“I was oozing and bleeding. My co-worker said, ‘Are you doing something about it?’ I said, ‘Yes, I’m getting it treated once I finish our deadline first.’ She spoke the words I knew in my heart: ‘If I were you, I would go now. Health should be your priority.’ I left my rising career in a prestigious design firm in San Francisco.”
‘That looks intolerable. I can’t stand it.’ It looked like I’d been burnt in a fire. I quickly pulled my shirt sleeve down.’: Woman puts career on hold to heal psoriasis, find self-love
‘I overheard nurses murmuring about a ‘bruise.’ Then I heard, ‘I don’t think that will fade.’ The left side of her face was a deep red.’: Mom vows to raise baby with Port Wine Stain as ‘the most confident girl to ever walk the planet’
“We weren’t trying to get pregnant. They lifted me off the toilet after I nearly passed out. My vision dotted with stars, I remember saying, ‘I don’t care if it’s permanent. I love her just the way she is.’ Everywhere we go, strangers ask, ‘WHAT happened?’ We can’t go to the store without getting stared at.”
‘Aren’t we past this?’ Years after his murder, I was holding an unmanageable amount of pain.’: Woman details grief journey after losing husband, ‘I’m letting joy in’
“It has been 5 years since my incredibly loving husband was murdered on our wedding anniversary.”
‘I’ll never forget the comment she made: ‘You’re not you without your long, beautiful hair!’ I was deeply embarrassed.’: Bride with alopecia embraces baldness, ‘Hair does not define beauty’
“I was pitied and hid behind an uncomfortable wig every day, consumed with anxiety someone would find out my secret. One day, I decided I didn’t want to live in shame anymore. ‘Shave it all off,’ I told my husband. I wanted live my truth.”
‘Why’s there no daddy in our home?’ I couldn’t speak the truth. I never expected the question so early.’: Single mom discusses divorce with children, ‘They should make their own decisions’
“It wasn’t an easy topic to explain to a little girl. I never expected I’d need to prepare an answer so soon. But I want her to grow up so she’ll find out the truth.”
‘YUK.’ You had some rolls on your back showing and your double chin was showing. That’s problematic.’: Woman reminds us, ‘Beauty has nothing to do with what’s on the outside’
“Truthfully, when I didn’t have the rolls, I still questioned if I was ever whole, or worthy, or enough. I’ve got something to say. *AHEM*.”
‘Oh no… a fat girl in your feed. A bigger girl shouldn’t show her body. It’s gross!’: Woman shares why a ‘fat girl’ should be in your feed more often
“If she does, it must be because she has a message. Maybe it’s about the stretch marks on her butt or boobs, that grew from puberty. Maybe she learned to love her body. Which is odd. Because it IS normal.”
‘Some curves don’t need to be flattened.’: Woman urges ‘you are not a before, you are not an after, you are a right now’
“Countless nights I prayed. Countless nights I spoke to the air hoping someone was listening, and I would wake up and not be me. I wanted so badly to fit the mold.”
‘My chin looks dumb when I smile.’ Your baby girl compares herself to the cheerleader who got a date.’: Mom preaches body positive parenting, ‘You MUST talk to them’
“’I’m so fat.’ ‘I hate this outfit.’ The word ‘thigh gap’ will enter your daughter’s hemisphere. Every billboard, commercial, random dude, social media post, and Hollywood movie will talk to her about her body. Let that fight START WITH YOU.”
‘My thighs touch. No matter what, they stick together like glue. I never wear shorts, not even in hot as heck Florida.’: Mom urges self-love, ‘These imperfections are the least interesting thing about me’
“Whether I’m sitting, standing, walking, running, my thighs touch. I don’t have eyebrow hair. At my height of 5’3″, my BMI is in the ‘overweight’ range. I never wear shorts anymore. You see, I’ve always been body-conscious.”
