One final thought on body image week...

I had to chuckle when I read Liviania's comment below about how she was sad for me that I didn't get any compliments on my looks. Until the notion of Body Image Week arose at My Favorite Author, it never occurred to me to be aware of what people said about my appearance. More noticeable to me - and more important - are comments about my dancing.

So yesterday, when I was taking class, a lovely young dancer came up to me and asked me what company I used to dance with (when you're my age, it's a pretty safe bet that you "used" to dance somewhere, as opposed to currently being a member of a company). When I told her I didn't, she was astonished - like, her face registered surprise and everything. She wouldn't believe that I was not a retired professional. We did the whole mutual admiration thing ("I love your arms," "No, I love your arms") and moved on.

I get comments like this from people fairly regularly, usually from newish dancers, and I am always appreciative, but when an experienced dancer or current pro says it, I am truly flattered. It made me feel very good, very competent for much of the class, I must admit, so later, when I happened to be standing next to the young woman again, I asked her about herself, where she was from and so on. She's new to LA, only been here for 2 months. I smiled and walked away and immediately my ego deflated.

Ah, I figured, she didn't really think I was good, she just wants to make friends.

Pretty sick way to think, huh?

Body Image Week Follow-up

Body image is a term which may refer to a person's perception of their own physical appearance, or the internal sense of having a body which is interpreted by the brain. Essentially a person's body image is how they perceive their appearance to be to others, which in many cases may be dramatically different from how they actually appear to them. (From Wikipedia)

I told you I'd remind you!

Many people remarked on my post last Friday and I thank you all for your support. I also want to thank all of the wonderful authors who posted about their own body issues at My Favorite Author and on the book blogger sites, Presenting Lenore, In Bed with Books and The Story Siren. They were all inspiring posts to read - and of course, I love to read the comments! Sometimes those can be just as insightful and thought-provoking.

Now, how did I do? Well, I was very good about the whole weighing-every-day thing - I limited myself to just once (yowsa that was hard!) and I allowed myself to eat all the fruits and veggies I wanted (believe me, this is a tough thing to do when you fight the urge to be hungry and constantly deny yourself what your body wants). So that was a good thing.

It's still hard to look in the mirror and lord do I wish this challenge came during a week I did NOT have my period! All I could see was bloat! But again, I tried to see the bigger picture and actually look at myself and say, hey, those legs aren't so bad! To be totally truthful, I couldn't get any higher than my legs - and just barely to my thighs! There was no way I was going to look at my butt or stomach...maybe next time around. :)

And lastly, the compliments...I LOVE giving compliments - I pretty much do it all the time. Part of that is being a teacher and wanting my dancers to feel good about certain things they are doing so they know I am not always picking on them but also, I learned that habit from my mother who is always good at complimenting strangers.

Taking compliments? LOL! I didn't get any! I got a couple for my dancing which I usually do and I am always gracious and thankful for that but no one said anything to me about anything else. So...oh well. Again, maybe next time around!

Now how about YOU. (You look great in that color, btw, and I love how you've styled your hair.) How did your week go? Did you fight the urge to turn your head from the mirror when you got out of the shower? Did you admire the way your toes curl gently beneath your flip-flops? Did you offer or accept a compliment from a stranger?

Go on back to My Favorite Author and see how others did then enter to win some terrific books from some of today's popular YA authors!

Cheers~

Body Image Week at My Favorite Author!

Today is Earth Day and what better way to honor Mother Earth than to take pride in all Her creatures - no matter what their size!

A new challenge - and it's a doozy! Kind of book-related, in that the challenge is at a book blogger site and the people posting are writers or readers of YA books, but really, it's about YOU! It's about how YOU feel about YOUR body. It's a challenge to be accepting about your body, to recognize the wonderful strengths it has and some of the odd and funny quirks we all share.

Come on, we're human, after all! We have weird and wonderful bodies, especially us women.

Over at My Favorite Author - which is a YA book blog for adult readers (yes, that's a lot of us who feel a little, um, awkward about hanging out at the teen blogs) - the challenge has been issued. Go over and check it out: a week-long attempt to be more conscious of how we view our bodies, and to question why we do and say things we do about ourselves, why we don't honor our beautiful selves like we should. And a whole slew of great writers willing to talk about it all - including me here later this week. (I joined the party at the last minute so I'm not official.)

Then at the end of the week, check back in (I'll remind you, don't worry!) and see how you and others fared during the week. Did you give yourself a break when you had to try on that swimsuit? Did you say thank you when someone complimented your smile? Did you offer another person a compliment? You'll have a chance to win FREE BOOKS too!

We've got to be good and kind to ourselves: it's the cheapest therapy out there.