Standing in my
bathroom this morning listening to Amy Winehouse whilst getting ready for
Work, I stared into the mirror.
I looked at the lines
beneath my eyes, my stomach and my thighs.
Although I pondered
(yet again) where the years had gone I also began to wonder when I had started
to look at the negatives in the mirror instead of the positives.
I have my Father’s
eyes.
I have my
Grandmother’s smile.
I have my Mother’s big
heart.
…and not only that I
am also happy, healthy and loved.
And so I began
to wonder how it got to this; perhaps it is indeed time to turn off the TV,
ignore fashion magazines and look within.
Time and time again we
are told that outer beauty is paramount. We are sold an idea – an idea that
can cause illness and pain (in the
form of eating disorders and other mental illnesses) and yet it also sells
cosmetics, clothes, surgery and even a ‘lifestyle’.
Kate Moss once
famously said, “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. (This is an apparently well-outdated
and no longer used slogan for a weight-loss company). So I find myself examining just what the true effect
this kind of statement has on many women.
In an age where information can be shared so quickly and so freely –
what kind of effect will this have on the women of today and indeed tomorrow?
In the last few years
I have battled with my own weight.
Once 48 kilograms and waif-like I am now however much closer to 70
kilograms. But I am also happy, fulfilled and a great deal healthier (both
mentally and physically) than I was at my lower weight. I also realise that it really is as the
cliché goes that it's ‘what’s inside that counts’. I’ve met some amazing people over the last few years and I realise
that outward appearance does not matter.
Please understand that I am not saying people should neglect their
health – I am merely saying that how a person looks has nothing to do with
their inner beauty.
I don’t have a magic
solution. I have no idea what
comes next.
But I do know this –
photoshop and fashion magazines may make things look beautiful for a moment, but
what a beautiful person does can shape lives and change people for the better.
And to be honest, I
strive to be the latter.
