Erin McKelle

Erin McKelle

Bio

Erin McKelle is a feminist blogger, social media consultant, and body positive fashionista who is currently living nomadically (i.e. traveling the world). She is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and has a BA from Ohio University. When she's not writing, you can usually find her whipping up a vegan dish in the kitchen, creating an art project, or reading a book in bed.

Erin McKelle Articles

Internally, I have a habit of believing that all relationships will end in destruction.

Are You Repeating Relationship Patterns? Mindfulness Can Get You Unstuck!

Staying in the present moment has been shown to have many positive benefits for your health and well-being, so it's no surprise that mindfulness has become such a popular practice.

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This idea that I need to be perfect all of the time, at everything I do, is something contained deep within my psyche.

Why I'm Done Pretending I Have It All Together

I’ve said I was “good,” “fine,” or “doing well” after crying for hours, lying in bed all day with no motivation, and even experiencing suicidal ideation. My worst days are when the temptation to mask my pain with a smile is the strongest.

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Society would rather pretend that the word — and probably cunts themselves — don't exist. Image: Thinkstock.

Why I Think It's Important To Reclaim The Word 'C*nt'

That’s exactly the spirit that word should embody: someone who is loud, proud, and an advocate for themselves. Someone who stands out and is bold and beautiful for it. Someone who is unapologetically themselves.

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Get. It. Girl.

Workout Tips For Fat Chicks

Just like you might find it difficult to fly while fat, going to the gym can also be a terrible experience to endure while fat. This is one of my favorite points to make when people justify their fatphobia with “I’m just concerned about their health.”

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To make it work with methods that aren’t as conventional or effective (which most nonhormonal methods are not), you have to make a game plan and stick to it.

Navigating Contraception When You Have Mental Illness

I began to see my mental health go completely downhill. This led me to seek out a psychiatrist, who raised an interesting concern: she thought my birth control was messing with my depression. It’s not like I hadn’t been aware of the link between hormonal contraception and depression before, but it never occurred to me that these two personal realities could be connected.

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Self-help: Not always hokey!

5 Self-Help Books That Are Actually Helpful

Many books in the self-help genre are either hokey or just plain scams. However, thanks to my perseverance and voracious reading, I've discovered there are self-help books out there that can transform your life and thinking in powerful ways and I’ve rounded up a list of my 5 all-time faves.

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There is no shame in taking medication

After 5 Years, I've Decided To Go Back On Antidepressants

My fears of dependence were so potent that I decided to quit meds for good. Though I didn’t just throw away mental healthcare, mind you, since I had been, and planned on continuing to go, to weekly therapy sessions. I wanted to find other ways to manage my mental illness without popping pills on the daily.

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Let's go.

The Upsides And Downsides Of Living A Nomadic Life

I’ve decided to give up any sort of permanent living space in favor of using my money to travel and see the world. The only things I have with me are the things I can literally carry on my back, which includes my purse, a carry-on bag, and two suitcases.

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How much sex you have has nothing to do with how sexually empowered you are.

My Most Sexually Empowering Choice? Not Having Sex

There’s nothing worse than taking a pregnancy test when you don’t want to be pregnant.

It’s especially bad when you don’t know who the father is.

Last year, this is the exact situation I found myself in: 23, single, not on contraception, and with a late period. I was nothing short of panicked.

After finding the least expensive test that CVS carried (by the way, can we talk about how expensive pregnancy tests are?!), I went home to find out my fate. After locking myself in the bathroom, I turned the shower on to drown out the noise of my thoughts. I waited five minutes and then peered at the stick, leaning as far away from the sink as possible in case it showed two lines.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw one clear line on the screen.

I quickly tossed the test in the trash, turned off the shower, and hopped in bed with a bottle of cabernet.

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Photo by Geoffrey Arduini on Unsplash

I Woke Up At 6 AM For A Week & Here's What Happened

I decided to experiment. I would set my alarm and get up at 6 AM (or earlier) for seven days straight, no matter what.

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