Looking for some amazing art? How about real stories that bear one's soul?

Well...you're in for a treat! I'm not sure how many of you have heard of the Steemit user Hive account@lauralemons, even though she's been around at long as I have. I've followed her over the last year, always amazed at the variety of great content she's been able to produce, whether it be posts on her paintings, drawings, vegan tips or recipes, science news, technology news, ways to help fellow Steemians to absolute, brutal truth personal stories.

Some of her Art

Just yesterday, I was blown away by this painting she made. Knowing what I do about her just made this all the more amazing. There is so much meaning hidden within this one piece. Even though it's not my norm, I'm drawn to a mix of joyful with dark aspects together. It kinda of reminds me of a close friend who would made what looked like Disney characters surrounded by skulls or holding hand grenades.

I love things like this that just make me stop, think and feel!

This is only a piece of the painting. You can check out the whole piece of art, as well as "Work in Progress" photos, HERE.

A little backstory...

You see, Hive account@lauralemons hasn't exactly had the easiest life. Between growing up in rougher neighborhoods, having to endure well beyond what can be called bullying, abusive family, friends, dealing with bouts of depression, suicide attempts...I'm amazed at what she's now able to handle!

Now, I know we can't all understand how tough this was to grow up with (including myself), but I still have absolute RESPECT for who she is now! I can only imagine how easy it would have been to have just said "Fuck it...I'm done" countless times. But here she is...still trucking along!

On top of all this she's pretty much been stuck in her apartment for a long time now, maybe getting out for extremely short periods of time. You see, she has Interstitial Cystitis, which is assumed to be an auto immune disease that causes her to feel like she has Urinary Tract Infection all day, every day. For anyone that's ever had to deal with this, well, let's just say it's NOT pleasant. Having to visit the restroom extremely frequently, to only be met with ever larger amounts of pain and discomfort (to put it mildly.)

Personally, I've been extremely proud seeing her share so many of her more intimate, personal stories with us. It can be quite tough to post things such as:

And this list just keeps on going as you go back in her blog! Not being someone who often shares personal things like this...I truly appreciate what it takes to share it!

Helping Others

Even with all of this going on, she still finds plenty of time to help new users like Hive account@stitchybitch, making helpful, motivational post for other Steemians, or even just things to brighten our day like her latest release of some fun, jokey Steemit Badges!!

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You'll have to actually goto her post HERE to get your hands on these bad boys! I laughed pretty hard when I saw these!

Vegan Tips, Tricks and Recipes

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Every once in a while I'm asked where to look for vegan related posts. And being a big fan of meat myself (sorry laura, lol) I don't have many suggestions for them. Luckily...I at least have one! Just to give you an idea:

Now, I can't give everything away for you! You're just going to have to head to her blog.

Scroll through and see the slew of fabulous posts!! She is honestly a Steemian I've felt has 'slipped through the cracks' and times. So I wanted to shine a spotlight on Hive account@lauralemons as a person, a content creator an amazingly strong woman!

[FUN FACT: Hive account@lauralemons actually joined Steemit two weeks BEFORE I did!]