With as large of a following that Brooke Blurton has, it’s inspiring to watch her use this platform to uplift diverse communities and enact positive change for mental health and the future of young people in Australia.
A proud Noongar-Yamatji woman, a youth work and mental health advocate, Blurton is also co-host of the podcast Not So PG and author of the memoir titled, Big Love: Reclaiming Myself, My People, My Country.
A media personality as well, Blurton made giant waves in for representation in Australian media by being both the first Indigenous and openly queer lead in The Bachelorette franchise.
In our latest podcast episode of The Crux, Blurton chats with Women’s Agenda about using her advantage of being in the public eye to amplify positive social change following a live coaching session she undertook to unpack what responsibility looked like for herself on an episode of Kemi Nekvapil’s new Audible original podcast, Power Talks.
“I think, with social media and being part of the media, and being part of television, it’s really easy to get so wrapped up in it and, I guess, sort of forget and move away from what you wanted to achieve in this world,” says Blurton.
“I’m really lucky, in a more cultural sense, that my culture is a gift and I have been gifted it and I feel so beautiful and blessed to share my culture around. It always sort of comes to a full front and leads charge with anything that I do. Naturally in life, I feel like we should live in alignment,” she says, adding that it’s important to reflect on what our purpose is.
“I think I always sort of revert back to why I would be doing something and does it bring me joy? Does it share or educate people on something? Is it something that I feel passionate about? I always sort of ask myself a few other questions of why I do some things. I think that kind of helps with reflecting and then going back and being like, ‘Yes, this is a part of me and who I am.’”
While being in the public eye and having such a large social media following has meant Blurton can advocate for causes she’s passionate about, the spotlight unfortunately isn’t without online trolls.
Blurton says that while the trolls can “cut deep at different times”, she is also constantly reminding herself to ask, “Is there a learning here? Is there an educated response here? Or is it a matter of just realising that these people who want to write these comments, they’re just hiding behind the keyboard at the end of the day?”
“It’s definitely a muscle that I’ve worked on for a very long time to build myself up to be able to pull away and lean in when I need that support,” she says.
“I’ve always just been very transparent with my mental health because I think that there’s an urgency with it, there’s an importance to it, and there’s a priority to it.”
When it comes to social media, Blurton says it’s important we ask ourselves how we would live our lives if it was to disappear because at the end of the day, “it’s just an app”.
“If it was to go tomorrow, how would we actually live our life and would we be living in abundance? Would we be living a wholesome enjoyable life? Could we do that without it? I think that’s more important.”
“Yes, it’s part of my job and I do enjoy it. I do love it most times, but at the times when my mental health and my self-esteem are being impacted, I do an elimination process. That elimination is eliminating what’s bringing me distress or what’s bringing me stress and discouragement. I think social media is one of them, and that’s probably the first to go.”
“I’m not superhuman. I’m actually just a real human that navigates emotions, feelings, and situations. I’m navigating my lived experience as well. I think it’s a nice reminder to people that not everyone is just living a highlight reel.”
For any young people struggling with the pressures of social media, Blurton’s message is to “try to live in the present moment and try to live out all types of experiences”.
“I think we’re just so stuck and drawn to our phones these days, and when it comes to self-esteem and building yourself up, try not to be anything that you’re not and always stick and stay in alignment with who you want to be and who you are. I think that will drive your life to where you’re going, whatever your purpose is really.”
Listen to our latest podcast episode featuring an interview with Brooke Blurton.