Summer. Who doesn’t love warmer weather, family gatherings and outdoor fun? I know I love any opportunity to be outside. Pool parties, outdoordining, beach days, picnics, camping…it is all great fun. Summer has always seemed to bring a sense of mindless imagination to our lives and a welcome free spirit attitude to our days. Even Hollywood’s summer blockbuster’s seem to portray an emphasis on escaping reality and entering a carefree utopia. Yep, there is something magical about summer.
But for many, it isn’t that way. Summer is complicated. For some, it is a season of dread, because it typically represents little or minimal clothing. If you’ve spent any time in your life being even slightly overweight, you know what I mean. It’s imagining you know what others are thinking when you step forward, feeling out of place, awkward. The season tends to provoke an obsession from what to wear to what not to wear. Somehow, we are convinced that our body is unappealing, unacceptable, in fact, legitimately offensive.
But it’s not even just about being or feeling attractive. It’s about belonging, about being acceptable, fitting in, being seen for who we are. In fact, it’s not even about self-esteem, or self-involvement either. It is more about our self in relation to the rest of the world and how we are depicted. It wasn’t that I compared myself to others in a swimsuit or felt inferior, it was more I felt judged and misunderstood.
Up until a few years ago, I rarely went to the pool or beach, and did very little outdoor activities. As the temperatures grew warmer my motivation diminished. So did my chances of ever spontaneously go skinny dipping. I am getting better at my acceptance of myself and the body that follows me everywhere I travel. What changed, you ask? Well, it certainly wasn’t my weight or those in which I associated. What changed for me was my attitude.
I learned over time to love and appreciate myself more and recognize all that I have put myself and my body through. But more importantly to appreciate what I have accomplished, carried on this back and endured throughout this life of mine.
I am now acutely aware that I am the only person who an satisfy my need to be accepted, that my confidence outweighs my cowardness. Despite my flaws, flabby skin, rolls, and cellulite, I accept myself, no matter my size. I realize that someone may be skinnier than me but that doesn’t make them prettier, that when someone judges a woman by her size it says everything about them and little about her.
At Focus on Fabulous, we think it would be amazing for curvy women around the globe to be able to embrace summer without judgment or have their fun ruined by other people’s opinions of them. Therefore, it is through this issue that we decided to focus on body positivity with our special section entitled, summer… not just for size zeros. It is our desire that others begin to understand that in this movement of positive body image, we are endorsing healthy, full lives, but there are still those that have struggled since childhood, or are older and although healthy on paper are continually challenged with weight related issues. We hope to celebrate the fact that, though flawed, we are all works of art .
So, let’s make this summer different. We can numb down our phobias all summer long and just get through it, or we can adjust our attitude, realize that summer is great, and embrace every hot, sticky, steamy, fun-filled day to the absolute magical fullest.
stay fabulous,
stay you,
“mi”