Over the weekend I had the most delicious + heated conversation with a new friend about self love and body image. My new friend was telling me how much she wanted to work with younger females and help them with their body image issues.
I was telling her about an experience I had a few months ago. I was browsing (stalking) around on facebook and I noticed an update from my younger sister. She's in her tweens and at that total awkward transition stage that we all go through when going from child to teen.
She was fb-covo-bombing her own picture with another friend. All I remember was:
"You're so pretty but I'm ugly."
"No way, you're prettier and I'm super ugly. I can't even get a boyfriend."
"Whatever! You are gorgeous. I'm dumb, fat and ugly.."
It literally went like this for a good 20 minutes and as you could imagine it frustrated the
Not because of the unknown psychological damage these two girls are doing to themselves on a daily basis, not because of the hateful words they're poisoning their minds with and not even because of their backward attention seeking methods but because I used to have this exact same conversation with my friends when I was in high school!!!!
So that means in the space of 10 years with apple dominating technology, fashion changing rapidly, more option, foods, animals, businesses, money and whatever - there still hasn't been much of a change in educating our younger women about personal empowerment.
That to me is
We take that awful self hatred into our late teens (and we know this is the worst place to feel like this), then it comes with us into our 20's and if we didn't sort it out there, into our 30's and so on..
I don't know about you, but to my new friend and I - this is a HUGE concern!
This has to change. But how the hell do we stop this pattern?
One step at a
Girl, listen to me.
No more will you say, think, write or feel another loathing word to yourself.
No more will you buy into the bullshit of poisoned self-hating mediocrity.
No more will you look into a mirror filled with shame and hatred.
No more will take on other peoples hurtful projections.
No more will you cry yourself to sleep alone in despair.
No more will you look for love, approval & yourself in somebody else.
No more will you put your happiness last!
You are a star, a goddess, an angel.
You are a motherfucking diva!!!
You are powerful.
You are unique.
You are loved.
You can DO this!
You can change your life.
You can forgive the past.
You can create a brand new future..
It starts with the first step
Say it:
I. LOVE. YOU.
Hear hear! This is amazing. I find it awful that a few years of your life - from let's say 13 to 18 or 20 - can lower your self-esteem so, so much! It's sucky :(.
ReplyDelete- Laura
Those are probably the toughest years of our lives and they seem to stay with us as we get older. That's why it is SO important to practice self love as often as you can because bit by bit it changes how you view yourself and in turn your life starts changing.
DeleteIf I can do it, anyone can do it. You can too :) xx