From Blame to Fame

I used to blame my body for everything.

Good or bad, it happened because of my body. I couldn’t climb the monkey bars or do well in gym class because I was weak. I couldn’t do yoga or fit in a pretty prom dress because my stomach was too big. I refused to pursue relationships because I thought I was too much to be loved. I convinced myself that people were only friends with me out of pity and that opportunities happened as an act of charity. I didn’t deserve the good and the bad that came my way, I deserved it all.

This rhetoric – that our bodies are to blame – starts young. It starts small. It starts with clothing designed to fit no one perfectly, and products based off of the constant need to improve and change. The messaging the world tells us is if you purchase or pursue this next best thing, then that’s it. You’re golden. You’re worth it. But then once you do, there’s always just one more thing. This continues in a constant cycle and before you know it, there’s no way off of that roundabout.

That’s kind of how our messaging to ourselves works too. I remember bartering with myself over the tiniest things in the hopes that that would be it, it would be my golden ticket. Just eat a salad a day, just workout for 10 more minutes, just buy the expensive juice. It’ll make you happy and better. It’ll make you more valuable. It’ll make you worth it.

But here’s the secret: you’re already worth it. You’re already valuable beyond belief. You’re already a rare and beautiful creature. What if we stopped our babbling blame and bathed ourselves in a fountain of fame? Think of your favourite celebrity and singer – they’re perfect to you, and their fame comes with a heaping amount of love and admiration, making their very existence magical. What if you offered yourself the same glory in being?

I challenge you to try. To try to be awestruck with your presence, be excited about your existence, and encouraged by your natural gifts and talents. Offer yourself the best of the best – because YOU ARE the best of the best.

Deighton Edwards is a third year Social Work student at Ryerson University. Her passions lie within student development, student affairs and activism through writing. Deighton is heavily involved on campus and hopes to continue her work with postsecondary students into her professional career.