Bodacious & Curvaceous

When reality starlet Heidi Montag went under the knife for a whopping 10 surgeries, the tabloids went insane. 10 SURGERIES! ONLY 23 YEARS OLD! Cosmetic surgery is nothing new in Hollywood, Bollywood, or pretty much any where there are the rich and the famous.  It’s as common as extreme dieting. This attitude towards the female body is not just popular amongst celebrities. The cosmetic surgery industry is booming and so is the diet industry. There is never a time when the weight of a celebrity isn’t plastered all over the newsstands. It’s either too-high or too-low.  Society is obsessed with the so-called flaws of the human –female – body. Occasionally, an advertisement for natural beauty pops on the television screen but the reality is that mass media is feeding us unrealistic, unnatural, and unhealthy standards of beauty. Moreover, the “beauty” that we usually see is one dimensional and not reflective of the rich diversity that makes up the human race. Women and men come in all heights, shades, statures, and shapes.

So, what? It’s just media right? Not really. Today, self-esteem is on the all-time low. Women, and to a lesser extent men, are constantly berating their bodies. My breasts are too small, low, big…. My bum is too flat, thick, fat,…. my arms !! my nose!! My lips!! My this and my that!! What kind of a mess have we got ourselves into?   But what if we decided to start loving ourselves? Wouldn’t that bring about mental freedom? Freedom from fear of rejection and embarrassment lies at the heart of our self-esteem issues. If we tossed those arbitrary fears and embraced who we are, right now…we could be so much more.

I can give you myself as an example. Not a perfect example…many days I have something to complain about. .. but this is what I know. I know that if I love my body right now on my journey of health and fitness then I will take better care of it. I will love my body and honor it more if I stop complaining about what I don’t like about it. This is the only body I have, might as well love it, right?

Yesterday, I went with over to my dear friend’s house to take pictures so that I can see my beauty as I truly am. My friend Lisa is just a bit less than twice my age and she’s got a lot of wisdom to share. She is currently doing her own project on facebook, entitled, “Big Beautiful Women Claim Your Beauty.” There she posts weekly self-portraits and hosts discussions with fans around self-love and acceptance. Lisa once wrote, “I’m close to 40, either I claim my physical beauty now or it will fade and I will have never known it.” How true is that? I remember feeling fat and disgusting when I was a teenager and now I look back and wonder WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?  I lost my teenage beauty before I even realized I had it. Don’t look back and think you were beautiful back then. Look at yourself now and find your beauty and most importantly, love who you are… this is the only body you have. Cherish it!

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