What Recovery Means to Nicola
What Recovery Means to Nicola
"LIFE comes first now."
We're gathering stories from the SWEDA community and beyond, inspired by the prompt #WhatRecoveryMeansToMe. We’re building this series as a resource: something for people affected by eating disorders to read, that can support them and inspire hope, or just hear that they are not alone. We also want to raise awareness about how recovery is not a fixed or 'one size fits all' concept: it's something unique to each person and their own hopes for a life in recovery from disordered eating.
Nicola Davis, a local artist with lived experience, shares her reflections:
"When I was asked to contribute to the #WhatRecoveryMeansToMe project, I opened a word document and then… The page was left blank for weeks!
Image: a screenshot Nicola's blank page in Microsoft Word
I had been so distracted with life... From ice skating, to new projects, paintings and workshops for my art business, cozy evenings with my boyfriend, making crafts with my art group, practising French, daytime clubbing, pottery painting and parties with my best friends and adventures and snuggles with my dog.
There just wasn’t the time in the day to sit down and write about my recovery...
After mulling it over for some time, I realised my answer had been living in plain sight all along:
Recovery is having a life so full, that anorexia is at the bottom of my to-do list.
And that is it. Anorexia has been demoted, and LIFE comes first now."
Nicola now shares about her life in recovery on her Instagram page, @supersweetrecovery and, she shares the art that fills up her life now through @nicoladaviscrafts.
