The definition of The Thirlby

People often ask me the meaning of Thirlby. There is no definition, it’s simply a name. I chose it in my initial venture into blogging through my tumblr at the wee age of fourteen. It was and still is a curation of all that I find aesthetically pleasing. I love Thirlby precisely because it is definition-less — a name that exists simply in its letters. It’s whimsical, beautiful, tuneful. It sounds like twirling — who doesn’t love the pure joy of that? So, Thirlby has become all that is beautiful in its simple and inexplicable state. That is what I try to cultivate within my life — to find beauty and live within it without having to define or explain it in any way: simply absorbing, being, and appreciating the moment.

The Mission of The Thirlby

We believe that our generation is buying into the wrong idea of wellness . . .

Health has become a way to profit from Millennial FOMO, our generation’s insecurities around our bodies and desirability. We’re promised success through buying trendy wellness products. And the price has become just as costly as high fashion. Fashion can have its highs and lows, but health is our birthright.

Wellness isn't just for white, 20-something women. It's for the Black, Asian, Indigenous, Latinx, immigrant, straight and LGBTQAI2S+. It lives in the youth watching us and the older generation that raised us. 

Wellness needs to be accessible beyond isolated, privileged goods. Yet it’s not a phenomenon exclusive to wellness. The late Ursula Le Guin said “hard times are coming” and we need those who “can remember freedom . . . poets, the realists of a larger reality.” Those poets are blue collar workers, veterans battling PTSD, unemployed young mothers, teenagers questioning their gender, and immigrants building the nation’s future.

Wellness has social determinants and it’s more than just what works for the individual who can afford it. It’s time we take wellness and self-care into social-care for me, you, and all.