Today is #pinkshirtday in support of anti-bullying. I love sharing the origin story of this day because it makes me so happy to hear that there are good supportive peeps out there.
Pink Shirt Day began in Nova Scotia (Canada) in 2007 when two Year 12 students took a stand against bullying after a Year 9 student was harassed and threatened for wearing pink. These students bought dozens of pink shirts and distributed them to their classmates to wear the next day. As they stood in the foyer handing out the shirts, the bullied boy walked in. His face spoke volumes!
Reading that last bit gets me every time 😭 I can just feel the love that boy must have felt in that moment. Support is everything!
Ten years before this young boy was being bullied…so was I.
I was picked on by the ‘cool kids’ for having no-name runners and last decade’s gym pants. Boys told me to wear makeup, grow my hair and be more of a girl…because no-one would fancy me like {that}! Even my friends would ‘forget’ to meet me for lunch…or laugh at me for rolling up the waist band on my school skirt (which I only did because I wasn’t fortunate enough to have one that fit me properly). I was tormented for being poor…and rich. I was ridiculed for being fat…and skinny!
Despite all that, and the fact that I was afraid to stand out (to be different) I did it anyway…because that is who I wanted to be.
I didn’t need designer names to look or feel nice. I didn’t want to wear a dress, because at that time, I was a tom-boy farm girl and dresses are just not practical tree-climbing clothes! I wanted to eat whatever my heart desired, whether it be half a salad or an entire chocolate cake.
Although I allowed the bullies to strip away my confidence as I retreated into the shadows, I didn’t stay there. I found ways to be me with confidence!
I didn’t have school kids standing up for me…and rolling up their skirts in support…but I did have my family. They didn’t even know that I was being bullied, but their love at home was enough for me to escape from the crappiness that was happening at school.
I now aspire to pay that forward and be the support for others, because everyone deserves to feel heard, wanted and loved. You just have to remember that {this} is only temporary and there is always a way it. I would love to help whoever I can to find that way!
Have you ever experienced bullying?
I would love to hear your story (comment below) and give you a big virtual squish 🤗
