is a single mama in the city, super-savvy editor, writer, video host and shameless shoe whore.
Loving the body you have right now
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 I believe that nearly every time a woman steps in front of a mirror, she sees someone new. Sure, she may have despised her thighs for decades or worried over her crooked nose for as long as she can remember or taken up a recent obsession with tiny lines where the skin was once smooth and ungratefully lovely.
She may be familiar with the body-hate, but she can't often settle in to the figure and face she sees staring back at her from the glass. If she could, women would say every day, "Oh, hello, you!" and hopefully, "Aren't you heavenly with your frizzy, crazy hair?" or "Ahh, all that laughing is finally imprinted on your face -- what a great reminder!" or "Yup, those are those thighs of mine!"
No judgment, just being in our bodies.
But we are not there yet -- most of us, at least. Until we are, we need to remind each other how to love the stranger-lady we greet in the mirror each morning. We need advice on shush-ing the hateful words and making mantras out of the caring comments. We need tips on how to create a closet and home and underwear drawer and brain that makes us happy and comforted and feel like the us we see matches up with the women we are underneath all the skin and muscles and stretch marks and jelly bellies and flat feet and freckles.
That's why I raised my hand excitedly when an editor at MSN's TakePart.com asked if I would write a piece on how to love your body, even though I have written about it a hundred times before in many other ways on many other sites. I said yes because I, like most of the women I know, need the words and have advice to share. And because it doesn't hurt to greet our changes bodies and faces with the gift of compassion and decluttering tutorials.
I'm thrilled with the way this story turned out, and am so grateful to the fabulous Susan Wagner of Working Closet, Brittany Gibbons of Curvy Girl Guide, registered dietician Mary Hartley from DietsInReview, Brett Blumenthal of Sheer Balance and Karly Randolph Pitman from First Ourselves for adding their helpful, hopeful, heartfelt expert advice to my words.
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