As usual, I’m a couple days late posting a rant. But, I’m here now and I’m going to go ahead and give everyone a piece of me…er…my mind.
The mermaid. The whale. That fabulous meme that was going viral on Facebook and causing a sensation amongst women of all shapes and sizes. I’m not going to post it here because my assumption is that most of you have read that fabulous piece of writing.
I’ve been both.
I was the mermaid. Many times.
As the mermaid, I felt sexy and strong. I had a bounce to my step and a wiggle to my butt. I turned heads, both mens and women’s. Confidence oozed from every pore.
I struggled to keep my weight down. I was conscious of everything that went in mouth. To me, it was worth it because I was one of the skinny girls. I could walk into any store, pick clothes without trying them on because I just knew they’d look good on me.
It was a great feeling to be one of “them”.
I’ve been the whale. As often as the mermaid.
Right now, I am the whale.
My body transformed into something I’m not overly proud of. I hide under loose clothing. Large breasts and a larger bottom make me want to hide, sure that people are wondering how I can be seen in public, looking the way I do.
With 40 extra pounds clinging to me, my confidence is hiding with my inner mermaid, waiting to reemerge from the depths of the sea of fatness.
But, I’m fat for a reason. It’s not that I’m sitting, binge eating on carbs and sugar. My thyroid is cuckoo. I’ve written about it way too many times and I’m not here to defend.
I don’t eat a lot. In fact, I hardly eat at all. Especially since I started taking Zoloft.
That post, The Mermaid and The Whale…it made me embrace my curves, if only for a moment. It made me feel that it’s OK, I am who I am and that is enough.
It made me look at my stretch marks as a reward for giving birth to my three beautiful children.
The space between my wide hips was a place where my children spent the first 9 months of their lives, growing strong and ready to live outside of me.
My breasts, larger in my whale state than my mermaid, not perky anymore because I fed my children. They gave them the proper nourishment needed to thrive.
I am soft for my children to cuddle with me and find comfort.
I am wide for strong, sturdy hugs.
My legs are thick so that I may stand my ground and never waver in emotional storms.
That post also made me appreciate that, no matter what body size I am, it’s OK.
We are women.
We are strong.
We are beautiful.
We are perfect the way we are.
We are loved by many.
We love strongly and emotionally.
We need to learn to appreciate ourselves the way others do. We have to stop bashing ourselves based on our size.
We need to be healthy so that we are here to watch our children grow and our children’s children.
We women need to raise each other up instead of sneering, glaring and shooting each other down.
We mermaids and whales swim the same oceans, our stories are all different yet we have so much in common.
We are a village, not just for our children, but for each other.
And that is what I got from reading the Mermaid and the Whale meme on Facebook.
To me, it had nothing to do with fighting obesity the way a few bloggers turned it into. It had to do with appreciating ourselves and appreciating each other. For our similarities and our differences. For our curves and our lines.
Appreciate us for who we are.
We are women…fat, thin or in-between.
We are mothers.
We are wives.
We are daughters.
We are sisters.
We are friends.
Hear us roar.
That was exactly what I got from it too.
Jennifer´s last blog post ..Share Your Awesome, The Incomplete Works of Anselm
I can say in all honesty, you are a beautiful woman and I love you just as you are.
lceel´s last blog post ..Haiku Friday – Thinking
Exactly!! I have been both as well. I have been struggling the whole 3 years of my son’s life to take more weight off, but my body changed when I had my son. *shrug* I can’t do any more than I am now unless I become anorexic, and it’s just not worth it to me to be a size 4.
Kadie´s last blog post ..Breathe In, Breathe Out..Repeat
I’ve been so wrapped up in my own world, that I’ve had little time to read anything. I didn’t see the mermaid/whale thing! I love your post, though. It made me feel better about life after this most hellacious week. Thanks!
I haven’t come across this on FB either but I love your take on it. We are all united in this world as women (or we should be). Honestly, blogging has made me realize that more than anything. It is a wonderful way to support people and let them know that there is someone that cares and appreciates them…even if they are a total stranger.
Kristen´s last blog post ..Friday Feel Good…
THANK YOU. Why is this so hard for people to figure out?
Amy B.´s last blog post ..Sweet Dreams, Steve
Perfectly said.
Amen.
Mama Mary´s last blog post ..steve jobs, a tribute
I love your perspective. I love that you can love yourself at any size. I wish we all had that ability. Beautiful interpretation of the meme:)
Truthful Mommy´s last blog post ..Throat Punch Thursday~ Unhealthiness, Thy Name is Obesity
I’ve been both too, too many times to count. Now I’m just focused on being healthy because I know that the healthy version of me gets more out of life with my kids. But I hate how people jump all over these meme things and make it a war between those who are one way and those who are another. It irks me. I love and agree with everything you said. We are all women and because of that, we are all beautiful and strong and full of awesome.
You can forget the mermaids, you can forget the whales but don’t forget that you are a beautiful, strong, confident woman that also happens to give great advice. 😉
Christina S.´s last blog post ..The Pudding Test
This post is awesome and so universal. I think every woman struggles with her feelings about her weight. Roar away!
Natalie @MamaTrack´s last blog post ..My Fall Wish List
I saw it the way you saw it… and I read it just at the right time because I was feeling down that day.
You are one beautiful woman
You go girl!!!
I’m a whale of a mermaid.
Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing]´s last blog post ..I Appreciate. Because If I Don’t, I’ll Need Stronger Happy Pills.
Roar!
I’ve been both, too. Currently I am somewhere in between. Thank you for this beautiful interpretation.
Middle State/MomZombie´s last blog post ..Let’s go out and play
I have never seen the Mermaids & Whales meme you’re talking about, but that’s fine because I really liked what you said here.
We’re all different and we’re this way for a reason. We need to embrace who we are and one another.
Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Your words and you, my friend.
This is a beautiful post, mostly the reason why we turned whales and gained additional 40 pounds is because we are wife and we are a mother, who enjoys the company of our children, cooking for them and eat with them. Before It’s hard for me to look at the mirror but now I happy with what I am but I am planning to loose those extra pounds for health purposes. Just love what you are and your natural beauty will eventually comes out.
Nora´s last blog post ..Ways To Boost Fertility