As I was lying in bed last night I had an idea.
In the plus size blogging world there are LOADS of fashion challenges which are all about the clothes. This is an essential part of plus size blogging - fat people need to see other fat people wearing clothes. They need to see what's available out there, and what clothes look on bodies similar to their own. Also, it's essential we're visible as all too often society tries to make us invisible, so we need to keep doing that. I'm not taking anything away outfit blogging at all, but I haven't seen anything in the plus world which focuses on learning to love our bodies, apart from Rachele's fantastic Fat Bitch E Course series.
I had an idea. So much of our identity and happiness is based upon how we feel about our looks, and that's based on a VERY narrow perspective of beauty which needs reinventing. OF COURSE we all know the physical is fleeting and it's what's inside that counts, but to say that how we feel about our physical selves is immaterial is wrong. It does matter. It matters a lot. Obviously it's not an easy thing to tackle body image as a whole in one fell swoop, so I thought perhaps if we were to break it down to small parts over a period of time it'd be more do-able, and we'd get better at it as positivity breeds positivity.
So my idea is this: a once-monthly challenge where we all focus on a set body part and find something to love about it, even if it's difficult or confronting to start with. Of course it's a wonderful thing to be able to swathe ourselves in gorgeous clothes, but what I want to do is deeper than that. I want to help foster real body love in as many people as want to be involved. Of course I'll be preaching to the choir with some of you, but there may be some of you out there who don't love much about yourselves at all, and I hope to raise a positive community which will support each other through this quest.
So, how will it work? Let's say we start the first month with the face/hair and work down the body (minus the genitals, I ain't going there!) I'd say I love my freckles, my eyes and my rosy cheeks, and have a close up of my face as my challenge photo that month. You might love your cute ears, your nose, your finely plucked brows, your eyes, the softness of your chin(s), your amazing hair, your whole face, your smile. It doesn't have to be a physical thing as such - you might dislike your arms but love the fact you can hug people with them. If you concentrate on that you'll soon see your arms in a whole new light. And ta-da, you're on the road to positivity!!
You can portray this celebration of your chosen body part each month with photos, art, a poem, a song, a video, a mixture of or any other way you can think of. It's your post and your body so go for it however you wish.
You don't have to talk about a full body part each month - you could talk about an area as small as a scar, a birthmark, a mole, a tattoo - I'm not expecting a bunch of photos of tits when we get to chest month! ;)
It's not always going to be easy for us to find something to love, though. I know I have favourite parts of my body and less favourite places, but I honestly believe if we look for the positives in ourselves we WILL find them, and I hope the community we forge will help us each to see what's beautiful about us if we can't ourselves. Body love is a journey. I've already come so far in the past year. We CAN totally fall in love with ourselves with practice. I'm undoing over 30 years of self-loathing and shame and you can too. My hope would be that if a person said 'Oh, I can't find anything good to say about myself this month, I really hate XYZ about my face' that a bunch of different people would jump up and say, 'No way, you have a totally cute ABC!' It happened to me earlier this year when I started getting my legs out on the blog. I hated them and was scared to put them out there but I did it regardless and so many people said I had lovely legs I started to see them in a new light. That is exactly what I want to achieve. If you already love a body part, then amazing, but if not, let us coax out of you what's wonderful and help you see yourself with new eyes.
The more we concentrate on the things we like about ourselves, the more we will find to love, I promise. This isn't about looking for perfection outside of ourselves or comparing ourself to others, it's about finding the beauty we already hold and learning to cherish that. I want a body love revolution where we celebrate each other's differences and learn to love ourselves, and others.
The aim is at the end of X amount months (however long it takes) we'll have covered the whole body, and can do a recap post of how we felt about our bodies as a whole at the beginning of the challenge, and how we feel about them now. What has changed, what has stayed the same, and if we are more in love with ourselves at the end of it than when we begun. That's the aim. I want everybody to learn to love the separate little parts of themselves so it joins into one big love so they feel amazing.
I'm sorry if this all sounds a bit 'hippie-dippie one love maaaaaaaaaan' - I just want to everyone to love themselves. All good things come from love, not hate.
What could we achieve if we didn't spend half our lives hating ourselves? What great things could we accomplish?
I'm so stoked about this I haven't even got a name yet, although I'm mulling over Love Every Body, as it goes both ways. Love EVERY body. Love EVERYBODY. Or the Body Love Revolution. God, I'm the cheesiest cheese ball in the whole cheesy world, aren't I? Some come along, smother me in pickle and put me in a sandwich fer gads sake!
This sounds like a good idea in my head but I have no idea if anyone else will agree with me. Thoughts?
Who's in?!
Got ideas you want to contribute? Got questions? GO FOR IT. I want this to be a community (not a dictatorship) so fire away.
Email me at blog.justmeleah@gmail.com if you want in and title it 'Body Love' or leave me a comment and we'll see if we can get this show on the road.
ALL BODIES WELCOME - not just fats. NO HATE - CELEBRATE! (How cheesy does that sound?! HA!)
Ideas for areas to cover:
Face/hair
Shoulders/back
Chest
Arms/hands
Stomach
Bum
Legs/feet
Skin
Thanks for reading.
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