2015 was a pretty strong stretch for Rowan Blanchard. After being crowned “Feminist Of The Year” alongside The Hunger Games’ Amandla Stenberg, the 14-year-old actress has established herself as one of the most exciting new voices of her generation. She’s spoken out against #squadgoals, Instagram trolls, and even posted an alarmingly insightful essay on intersectional feminism – all despite being barely into her teens.

Now, in an equally impressive move, the Girls Meets World star has thrashed through her thoughts again – only this time, it’s her mental health that’s up for discussion. In a new essay published on her Instagram account, Blanchard has reflected on the lessons she’s learnt so far, and has revealed why 2015 was “the most memorable year of her life”. 

“(2015) was the first year that I learned how powerful it is to be by yourself,” she wrote. “I feel more connected to myself as a person knowing that I will never have it all figured out – and that's for the better... I think I learned (and am still re-learning) that in order to actually spend the rest of your life with yourself contently, you must truthfully fall in love with yourself.”

The actress also opened up to fans about her everyday experiences with depression: an illness that can affect up to 20 per cent of people in their teenage years. “I found myself, this year in particular, going through ups and downs with depression,” she explained. “I realized that instead of rejecting and ostracising these teenage feelings (human feelings), I can learn to love the intensity of them and know that everything is momentary.”

She added: “I learned this year that happiness and sadness are not mutually exclusive. They can exist within me at the same time in the same moment. While also becoming more forgiving of myself and my emotions, I became more forgiving of others, specifically other teenagers.” 

Read the amazingly articulate post in full below: