This section is on the process in your journey. Self-love is part of the life journey. Self-love begins at birth and culminates to our last breath. We demonstrate self-love through our feelings, our actions, behaviors, and movements that impact ourselves. How we define self-love influences our self-esteem, our confidence, our inner strength, and our mental wellness. We also define our self-love is dependent on our experiences in our world, our journey’s and/or our perceptions. It will define how visions, our goals, our dreams and all that we accomplish. Self-love is critical.

BODY IMAGE

Body image has defined us from birth.

Chubby babies are cute. Thin babies are unwell, unfed and tiny.

Then the stigma flips. As children grow, the thinner child is preferred over a child who appears overweight and obese. I was eight years old when the stigma of weight preoccupied my thoughts. How old were you? Nothing helps. The media reinforces beauty through ads, actors and actresses, media images and news personnel. Toys and figurines reinforce ideal body types. Males are strong, have muscles, large arms, rippled chests… Females are large chested, flat stomachs, blond straight hair, white faces, pointy nose, thin legs. Gender is binary, either male or female. Obesity is defined by weighing too much for height and weight. It is assumed that people who are “obese” have health problems. This science is always wrong.

I recently read an article on body image, which I thought highlighted our experiences as humans. The article, Everything You Know about Obesity is Wrong. 

Dove Self-Esteem Project focuses on developing healthy body image and self-esteem image specifically for youth and girls. Their website provides detailed resources for parents, children, and professionals: Dove Self-Esteem Project.