SPOTLIGHT: Haley Weaver (@haleydrewthis)
We know self love means different things to everyone, it may be a face mask here, or an extra slice of cake there, so we spoke to Haley Weaver, @haleydrewthis, to see what self love is for her and how she expresses it through her work and life as an illustrator.
Specialising in digital art, or more specifically her own take on the comic style, the insanely talented DC-based illustrator set her initial goal of creating and sharing an illustration, aiming to do so for a year, but as she told us “[she] never stopped!” Since 2017, she has amassed over 300,000 Instagram followers, and rightfully so!
We asked Haley what inspired her to create her account and begin sharing her designs and illustrations. “I began sharing my illustrations on Instagram in January 2017, during a tumultuous, dark time in both my personal life and the United States — in fact, I started the account the day after Trump’s inauguration.”
Inspiration can come from anywhere for Haley, telling us that at first, she was sharing “illustrations that were about my feelings and life” with a heap of her earliest comics sharing some of her dating misfortunes (we feel her there), along with her journey of self discovery, and tales of celebrating friendship.
Haley also shared with us that “more recently, [she] finds [herself] creating work centred around human rights issues and mental health. Typically, it's whatever I'm thinking about most at the moment.” Haley shared an illustration for IWD featuring our Rose 2 and the importance of self love and self pleasure, because as she said, we totally deserve it!
Haley gave us a golden nugget of insight into what it takes to be a creative starting off their career. “Please, please, please: don’t compare yourself to others!” So much easier said than done but Haley 100% has a point here. This is something we’ve all struggled with and it always helps hearing others speak up too! She also went on to tell us to not “spend too much time worrying about how many people are interacting with it — but at its root, it should be something you do because you love it. Also, practice often. Be kind to yourself.” It felt like we were listening to a sister tell us the ways of the world and how to be our best self, and we loved it!
Lastly, our most burning question for Haley was what does #MoreSelfLove mean to her. Brace yourself, everyone, this one is a great answer…“When I think about self love, I think about acceptance. Instead of nit-picking my appearance or my accomplishments or how I acted at that party one time, it’s flicking those thoughts away, and knowing I am doing the best I can — and feeling at peace with that.” Okay yes, we love that! Haley also told us that she “feels [it’s] important to take a step back and identify ways I can love myself without this idea that self love has to be rooted in self improvement.” Yes yes yes and yes again, you’ve read our mind, Haley.
The world is full of inspirational and motivational babes and Haley is just one of them.
Feeling full of self love? Share the love and follow Haley at @haleydrewthis on Instagram and shop the Rose 2 here.
