When Brooke Blurton began writing her raw and honest memoir about her journey so far, she knew that expressing how she felt about love, overcoming intergenerational trauma, racism and homophobia was going to be “cathartic”, but this huge achievement has also made her feel “reborn”.
Watch Below: Brooke Blurton opens up on grief
Blurton was working for a mental health youth service when she spoke for the first time about losing her mum to suicide, losing her nan and sister, and her own struggles with mental health – it was then she realised her story was worth telling.
“I realised I could help young people live better lives, and help organisations and services be more observant of issues,” she tells WHO, adding, “This is probably up there with one of the biggest things I’ve ever done in my life. Especially not coming from a very strong education.”
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The former Bachelor and Bachelorette star’s motivation behind penning Big Love was not wanting anyone to feel as alone or alienated as she did growing up.
She didn’t have an adult’s encouragement and as a result of the trauma surrounding her, became a “negative little child”.
“The epilogue is one of the most powerful things that I’ve ever written. It’s a letter to myself,” she says.
“Telling me everything is going to be OK, be proud of things I’ve achieved. I haven’t had a lot of people telling me that. Me telling myself that is a full-circle moment.”
The star felt it was important to tell her truth, in her own words, so that people can truly understand who she is.
“I’m here to give people insight into First Nations culture first hand and hope that they want to help close that intergenerational gap between all of us,” she explains.
“It hasn’t always just been love of culture or family that kept me going. It was the love of strangers and them seeing something in me that I hadn’t even seen in myself just yet. It was love of people at different points in my life that kept me on the right track.”
Watch Below: Brooke Blurton: ‘They wanted me to be the “angry black girl” and it just wasn’t ok’
Documenting her life story with the warmth that she exudes lifting from the pages, detailing some of the most heart-wrenching parts of her story so readily, it is as though she is telling her tale to you over a cup of coffee.
“I realised that grief and trauma always come in waves. I’m always going have these gaps in my life that will never be filled, like losing a sibling is always going to leave a part of you where you’re not the same,” she shares simply.
“I realised my story is powerful.”
She explains that she’s working towards stepping into a leadership role and would like to see more young First Nations people in leadership, too.
Blurton, 27, who is originally from WA but now lives in Melbourne, has been romantically linked to radio producer Sam McGinn, but she declines to talk about it other than to say she is “seeing someone, who I love dearly” and that she has some “really awesome people around me at the moment”.
“When you write a book, it’s so difficult to be in a positive mindset all the time because you’re resurfacing so much stuff,” she adds. “I could’ve given up, but I didn’t. It’s kind of crazy, to be honest.”
Big Love by Brooke Blurton is out now! Buy it here.
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