As the year comes to a close, I know I’m not alone when it comes to purging my closet. This year I’ve learned the valuable lesson of letting go of clothes that do not suit me anymore. I read something that once said, “clothes are meant to fit you, you are not meant to fit into clothes”. That didn’t resonate with me at first, but when I kept looking into changing your relationship with clothes, it hit me how important this step is to the right direction of body positivity.
The body positivity movement is not a new concept. It has been around for a couple years now. I believe that the way people interpret “body positivity” varies on their exposure to the subject. To me, body positivity means being proud of the body that you have and giving it what it needs. Whether that be an extra hour of sleep, feeding it the food it craves, and loving it for what it is. My journey with body positivity started with purging my closet this past summer.
During my move out of my parent’s house, I had to downsize my closet in half. I was forced to get rid of clothes that no longer fit me, or that I wasn’t interested in, and let go of those pieces that I’d hope to fit in again one day. My pile of “maybe one day” clothes was very big. I had to really take a minute to be realistic with myself and think if my body can even get to a size 4 again (my high school size). Why was I holding on to clothes that don’t make me confident anymore?!
I stopped trying to buy clothes in the size that I wanted to be, and started buying clothes that were my actual size. After doing this, I felt good in the clothes that I wore. I didn’t feel like I had to suck-in my stomach all day to keep my button from popping, or keep pulling down the crop top that made me feel insecure. I touched up on this a little bit from my post about finding new shorts for my wardrobe. Check out that post here for some cute and versatile affordable shorts! I wasn’t comfortable in those pieces, and put myself through mental torture trying to convince myself that I was. While I was out, I constantly had to worry about my stomach rolls going over my pants and shorts, or if my top was too tight and encasing me like a sausage.
How fun is it to be a woman, am I right?! There is such a horrible standard that women must follow in order to be admirable. The phrase “look good, feel good” is not as easy as you think. It takes a lot of self-work and inner peace to truly feel that phrase. If you were raised in a culture that praised people who are not built like you, that’s that much more self work that you must overcome.
It has taken me some time to come to this realization that I won’t be my high school size again, and I need to stop looking back at what was then, and embrace my body as it is now. As long as I am nourishing it with the proper nutrients and giving her regular exercise and rest, that’s the most I can do. It’s a bumpy journey for sure, with high and low days, but with each day there is growth. By accepting my body for the way it is now, that is one step towards accepting my 24 year old body is clothing her in compassion and respecting it for what it is.
We only get one vessel during our time on earth. Why would I spend that time hating it? I’ll be diving into this body positivity trek through this blog here and there, and I can’t wait to write more about it. The more revelations I have, the more I want to share it with others who it may help. Until next time…
Leave a Reply