Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters From Liz!
Did this month fly by, or did this month fly by? How did February feel like a whole ass year and March just came and went on its own? Maybe it’s the Daylight Savings. Maybe it’s the seasonal change!
I’m no “warm-weather” kind of girl, but I’m very excited to start seeing some green on these trees and start feeling some heat on my skin. I’m just ready to put away the bulky winter coat and live in my infamous denim jacket and debut my leather jacket that’s been in my closet since I purchased it in the dead middle of winter!
Which brings me to this month’s topic. Hi, welcome to this month’s installment of:
With April being a week away, it’s crazy to think that we survived yet another winter season. Some of us are ecstatic and ready to get out of that seasonal depression the cold weather brings, and some of us are just happy to not wear an excessive amount of clothes just to walk to the bodega to get a snack. With a seasonal change, a lot of things change actually: For many of us, we get sick during the changes, and sometimes we get ourselves in a funk.
The warmer weather for some of us (like myself) means that everyone is going to begin flaunting their bodies in cute clothes and accessories and it’s during these changes in the season where I feel the most insecure about my weight and my body.
As the months get warmer, the less I have to cover up my body, which means my skin will be exposed, and it has to be: I’m not wearing a jacket in the middle of the summer, no-sir-ee. The less clothing I wear, the more exposed and insecure I feel about my body and I’m honestly really tired of letting my insecurities dictate the type of clothing I wear in warmer weather.
Because let’s face it: nobody is going to care if you’re in a pair of high-waisted shorts and a shirt with no sleeves. Nobody is going to be like, “wow, she has fat arms and fat legs”. Nobody is going to care if your stomach pokes out in a skirt or in a dress. People choose not to wear something because they feel insecure wearing it, and this year, I want to change my outlook on that.
I want to wear a dress this summer and not worry if my stomach and rolls are present. I want to wear things that I normally would stay away from despite the fact that I think they are extremely cute. I want to walk down the street as confident as possible and not care if I jiggle, if I shake, or if my cellulite is showing. And I’m learning that it takes more than just a couple of cute outfits to make you love the skin you’re in.
It takes a long time hating yourself in your own skin to finally tell yourself, “this is the only skin I’m going to be living in for the rest of my life, so why then do so much damage to it and hate it?”
And I guess that’s the work that we need to be working on this year: love the skin that we are in so that we are able to go out in public and not feel so restricted anymore with ourselves.
The warmer weather is honestly the perfect time to start this self-love project because you’re sort of have to expose yourself in order to keep cool. You can’t hide your arms in a jacket all year long, and you can’t hide your legs all year long (I mean, you can – but who wants to wear pants in the warm weather anyway?). What I’m simply saying is that use this seasonal change to your advantage and find the things that you could love about your skin! I know for me, I have to learn how not to care how I may look like in a dress and not think too much about how I may look like in a dress to everyone else. I also have to learn that nobody really cares about how you look, and if they do, you shouldn’t care about what they think. Fat folks are human as well: we wear dresses and shorts and tank tops and swimsuits, so it shouldn’t be considered “weird” or “awkward” – it’s considered normal. I, as well as everyone else who feels the same way, need to learn that the societal bullshit we were taught as kids and teenagers is just what it is: societal bullshit.
So enjoy the Spring weather coming your way! Get excited about the summer! Get ready to love yourself in whatever makes you feel good about yourself! Get ready to flaunt your newfound love for your skin.
Letters From Liz. 