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You are here: Home / SELF LOVE & BODY IMAGE / Self-love through cushions (and exciting news)

Self-love through cushions (and exciting news)

December 21, 2018 by Molly Leave a Comment

The Winter Solstice seems a good time to share this mini festive home tour and tell you about an exciting event I’m involved with to celebrate confidence and self-love. Read on for pretty pics and ticket details…

When I was about ten my parents let me redecorate my bedroom. I’d graduated from a room with clouds on the sky to one with a Moroccan theme. Mum made me matching curtains and cushions – I even had a matching wallpaper border all around the room. It was very 90s, which was good because it was 1993 and my main interiors inspiration came from the hit TV show Changing Rooms which was my favourite series on the telly at the time.

I’ve always been into nesting. Before I was pregnant and nesting was a thing, I nested. Whether it was a room at uni (I once gave up my last week of summer holidays to paint my uni room and make homemade candle holders for the house), a bedroom at home or – now – my very own house. The surroundings I live in have always been a huge part of what makes me happy.

That love later became a job, where I wrote for interiors magazines alongside parenting ones, and ran an interiors blog, as well as this one. But earlier this year I found myself losing the love of writing about cushions. This doesn’t mean I lost the love of cushions altogether though…

We all have different ways to give ourselves a hug. It might be a bath, an early night with a book, a kind word when you look in the mirror. For me, I’ve noticed a huge pull in wanting to nest in the run-up to winter. So, this year, I went into nesting overdrive and we redecorated our open-plan living and dining room.

This is not a before and after post (but if you want to see what it looked like before there are some pictures here). I’m not going to detail where I bought everything or what colour I painted the walls (although I’m happy to tell you if you ask!). I simply wanted to share a few photos I snapped yesterday in order to remember what my house looked like at Christmas 2018 in years to come.

My theme is bright, bold and blue. I wanted the rooms to feel cosy but vibrant, pulling in fun pops of pink to counter-act the grey outside at this time of year. It’s a really comforting space to chill out in and I can’t wait to sit around and eat a load of cheese in here over Christmas.

If you’re thinking of a room makeover for the new year then my biggest piece of advice is to experiment with colour. Don’t be afraid to try something new – if you don’t like it you can just paint over it again! There’s a certain confidence from choosing a colour and running with it, and a huge satisfaction in sitting back and enjoying it when the palette works out.

While I’m here, I wanted to say a big old thank you for reading, commenting, sharing and liking this year. I’ve had an amazing year – huge, really – and I know there’ve been some big changes in my style of content so whether you’re an old reader who’s stuck around or a new one who’s found me recently then thank you for being here.

2019 is going to be an even bigger year and I’m so excited to share more projects that I’ve been working on behind the scenes, to inspire, empower and hopefully bring some joy to people. Keep an eye out for details soon.

In the meantime, tickets went on sale earlier this week for an exciting, gorgeous, very lovely event called The Confidence Lab which I’m hosting with my pal Charlie. We’ve got some amazing speakers, plus there’ll be cake, fizz and a goody bag. It’s in a beautiful venue near Brick Lane in London in February and you can read full details and buy tickets here. I hope to see you there!

Have a wonderful Christmas and I’ll see you all in 2019. xx

Filed Under: Interiors, SELF LOVE & BODY IMAGE Tagged With: confidence, home decor, home makeover, interiors, self-love

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Hello and welcome! I'm Molly Forbes - podcaster, presenter and blogger with a passion for positivity, confidence and body image chat. Regularly writing and vlogging about empowering female issues from a motherhood angle, I also cover lifestyle and fashion topics for like-minded mums who want to rediscover themselves after having children. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…

