I Took Off My Shirt, and It Was No BIG Deal.

I have an ANNOUNCEMENT I'd like to make. Seems that once summer rolls around, we start forgetting some really important things about having a human body. 

Did you know that it's TOTALLY NORMAL for your HUMAN BODY to have stretch marks? And cellulite? And scars?

Did you know that it's TOTALLY NORMAL for your HUMAN BODY to have jiggly bits and wobbly bits, hairy bits and bony bits, saggy bits and fleshy bits, muscular bits and perky bits? 

Did you know that it's TOTALLY NORMAL for your HUMAN BODY to change... without asking for permission!

😳😳😳

I know. That's not what we're taught.

We're taught that our today-body is supposed to be the same as our yesterday-body. And that CHANGE is only good if it happens in one direction ---> younger, slimmer, stronger, smoother. 

Gals, there's not a single one of us who's getting any younger. That's not how BIOLOGY works.

And guess what? Your HUMAN BODY didn't get the memo that its primary job is to be slimmer - stronger - smoother. 

Far as your body knows... its job is to do HUMAN BODY THINGS, like heal and grow and age and adapt and love and feel and delight and breathe and sense and experience and JUST BE A HUMAN BODY. 

We tend to THINK that OUR bodies are the worst kind of bodies. That OUR bodies are a problem. That OUR bodies are worse-off than other human bodies. 

And I'll tell you what. That kind of thinking is nothing but nonsensical horse shit. But you bet your bottom dollar I believed it. I thought MY cellulite was the WORST cellulite. I thought MY body was the worst kind of body. I thought that everybody else had it easier than me. I thought that I was the unlucky one... the one with "the curse".

Well guess what. MY BODY IS NOT A PROBLEM. And neither is yours.

We only THINK our cellulite, our scars, our stretch marks, our jiggly / wiggly / wobbly bits are a problem because we've been taught to believe they're a problem.  

But gals, the "training" and the "shaming" we've received is nothing but a big old money-making, woman-oppressing LIE. 

I've been doing the hard work of renaming - reframing - unshaming what it means to have a human body for YEARS, and hell if I still don't come upon residual body shame, tucked deep into the corners of my consciousness. 

In the last two weeks, I discovered two OPPRESSIVE BODY SHAMING RULES I've carried with me for my whole damn life.

GOOD-FOR-NOTHING-RULE-NUMBER-1:  For YEARS I've seen folks strip off their tees on the summit to let their shirts dry and to feel the summit breeze against their skin. For YEARS I've watched with longing eyes, but NEVER thought it was ok for me to take off MY shirt.

What in the world?!

I had no "good" rational or reason... just an "I wish I could do that", followed by some kind of internal yammering that sounded like this:

What will people think?
Who does she think SHE is?
She's too old for that!

ALL NONSENSE. All imaginary. All none of my business. 

So a couple of weeks ago, when I was hiking in Acadia National Park, I TOOK MY SHIRT OFF ON THE SUMMIT of the Bubbles, laid my t-shirt out to dry, and enjoyed the summit breeze on my belly. 

And guess what? It was NO BIG DEAL!

As we got ready to head down, I put on my t-shirt, and felt wicked PROUD for breaking THAT silly good-for-nothing rule. 

And then it occurred to me... I HAD ANOTHER RULE. 

GOOD-FOR-NOTHING-RULE-NUMBER-2: You know when it's about 900 degrees hazy-hot-and-humid outside, and your t-shirt sticks to you like whoa, so you take off your t-shirt and hike/bike/run/do yoga in just your sports bra??

Well, I had rule about that too. 

Shit. 

So this past weekend, when we were hiking up in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, I decided NOT TO WEAR A T-SHIRT HIKING. 

Scandalous, I know. 

And guess what? IT WAS NO BIG DEAL. 

Because it IS no big deal.

I'm a woman. With a human body. That does good human body things. 

Listen gals, if you're feeling self conscious of your scars, your dimples, your stretch marks, your legs, your butt, your belly, your boobs, your arms, your neck, your back, your chin, your eyes, your ears, your fingers, your kneecaps, your ankles, your wrists, your WHATEVER, that is SHAME talking. 

You DO NOT CURE SHAME by changing your body - comparing your body - wishing you had a different body - hating other bodies. You cure shame by changing how you VIEW + VALUE HUMAN BODIES.

ALL HUMAN BODIES.

No matter their size, their shape, their color, their anything. 

Period.

Whatever oppressive shame-rules you've got tucked away inside the recesses of your mind, examine them. Challenge them. And my goodness, BREAK THEM. 

I mean it.

What ONE good-for-nothing RULE do you have that you're ready to BREAK? 

Afraid to wear big earrings? DO IT.
Afraid to wear shorts? DO IT.
Afraid to wear a tank top? DO IT. 
Afraid to take off your cover-up? DO IT.
Afraid to wear a bikini? DO IT.
Afraid to wear lipstick? DO IT.
Afraid to wear a brightly colored face mask? DO IT.
Afraid to mix patterns. DO IT.

You've got ONE BODY, and it deserves to be treated like PURE GOLD. 

xo Stasia 

P.S. Registration for the next session of Style School opens on Friday, August 28th. Standing up to BODY SHAME takes guts, and in Style School, we flex our BRAVE MUSCLES every.single.day because WE ARE GUTSY WOMEN, and we are DONE hiding our incredible human bodies!