i am beautiful!

this week, as i was visiting my favorite blogs, i came across a very important entry on Curls&Coffee regarding body image and loving yourself.

as i have mentioned on my previous blog entries, i co-facilitate a high school self-esteem group and so this issue is particularly poignant to me. i have written before on feminism, and what being a feminist means to me...and even though i love to scream from the rooftops my independence, my rights and the glorious opportunities that being a woman encompasses, i have definitely fought with body image issues for most of my adult years.

my body image issues are not nearly as bad they used to be - when i was a teenager, and for the first few years out of high school i can remember cringing at the thought of certain parts of my body: my stomach, my arms, my hips...i just couldn't cut myself a break. i really couldn't find the confidence in myself to love every part of my body.

meg writes:

"i'm on a constant journey to move closer to the place

where i love my body the way it is,

and i know that getting there will be a mixture of

loving my imperfections and

changing the way i live to help my body be as healthy and fit as it can be,
but i'm working on it."

it has been a constant journey for myself as well, but i feel like now, more than ever i am secure with who i am and what i look like. that, in itself, is extremely liberating.

so how did i get to this place of pure confidence?

i like to attribute it to:

my closest friends and family for telling me how happy and beautiful i am.

my girls group, for looking up to me and trusting in my confidence.

my b2, for making me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, always.

and of course myself, for doing the things i love to do, for looking in the mirror and seeing the beauty rather than the hate, and for challenging myself to do better.

i used to hate my stomach, but now i love my curves.

i used to hate my arms, but now i love that they give me the power to sweeeeep, haaaarrrrd!! on the curling rink!

i used to hate my hips, but now i love that someday carrying and having a baby may be a littttle easier.

the more we as women can talk openly about the pressures surrounding body image, beauty and weight, the more we will be able to break free from unrealistic expectations, commercial ideals of beauty and impossible comparisons. i know that i still have my insecure moments, but little by little...they are dissolving.

xo

(thanks to meg for starting this dialogue!)

*the greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart*