding mental health. Her use of psychodynamic theory and person-centered therapeutic approaches in combination with easily understood, appealing illustrations are the perfect reminders of prevalent struggles that can be easily overlooked. Not just does she post amazing illustrations, she continues to write thorough captions that go in-depth about the illustration and steps on how to improve on the issues. These posts may come in handy when you’re feeling stuck, and with her helpful knowledge, she certainly brings positivity just by giving insight to common dealt with issues.
@thehappynewspaper
At times, news can be overwhelming and sad. Although it’s good to be informed, sometimes reading about tragedies can add more worries to your mind. Not just that, but news on social media especially is often very negative, because it attracts more people to read or view the post. The happy newspaper is just that- Happy! Delivering solely positive news stories to their subscribers, but also sharing bits and pieces to their Instagram feed. The creator behind it, Emily Coxhead, finds and writes about good news and then combines it with beautiful illustrations. The main focus of her post (and paper) is to inform people of all the positive developments in our world. She truly helps shift the focus to all things good in the world!
@colormehappii
Send some color to your feed! Kaitlyn is the artist behind these wonderful illustrations. They are simple, cute, and work as the perfect pick-me-ups or small helpful reminders. Kaitlyn aims to spread positivity through her artwork, and she succeeds in my opinion.
Choosing to refocus on the positive side of Instagram by following (and supporting) women and organizations like the ones mentioned here, can affect your whole outlook on social media. Not only will it benefit you, but It will also help spread awareness to the youth, especially young girls who are easily influenced by these negative aspects of social media use. By making these simple changes to our feed, we can help to change the results of future studies done on the effects of using social media sites on mental health. Let’s make positive feeds #trendy!
