Saturday, May 2, 2015

Body Beautiful

Recently, I was having a discussion with a girlfriend of mine that revolved, almost solely, around our bodies. During our chat, which was about an hour, we did not say one positive thing about ourselves. This was a chat I've had with all the women in my life, almost everytime I see them. At some point, our bodies come up, and the conversation is never positive. What I found different this time around was that Little Miss was in some way absorbing this whole conversation as she kept herself busy in the background. After the conversation ended, I found that I was really concerned about what was said. We live in an age where women treat their bodies in a very negative fashion. Women discuss and critque their bodies in a very degrading way. Not only do we tend to criticize ourselves, but we even try to convince those who say otherwise that we are right. Then there's the criticism of other women. I'm guilty of making snap judgements, in my head or out loud, about other women. It's shameful, and detrimental to myself and those women.

Currently, there has been a lot of internet buzz loving on the woman body, "flaws" and all. I wanted to jump on this positive bandwagon to spread the love.

Here's the love your lines Instagram account full of beautiful women, and their beautiful bodies:

Here's a great link on loving your body after children:
postpartum bodies

Here's a post, from a blogger, about this very same topic:
Beauty

This conversation, and buzz, has led me to decide that I don't want to have a little girl who looks at her body, or any body, and only see what she doesn't like, or feel envious about what other's have. I want a girl who is confident and strong, and one who knows she is beautiful. I don't want her checking herself in a mirror on the way out the door and think, "Ugh, I would look so much better if ____ were changed." I want her to look in that mirror and say, "Looking good!" I want her to believe that looking good. 

As a way to hold myself accountable I am doing two things, the first being this blog post, and the second, involving Joe in this goal. I expressed to him my feelings on this issue and he said he'd be happy to keep me in check. All he has to do is redirect my thoughts when I begin to speak negatively about myself. For example, if I make a comment about my bad hair day, I asked him to remind me to find one thing I enjoy about my look for that day. Simple, but I think effective. Frequently, the bad hair day comment can lead to a downward spiral of negative comments. By stopping them in their tracks, I can begin to view myself, and my body, as a thing of beauty. Eventually leading myself to thinking and viewing myself in a more positive light. I do not expect to change myself overnight, and I expect there to be setbacks, I am only human after all. The biggest thing I hope to gain from this is to have Hazel hear, and see, that loving yourself is important. I also want Hazel to know there is more to being a woman than just looks. 

I want to teach this little girl that she is beautiful in every way. That everything about her, and her body, is the way it is, and that's just fine. My hope is that maybe one day when she is a bit older chatting with her friends they'll hear that she's accepting of her body, and maybe, just maybe, they'll begin to love their's too.



Cheers!