Instagram story viewer> @sydvanlove> Posts

Sydney Van Love

@sydvanlove

698

followers

3310

following

✨so many feelings✨
overdramatic empath • figuring it out
healing+becoming, zero filter
survived mold ✍️ writing the book

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Writers Write. I write obsessively on the daily, so I figured it was time to stop being so precious about it all and start sharing my messy, creative spirit — after all, it is who I am and who I've always been.

p.s. Some of what I share may have a melancholy or dark nature from time to time, but I promise it reflects where I've been, not where I am, so there's no need to worry. XO, Syd 💋

#writersofinstagram #writersofig #writer #writerscommunity #create #write #creative #healingjourney #writerswrite #writing taken in Seattle, Washington by @sydvanlove

238

3

2 years ago

The wait is over!! Thank You to everyone who followed along on the road and gave us endless joy & laughter with all your guesses. #home #relocating #relocation #newbeginnings #newadventures #love by @sydvanlove

40

15

3 years ago

Pushing all those self-limiting beliefs & doubts to the side and jumping into the new week with unrelenting optimism.

It can be hard staying positive during challenging times. My own healing journey has helped remind me that our own thoughts have the power to create healing or dis-ease in the body. I’m choosing radical self love & healing this week and I’m here to remind you - speak to yourself with kindness & love this week, because you deserve it. Let’s slay this week with laughter & love my darlings.

*Fun Fact: less than 10 mins after this photo was taken I had to hide behind the car, squat, pull my bathing suit to the side and tinkle. Just a reminder that real life still happens on Instagram. 😂
. . . . . . .
#newweek #newweeknewgoals #freshstart #radicalselflove #optimism #pushawayselfdoubt #selflove #selfdoubt #limitingbeliefs #mentalhealth #healingjourney #healing #love #life #laughter #california #bigbear #bigbearlake #mammoth #lakearrowhead #sanbernardino #danceitout #chooselove #loveyourself #loveyourselfnow #keepgoing #flashback #muchlatergram taken in San Bernardino Mountains by @sydvanlove

25

8

5 years ago

Last weekend Dave and I celebrated 25 years together.

It feels equal parts insane because we're still 30 years old 😜 and equal parts magical because it feels way longer than 25 years, but like in a good way. 🤣

25 years is a long ass time.

When I look back at those two college kids meeting while learning choreography for an IBA act and falling in love damn near immediately, I feel as though I’m rewatching my favorite classic romcom.

We were like magnets, chocolate + peanut butter, sports fans + screaming — inevitable. And what adventures those two young lovebirds had ahead of them.

For 25 years we've chosen each other on the easiest of days and, more importantly, on the hardest, sloggiest, stress-ridden, obstacle-laden days.

We had a day vibrating with giggles and teary choruses of “Oh my gosh, I haven't seen this photo in forever! Remember this?” as we looked through old photos spanning the last 25 years.

So, to commemorate 25, here’s a photo from every year we've been a we, an us, a set, a duo.

I still can't believe we have a photo from the night our flirting culminated in our very first kiss. The night that changed everything. What a treasure from a time when cameras weren't phones and one-hour photo was a regular haunt.

Life is often marked in before and afters and for me, there is before 10.10.01 and after, and I am forever grateful to be living in that after.

#anniversary #bestfriends #couplelove #flashback by @sydvanlove

16

1

6 days ago

I've been teetering between overconsuming this news cycle and completely avoiding socials altogether. And I’ve felt mixed up about it. So I figured some of you might feel mixed up by it too.

Between the Epstein Files, the Cornell 7, the United flight, and well, gestures everywhere, it's been an incredibly triggering news cycle for survivors.

On one hand, I want to rage and scream and jump onto a stage with a bullhorn shouting sexual assault stats and how since SA is one of the most underreported crimes, it's most likely waaaay more than 1 in 3. And how if you're a man and you don't know any woman who has been a victim of the violence of men, you just don't know any women who trust you enough to tell you.

On the other hand, I want to cocoon under a blanket and pretend I’m shocked by the news of the Cornell 7. Spoiler Alert: I’m not shocked. At. All.

So, my loves, my ladies, my sisters, these words are for you, especially if you're feeling overwhelmed and suffocated by this particular news cycle. Pass your baton, someone will carry it until you feel ready to pick it up again.

I love you. I see you.

#cornell #survivors #sexualassault #mentalhealth #madwoman by @sydvanlove

23

3

18 days ago

I don't need to do the ChatGPT trending '80s challenge because I lived the teased bangs and neon extravaganza myself.

So, this Throwback Thursday is in honor of the younger eighties technicolor Syd. I didn't feel it at the time, but looking back, she was kinda rad and fabulous.

#throwback #throwbackthursday #80s #80strend by @sydvanlove

13

4

a month ago

I've been trying for three weeks to find the words.