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My body is good and excellent and my body only bel My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me ✨ (Words by Effie May, age 6 💕) #BodyHappyMum
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Image description: A close up of Molly’s bare skin as she hugs herself. It’s dark and part of her body is illuminated by light. She has her eyes closed and is smiling.
“Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. “Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. And my heart swelled. Maybe I’m doing an OK job after all 🤞❤️💕 #BodyHappyKids 
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I could leave this caption here but I need to make something clear: if you think it’s great that my daughter - a thin, white, nondisabled, cisgender kid - feels good in her body but you’re not here for the self-love of any kid who doesn’t look like her.... then you’ve missed the point.
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ALL bodies are good bodies, and without this important piece of the puzzle ALL children will be at risk of doubting their body. And what happens when they doubt their body? Well... hating our body doesn’t make us treat it with love, and the same is true of kids. 
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Great, now we’ve cleared that up, can we take a moment to appreciate the incredible phonetic spelling on show here?! 
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Image description: Effie, age 6, stands against a white wardrobe holding up a letter she has written to herself. It is spelled phonetically and reads “My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me.”
I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I ha I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I had any spare cash - not just treats, but basics like pants and tights that fit properly. I’d tell myself I didn’t need it, didn’t deserve it, couldn’t justify the expense. There’s still that little voice (the habit of putting everyone else’s needs first and my own last dies hard it seems) but I’m leaning into exploring why it still sometimes rears its head, instead of always listening to it. 
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I’m trying to buy as much as I can from pre-loved places or small businesses these days, which is why I’m very happy to share with you some of my latest finds: a star dress from Depop (£5), earrings from @kelzojewellery by @ourtransitionallife (£12) and the comfiest tights I’ve ever owned in Raspberry Pie by @snagtights (£6.99) 💕💕💕
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Have you found any great small brands lately? Shout them out in the comments so we can all support in the run up to Christmas. ⬇️⚡️
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Image description: Molly is smiling and sticking out her tongue to the camera. Her hair is freshly dyed a light shade of pink. She’s wearing a pink t’shirt underneath a black and white star patterned slip dress, with bright pink tights and black and pink earrings decorated with a boob design.
This is what teaching kids to idolise thinness and This is what teaching kids to idolise thinness and fear fatness looks like and it hurts my heart 💔
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This is what happens when we only give children a very narrow representation of what health / beauty / success / happiness looks like, and when we don’t incorporate mental health into conversations about health. The body image, self-esteem and wellbeing of children suffers. And it IS suffering.
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Last week @Childline_official launched their #NobodyIsNormal campaign and released figures showing they’ve run 43,000 counselling sessions for children since the first UK lockdown earlier this year. These are quotes from children they spoke to, showing that low self-esteem is a major issue for many of the kids they’ve been in touch with. 
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Head to their page for more information and resources, and to see their fantastic video. It’s a great way to open up a conversation about mental health and self-esteem with the children in your care. 
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If you’re a teacher or youth leader looking for ways to create body happy settings so the kids in your care can thrive then we’ve opened up booking on the final two #BodyHappyKids workshops of 2020. I’ll be leading these myself and you can book via the link in my bio. 
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It really doesn’t have to be this way ✨
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Image description: a series of slides showing quotes from ChildLine. Full text can be found in Alt Text.
I was at my desk all weekend so here’s a throwba I was at my desk all weekend so here’s a throwback to September when we hiked along part of the South West coast path and discovered three new beaches. I miss the outside. 
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This post is dedicated to anyone who says opting out of diet culture and a weight-focused health narrative means you automatically won’t move your body. Actually, the opposite is true. 
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Research shows exercising for intrinsic reasons (how we feel) is more likely to lead to consistent movement than if we do it for extrinsic reasons (how we look). 
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There’s so much research on this subject and about why diet culture and weight stigma is harmful. Suffice to say if you’ve not read the research, or any books, or listened to any podcasts, or even read the captions of some of the amazing people educating about this subject then you won’t know it all... despite what you learned at school or what your own unexamined internalised bias is telling you, or what the newspaper headlines say. 
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If you’re interested in learning more about this stuff there are lots of resources in the link in my bio, but for fitness specifically I recommend following @emmafitnessphd @tallyrye @thephitcoach & @amysnellingpt for starters and also check out @drjoshuawolrich recent post on this subject too ✨ #JoyfulMovement #BodyHappyKids
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Image Description: Molly and her two daughters on a beach, smiling. They wear hiking boots and Molly is wearing purple leopard print leggings and a neon yellow jumper. The sky is blue and the sun is shining.
Did you know the same area of the brain lights up Did you know the same area of the brain lights up when we experience the pain of social rejection as when we experience physical pain? True fact. Which is why I think 
it’s wild we spend so much energy in kids’ health education on nutrition (or “good food and bad food” as is so often the case) and so little on prepping them with the skills to navigate social media in a positive way. 🧐
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Social media can be a great thing, but it can also be a scary and anxiety-inducing place too (watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix for more on this!). We’re having conversations with children about the dangers of sugar but not even touching on the dangers of social media and the impact it can have on health (because mental health is health too FYI). 
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I’m a 37 year old woman and social media still messes with my head. What chance has a tween got? 
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I could lie and say that I always take the “other people’s opinion of me is none of my business” approach but the truth is I’m a sensitive people-pleaser so when I experience negativity online it stings. 
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I don’t read hate forums and am quick to block trolls, but that doesn’t mean this stuff has no impact. 
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I had a conversation with my pal @jskychat that helped me through a difficult phase recently, and I’ve shared the tweets that started it off in case they’re helpful for you too. I think Jsky should be brought in by the government to help design a PSHE social media lesson for the curriculum to be honest, but that’s a fight for another day. ❤️
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In the meantime, I’m teaching my kids the affirmation that “Their opinion is not my truth”, which works well in all life but seems particularly apt when it comes to social media.
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[Image description: Molly’s hand covers her face. On her hand are written the words “Their opinion isn’t my truth.” She is smiling. Full description of second slide in Alt Text.]
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