Mirrors & Numbers
How often do you…
Look in the mirror … and think about what you’d like to change?
Leave the house late … because you can’t find clothes that look good?
Worry about how people will judge the food you’re eating … rather than enjoying the food you’re eating?
Plan the exercise program you’re going to start … tomorrow…?
Look at a magazine … and wonder why you can’t look more like the (airbrushed) people in those pages?
Those of us who deal with body image issues battle these thoughts every day. They affect our romantic relationships, our relationships with friends and family, and even our professional lives. (After all, we can’t give our full attention to giving the kick-ass presentation we’re capable of if we’re fixated on whether we have a visible panty line or we’re upset about not having a good hair day!)
And the worst part is that most of the time we suffer in silence, convincing ourselves that we’re alone. Even though we’re surrounded by dozens or hundreds or thousands of others who feel the same.
And body image issues don’t discriminate by weight, height, race, gender, age, or economic bracket. They can and do affect even the most rich, famous and beautiful among us.
Do you recognize yourself in these words?
It is time for us...
to stand up and see ourselves as more than a number on a scale or a size in a dress shop….
It is time for us to find peace and respect within ourselves – not only for our own health and happiness, but for the health and happiness of the next generation. Children learn how to treat themselves and how they expect to be treated by watching their parents. If you want your son or daughter to have a healthy body image, it’s time to start healing your own.
It only takes one generation to make a profound change. And the change starts within.
We are that generation.
We are that person.
And this…
…is what happens when a group of women and teenagers come together to tell their story of body image and disordered eating in words and dance.