“I wish I had your problem.”

These six words were the words that I heard, over and over and over again, whenever I summoned the courage to disclose that I was battling against ED (otherwise known as an eating disorder…in my case, manifesting itself as anorexia nervosa).

And in honour of EDAW (Eating Disorders Awareness Week), I am sharing my story, again.

I share it often.  In written words, in spoken words. Through my actions with my students, in the workshops that I lead with teachers. On the national news, or casually on the street.

I share my story because it is not just my story.

And it was, and is, not just “my problem.”

It is our problem. And it is our story. 

There is something amiss in a society that wants us to shrink when we ought to be growing.  In a culture that tries to tell us what is (and, even more forcefully, what is not) beautiful.  Something wrong with a world that tells us that it is not just okay to play small, but that it is our duty to twist and contort our bodies into something that they were never meant to be, all in an effort to “fit in.” 

I am done playing small. And I am done trying to fit.

I recovered my life from ED more than five years ago, and I will continue to fight against all of those voices who tell us we should be ashamed of ourselves. Shame! No more shame. Never again.

Here’s to health at every size.

To shining as bright and big and bold as you are meant to be.

To living a life that is full — full of love and light and joy.

To thinking of your body as something beautiful not because it fits into some scratchy and awkward mould, but because it houses your glorious soul.

Live life with grace, not perfection.

Grace, and a homemade gluten-free carrot cupcake (or two).