Week five
April 29th through the May 5th
"Being different isn't a bad thing. It means you're brave enough to be yourself."
Another week, another portrait :)
This is one I’ve been particularly excited about. As a child of the early 90s, I grew up with and came to dearly love the Harry Potter series. One of my favorite characters was always Luna Lovegood. I admired she was quirky and brave and didn’t care what people thought of her. Luna was purely free to be herself, and that is something I craved as a young adult.
I came to love the actress Evanna Lynch, who portrays Luna in the movies as well after learning that she struggled with an eating disorder.
The star explained that her eating disorder started at a young age and began as a means of 'control' and "a coping mechanism". She explained that it made her feel "tired, obsessed" and "like I lost myself," adding that she "lost my personality".
Seeing some overcome their eating disorder gave me the strength to tackle my own. Having a sort of role model really helped in my mental struggle with learning not to punish my body just for doing its job.
"Luna Lovegood was a very positive influence on my life," she said, calling the witch "so still and self accepting". She also shared how the role helped her to further overcome her disorder, recalling how her parents explained to her that she could potentially lose the role unless she stayed focused on her health.
