Name: Mattie

Social Media Handle/Username: basicmattie

Introduce Yourself/Tell About Yourself: I am mattie, 19 years old. I born in and raised in the Southern Africa, studied my early and late grades there and later on moved to canada where I currently reside.

throughout my childhood I felt like i was an outcast, reason being that I wasn’t doing what other people from my “gender” were doing at that particular period. Most of the time I was mocked about how I spoke/ how my vocabulary was more “feminine”. Things like these led me to having a low self esteem and one thing less to another I lost my father whom I dearly loved, I only wished he knew that and I wish I spent more time with him. Couple of years later I felt depressed and felt angry at myself, one thing led to the other I started contemplating about negative things and i felt like i was useless and thoughts of suicide dwelled in my mind and currently still do. The hardest phase in my life was during 2020 when I lost one of the closest person in my life (my grandma), she was the person that was there for me and taught me numerous things about life, her death has led to more depression/ptsd including anxiety. I still ask myself “why me? of all people why me?” but there’s nothing one can actually, not even therapy can help but day by day I try to may other people smile and laugh. All these struggles I’ve experienced throughout my life have led me to not believing In “love” and other stuff, it is sad but it was pretty much inevitable to happen I think.

What Inspires You Every day? : I’m inspired by many things to be honest, but to point out the specific things I’m pretty sure that I’m inspired by God, mostly the philosophy of nature, Poetry and fascinating stories from other people.

What is some words of wisdom you live by?: No matter how hard life is, always put on a smile because your smile can symbolicalise HOPE for some people

What is your ultimate goal in life? : Financial Stability, Happiness & helping as many people as I can.

How have you been during the pandemic and how has it affected you? : during the pandemic I’ve been very much mentally drained due to some events that have happened throughout the time, But tbh living through the pandemic opened my mind and allowed me to see different ways of earning extra incomes from various sources.

What is a message you would like to give others? : Invest in yourself first before you involve a second/third party in your life. Never ever doubt your capabilities, SPEAK TO SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS YOU.

What else would you like to tell others about you or your life?: I’m on a mission to better myself and recover from depression.