Dress Challenge Day 3: Today, I Totally Cried!

Dress Challenge Day 3: Today, I Totally Cried! 

Today was the third day of the dress challenge and I totally cried before I even got my dress on. For the record, I'm not a good crier. I'm more likely to cry over the cookie place in the mall running out of cookie cake before I can buy six slices. When it comes to emotional numbing and shutting down, I'm the queen. But, I'm working on it, babes! Girl Warrior is about progress.

So, let's talk about my glorious sobbing (read: "ugly" crying). For the record, I think crying is great. Please try to tell me that crying doesn't make you feel better and I will personally buy you an ice cream sundae, provided we can split it. 

Take Ron's example.

Over the course of the past few weeks, I've been honored to receive body image stories from a variety of girls. Friends, total strangers...all amazing Girl Warriors who have added their own amazing voice to the discussion. In every story, there is pain. Overwhelming, gut-wrenching pain that forces me to sit down and think, These girls are hurting. We are all hurting. And it's true. So, why aren't we talking about it?

Babes, I've had the honor to do photoshoots with over twenty girls so far and many more lay in my future. Talking with these girls, meeting with them for coffee, and hearing their stories was bound to bring me to tears someday.

Well, that day was today. My morning classes had been cancelled and I woke up feeling it. The voices of every girl that I'd talked to, their faces when they described their pain...how could I not cry? To be honest, I tried to stop it. I tried to stop myself from crying for you, because I used to associate crying with weakness. I'm wiser now. Being a Girl Warrior is not about never crying. It's about embracing all your awesome emotions, because personal honest feelings should never come with apologies.

I cried and sobbed and sniffled until I was done. And then I felt better.

Ladies, we have suffered from the pain of hating our bodies, but I'm here to tell you this: You don't have to suffer anymore. 

Really. I want you to repeat that to yourself: You don't have to suffer anymore.

What would it be like to feel truly beautiful? That is what I asked myself at the beginning of this journey. The scary thing about feeling beautiful is that it is an everyday battle. But guess what? I believe in you.

You're beautiful. Let me repeat that again, because you need to hear it over and over, because you deserve to feel that way. You're beautiful.

You don't have to suffer.

Love your body. Let go of the hate. Accept yourself.

XOXO

Girl Warrior