Vancouver Neighbours: Ella Sinclair

Jan 19 2017, 9:44 am

Vancouver Neighbours is an exclusive Daily Hive Vancouver feature in collaboration with award-winning photographer, Matthew Chen, celebrating the diverse individuals that make up our community, one story at a time.


Meet Ella Sinclair. an interior designer and artist based in Vancouver. She can be found working at her favourite cafes or walking the beach (when the weather’s nice out). When it’s raining, her guilty pleasure it bundling up and watching Netflix.

Image: Matthew Chen Photography

Image: Matthew Chen Photography

“I remember as a child always feeling happy, joyous in fact. And then puberty hit me like a tidal wave. My body changed, my emotions changed, my view of myself changed and a stranger stared back at me from the mirror. Almost overnight the person that I had been, the person that I had known, was gone. I was alone, even from myself, not knowing how to cope. Until I entered my 20s, anorexia ruled and ruined my life; and strangely maybe it saved me too. It was about control, perfection, and ultimately numbed me from my new reality; almost emotional Novocain. In order to survive some of the most difficult traumas, we often must turn off our hearts.”

Image: Matthew Chen Photography

Image: Matthew Chen Photography

“I choose not to despise the hell I have been through. I needed the lessons. My greatest strengths are a direct result of having gone through the most painful experiences. Life now surprises me by how much is possible. When you choose to think positively, to believe in yourself, to take a risk even if you don’t know the outcome, it is well worth it. We are always looking for the differences in each other, rather than the similarities we share as human beings.”

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