If I could send a letter back in time, letting the words of gentle encouragement and enlightened compassion sift through the sands of days gone, this is what I would say to you, my younger self: You are going to fail. You are going to fail more times than you can possibly imagine. Those failures
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Here at Shona, we are all about representing girls, women and non-binary people from all backgrounds, but we especially love when we get to meet someone who is stepping outside of what we consider “the norm”. So today we would like to introduce you to Councillor Emer Kelly. Emer is 22 years old and has
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Dear Aoife, I am writing this letter to you, aged 23, preparing to graduate from college with a Bachelor of Business and ready to explore the world. While I know you struggled in your teenage years with extreme anxiety and depression, I am so proud to be able to tell you that you have taken
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Steph, our gorgeous counselling and psychotherapy expert is back to help you, our followers, out with some sticky life situations. Social media can be cool and all, but nobody ever tells you how much effort goes into juggling all the different platforms and group chats. So, when this follower found herself excluded from a chat,
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Dear younger dee, I’m twenty years old now, but I still hold on to my ten-year-old self in many ways, because she was the one who taught me how to be kind, outspoken, independent, and brave. Who I am now, is because of who I was when I was younger. All of the good and
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A gorgeous human reached out to us a while ago and shared this really powerful piece with us. We thought, with it being pride month, it would be the perfect time to share it. We’d just like to thank them for sharing their story with our Shona Community x Sometimes it’s like being invisible. Watching
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Daisy, I am writing this to you as a 20-year-old woman, you are no longer just a girl in a school uniform being given out to for having badges plastered over your jumpers, you are in your 20’s now. And this is somehow even scarier than entering the halls of secondary school and finding yourself
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Clothes. We use clothes to express ourselves. There is also reason to believe that what we wear and, whether or not we feel comfortable in what we wear contributes to our overall mood, expression, and mental health. Scientists call this phenomenon ‘enclothed cognition’. On average, it takes someone about 7 seconds to form an impression
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Dear Emma, I’m writing this aged 18, preparing to sit the Leaving Cert, and completely unsure of what will happen next – and I want you to know that’s okay! Since 12 or 13, you’ve struggled with your mental health. Since then you’ve worked with 2 different counsellors, spoken *honestly* to your doctor (which was
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For Pride Month, I spoke to my twin sister, Katie, about her experiences as a lesbian in Ireland (the conversation has been edited a bit for length). We spoke about being gay in a suburban setting, LGBT youth groups, and Pride. Read our conversation below: Do you want to tell the Shona readers a little
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When you are just becoming a teenager you think you know everything and understand people but now that I’m twenty-two and I look back, I just think about how I didn’t know anything. I remember it as a time without big responsibility but everything counted back then. I was still only learning how people work
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My name is Raevynna and today I’d like to share with you what Pride means to me. Pride month can mean a lot of different things to different people, after all, each person experiences and interprets Pride in their own unique way. For some, Pride is pretty self-explanatory, it’s about being unashamed and unapologetic of
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Here at Shona, we are all about representing girls, women, and non-binary people from all backgrounds, but we especially love when we get to meet someone who is stepping outside of what is often considered “the norm”. So today we would like to introduce you to Chloe! Chloe is a 25-year-old woman who drives Class
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Dear Tara, If I am being honest, writing you this letter has been quite difficult for me. It’s hard for me to think back on the things that I know you are going through. In some ways, I wish I could travel back and tell you everything you need to know to get through this
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Dear younger Mikaela, Slow down. Relax. Everything always works out in the end. There’s no need to be constantly worrying about what the future holds. Live in the present because the next few years are some of your best. Even if you don’t realize it! The leaving cert was never as important as you thought
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Dear Aoife, I know you’re probably stressed out right now. That seems to be your default state – stressed about school, stressed about friends, stressed about the future. I get it. But try not to worry too much. School is important, and good grades are important. But they’re not more important than your mental health.
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We’re all just out here trying to be our best selves, figuring it all out, searching for answers; What do I want to do? What course should I apply for? What nice things do I want? Well. We’ve been thinking a LOT about how we approach life’s big questions and here’s what we’ve come up
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Dear Shannon, You’re 16 and I’m writing to you to give you a heads up. There is a rough few years ahead. Being different is nothing to be ashamed of, but unfortunately, you will learn this the hard way. Soon you will be mocked, taunted, pushed, and shoved. A feeling of dread hangs over you
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