Summer Pleasures
Swimming…
Riding a bike…
Picnics and hikes…
The backyard and the beach…
Swinging in a hammock full of daydreams…
No bikini required!
© Elizabeth Patch, all rights reserved, from “More to Love”
Finally, it’s summertime!
Picnics, parks, gardens, pools, lakes, the ocean,
bike rides, hiking, hammocks, flip-flops,
BBQs and cook outs, farmer’s markets,
long days, warm nights, fireflies, butterflies…
so much to love about the summer!
But sadly,
I don’t think I deserve to have any fun
this summer because:
I’m too fat to go to the beach.
I hate the way I look in shorts.
My belly is too big for a bikini.
My arms are too flabby for tank tops.
Everyone is looking at my lumpy butt!
Everyone notices my uneven skin tone!
Everyone is laughing at my frizzy hair!
How could I possibly enjoy the feeling of cool grass under my bare toes,
or the smell of roses drifting in the windows,
or an ice cream cone on a hot afternoon
when I look so hopelessly awful?
No thanks, I think I’ll skip that picnic at the lake.
Nope, not going to lounge around the pool reading trashy novels.
Sorry, just can’t do anything fun in the sun,
because, well, you know…
But, next summer it will be different!
When I lose some weight and tone up my arms,
when my stomach is flat and my hips are smaller,
when I have the perfect outfit and a pedicure and a golden tan
then I’ll have fun…
How many times have you stopped yourself from
enjoying a perfect day because you felt you aren’t perfect enough?
I’m not a therapist, but girlfriends,
it is ridiculous to allow poor body image to spoil the short sweet season of summer!
This is your body, your life, your summer and there is no bikini required to live it to the fullest!
Now put on something that makes you smile,
go outside
and create some wonderful summer memories
to carry you through the next cold, dark winter!
[...] Gerade entdeckt und ungeheuer passend: Too fat for summer? [...]
thank you! thank you! thank you! I once missed out on a spectacular beach vacation because I was afraid I wasn’t “hot enough”. Never again!
I’m guilty of not having been able to enjoy summer worrying about not being thin enough. I do it every summer and just tonight I was telling my sister that I didn’t have a clue how I would look in shorts given I hadn’t exercised as much as I should have. Your post served to create the awareness that indeed summer is a beautiful season, albeit a short one, and we deserve to enjoy it without worrying about body image or the size of our butts! Here’s to being able to let go of old habits!
Ah, I love that one.
Elizabeth: Heartfelt thanks.
I recently began wearing sleeveless tops, tank tops, etc. I am still working through my uncomfortableness, but I “want” to be me. I don’t want to hide my Self. Yes, I look different – I suppose – because I am very large. But I keep reassuring my Self – “it is okay, it is okay….”
Bless you for your beautiful art work, for your understanding and encouraging, for your Being There.
<3 <3
Hear hear! Life is too short to wait for “next summer.”
absolutely! next summer is a full winter away, and so much can happen in a year.
I love your art & your writing!
I have spent most of my life with anorexia & bulimia.
I’m now 57 yrs. old & have finally learned to enjoy eating healthy.
But more important I try to be around only kind, loving, non-toxic people.
“Spirituality” has become a very important aspect of my life as well.
My closest friend in the world has such low esteem due to her “weight issues”.
She thinks she is fat & undesirable, I believe & KNOW she is beautiful & voluptuous & sexy!
And I am going to tell her about your site…you are an amazing, phenomenal & perceptive young woman!
Thank you so much for sharing with all of us.
And when I have enough money I definitely plan to buy several copies of your book & give them to all my closest friends.
GB & take care
thank you for the kind words Paula! I am glad you have been able to overcome our eating disorders, as I know it is a challenging journey.
I think nearly every woman I’ve ever known (including myself!)has wasted at least a little bit of her life hating herself because she thinks she has “weight issues”, and it’s such a a sad thing to hear listen to the real pain our friends endure when they don’t think they are “good enough”! Almost everything I write and/or draw is here free on this blog, and there are lots of links in the side bar for more information/inspiration.