Today, as we try to celebrate her 11th birthday without her here to revel in the joy, I tried my best to adequately articulate how magical she was, and how much we loved our sweet Beckalicious. Sigh, we miss her.

#cat #petloss #petgrief #love #loveandloss by @sydvanlove

16

8

2 months ago

My entire life, journaling has been where I turn when I need to make sense of my life.

Lately, I've been wondering what it'd look like if some of my rambling coffee-stained aged pages lived out in the open instead of smothered, hidden on bookshelves.

And so today, when I stumbled onto these words written by a past version of me, I had a feeling I wasn't the only one who has ever wondered, "Have I already done something for the last time and not even know it?"

Have you ever felt like the carousel never stops?

🖤 Syd, Feeler-in-Chief

#somanyfeelings #writer #journalentry #refelction #healingjourney taken in Seattle, Washington by @sydvanlove

1

2

3 months ago

I've started wondering if nostalgia is just the parts of our soul we've thrown away whispering to us, “Come back to yourself. Don't forget who you are.”

I spent the last week trying to figure out the perfect way to marry old memories with new words.

I've been visiting old versions of myself and rediscovering myself in the process.

So…welcome to The Archives.

I'm becoming my own little Indiana Jones, excavating and exploring the ruins of my life.

What version of yourself have you been thinking about lately? What has your version of Indiana excavated recently? I'd love to hear.

#photoessay #writer #throwbackthursday #storytelling #somanyfeelings taken in Seattle, Washington by @sydvanlove

10

2

3 months ago

This long as hell, and definitely longer than I'd like, journey healing from mold illness has given me limitless time to ponder just about everything. And let me tell you, I've been pondering it all.

And as angry as I am some days about the speed at which this is going, gratitude walks alongside the righteous rage.

Joy holds hands with pain, grief holds hands with progress, and overwhelm locks its fingers with peace. I've been living in a constant state of contradictions.

But I guess we all are; that's just life.

The push and pull, the yin and yang, the love residing with the heartbreak. It's all here; it's always whirling together in this tornadic twister of emotions.

Lately, I've had some shitty symptom-ruining weeks dominoing into each other, and yet, I AM closer to fine.

I am still healing. Still progressing. Still fighting. Still finding the joy in snuggles with my hubby, and head butting from the kitties, and 19-minute voice memos from my niece, and texts from my besties who live waaaay too far away, and chats with my sister-in-law over House of the Dragon, and FaceTimes with the people I adore who live in different states, and family group chats about books, and the TikToks my nephew sends me, and sunsets that don't sparkle till 10pm, and every little love filled tiny detail I can squeeze joy from.

I may still be struggling, but I’m still here, and I’m definitely closer to fine, and that's something worth celebrating.

#healingjourney #healing #moldillness #growth #joy taken in Seattle, Washington by @sydvanlove

6

1

3 months ago

These days, we rarely ever get photos of us that aren't selfies.

But if we flash back a couple of weeks, our niece snapped this candid of us on the ferry soaking in one of those magical 10pm Seattle summer sunsets.

Dave was making me laugh and not standing still, and since we didn't want to miss the sky and use the flash, Jordi and Dave were bantering, being the comical smartasses they are, about all the movement making it hard to focus the camera.

My heart was bursting after such a perfect day with two of my favorite people, and Jordin snapped this photo commemorating my happy, joyful, laughing heart staring at this man I've loved for nearly 20 years.

I'd say for the first photo of us taken by someone other than us in eons, it's a keeper.

#summervibes #summerinseattle #seattle #flashbackfriday #love taken in Seattle, Washington by @sydvanlove

10

0

3 months ago

As June prepares to exit stage left and I look back on a month that truly healed something within me, the highlight is as bright as the Seattle summer sun. My niece's visit was THE moment of June.

One of the greatest gifts of being an Auntie is obviously watching your nieces and nephews grow from babies to tiny humans and then fully thriving adults. But from my experience, the bestest part is all the hats you get to wear. Sometimes you're more like a big sister; other times you offer a motherly hand; oftentimes you’re the one they go to when they need to vent or talk something out they don't want to with their parents—what a tremendous privilege.

But then something happens: if you're lucky (and my oh my, am I the luckiest), you morph into their friend.
This evolution is a magical merging of roles: family + friend + confidant + advisor + giggle buddy—something I cherish with every inch of my heart and soul.

So, having long days spent gabbing, cackling, adventuring, and hugging my incredible niece was undeniably the best part of June.

Carrying the wisdom of aging, along with all the hard-learned lessons that came from being sick for years and missing out on more than I ever expected, I know how rare and essential these kinds of moments are.

So, thanks, June, for this immeasurable gift, and thanks, Jordi, for wanting to come to Seattle and spend quality time with your Auntie; it was magic.

I am limitlessly grateful.

#seattle #family #aunt #auntandniece #auntlove by @sydvanlove

6

2

4 months ago