**All photos and videos in this blog post do not belong to me, credit goes to Mikayla for all of the pictures**
Continuing on with my People Who Inspire Me series, I am going to be talking about why Mikayla Oelschlegel inspires me. Mikayla is many things, she is a YouTuber, currently on a break to take care of herself and work on becoming a better content creator. I will say, I may be misinterpreting this, so if you would like to find out why, the video is on her channel; the link to all her social media platforms are at the bottom of this blog post. Not only is Mikayla a YouTuber, she is also a writer/blogger and a photographer. She is a very sweet, passionate about her work, incredibly supportive, authentic, honest, a fantastic content creator, loving, and a truly amazing person.
Mikayla inspires me because of how open she is about things, like her mental health for example. She is not afraid to say when she is having a bad day or when she is having a good day; or when she’s okay and not okay. And she has people who will support her, and make sure she is alright. The support her friends and family give her, she gives the same support back to them. Talking about mental health shouldn’t be something that is shamed upon or be feared or whatever. People should be able to talk about it and be supported and understand and not shamed or treated in a bad way because of it. I am very happy for Mikayla that she feels comfortable talking about and being so open with her mental health, and that she has people who will support her and make sure she knows that she is loved and appreciated. And I hope everyone is able to have that in their lives if they don’t. I linked some videos from Mikayla’s channel that have her explaining why she is so open about her mental health and things like that.
Below are pictures and the caption from an Instagram post on Mikayla's account that she posted on World Mental Health Day that I felt related very well to her being open about her mental health:
"The first photo is exponentially different than the last one, and every one before it. The last one was taken on a whim on a very rough mental health day. A day that is still considered a dark day in my mind. The first photo was taken on a very good day. A day that the sun might not have been shining but it was the brightest I had felt in a while. I had been through a rough patch in September and for the first time, I saw it getting better. Every single photo in between are important too in regards to what they stand for: my best friend’s wedding, the day I started to really know that my last job was not safe for me mental health wise, the first weekend after my new job and realizing that my heart was lighter and I was happier, the day before the trip that would eventually change my perspective, the trip that taught me what I wanted to do (plus I just really wanted to sneak that cute photo op and dog in somewhere). But what all these photos have in common is that when I felt my anxiety and depression acting up, I could talk to someone about it. I could talk to my best friends, to my family, to my roommates. I could make a video on my YouTube channel and get an enormous amount of support. I could spread freely about my own #mentalhealth and in turn help others accept theirs. I’m one of the lucky ones that when I start feeling bad, I can open up about what I’m feeling and won’t get shut down because people are scared. Today is #worldmentalhealthday and it is my firm opinion that it should be every day that we get to talk open and be honest about this. I’m raw and honest about what I’m facing because I am so tired of hearing the stigma that people with mental illnesses are “crazy”. In an article titled ‘Why You Should Pay Attention To World Mental Health Day,’ Forbes.com posted today, the writer said "Plus when others share that ultimately, behind the scenes there are both up /and/ down days, it reiterated that we really are all simply human. Doing the best we can." And I think that perfectly describes. We are all human. We all feel things."
Mikayla inspires me because of the phenomenal photography skills she has. I've always been interested in photography and have a lot of people who inspire me to continue to do photography and grow on my skills. I am happy to say, that Mikayla is definitely someone who constantly inspires me with the fantastic photos they take and what they can do. It can be hard to be a photographer and put your work out online, what people will say, will they like it or not. People taking your pictures, cropping out your watermarks, and posting it online claiming it as their own or posting without the owner's permission. It's wrong to do that, and not only photographers have this problem, but all artists also do. But they don't let that stop them, and I am eager to see what new things Mikayla comes up with and to see her skills as a photographer grow and to continue inspiring me with what she does by just being herself. And hey, maybe one day she will become a famous photographer and everyone will know her name. Here are some of my favourite pictures that she has taken (follow her photography accounts, linked at the end of the post):
Mikayla inspires me not only because of her fabulous photography skills but also because of her amazing writing abilities. Like photography, I've always had an interest in writing; but I kept it to myself. I had ideas in my head but never acted upon them. So starting this blog, was a huge step for me. And one of the reasons, one of the main reasons, was because of Mikayla's own blog and the writing she does on there. She writes such beautiful, fascinating, intriguing, well-written pieces of work, and that inspired me to try writing some more and posting it online. With writing and publishing it online, it comes with the same risks as publishing photography. But Mikayla keeps doing it, and I want to as well. Something Mikayla does really well, that I think is a great quality to have, is to be able to balance everything she has in her life: work, writing, photography, youtube (even though she is on a break as of right now), family, life, etc. To be able to do all of those things, and still create each thing with such high quality and excellence, is truly amazing, and so inspiring to me.
Mikayla inspires me because of how supportive she is, I said this earlier that she supports people in her life who need it just like they support her. But she also gives lots of support to her family. Her little brother, Cody, has Down Syndrome. So she, and her family, give him lots of support and love. They are on #TeamCody continue to provide support and awareness to him and Down Syndrome awareness in the world. Which is amazing and yes very inspiring (I'm gonna use this world a lot, already have). She not only supports her little brother Cody but all of her other little siblings. She supports them, and is a role model for them, and probably like me, she inspires them constantly. I know being a little sibling myself, when we're young, our role models are usually our older siblings. Because they take care of us and show us the ropes and love us unconditionally even when we're being really annoying and driving them crazy.
This is why Mikayla inspires me, because she is an amazing person, a great content creator with youtube, photography, writing, and because she is so supportive and a great big sister. I would highly recommend that you go check out all of Mikayla’s stuff, even her YouTube channel while she is on break. I have linked everything down below, so go check them all out. Also on the day of posting this, it is Mikayla's birthday. So if you could go wish her a happy birthday, that'd be amazing.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKAYLA!! ❤️ ❤️❤️
Social Media:
Instagram: @modernlymik
Twitter: @modernlymik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oelschlegel1
Website: https://www.modernlymik.com/
Photography Accounts:
Instagram: @oelschlegelphotography (photography account)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OelschlegelPhotography/ (photography page)
Social Media:
Instagram: @modernlymik
Twitter: @modernlymik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oelschlegel1
Website: https://www.modernlymik.com/
Some of my favourite videos from Mikayla's YouTube channel: