here is why.

In my view, the difference between body positivity and body liberation is this:

Body positivity says you should love your body, because it is beautiful as it is.

Body liberation says your body is a small part of who you are, and your worth isn't derived from it.

While I hope that both are true for you, we often only focus on body positivity, which upholds the belief that beauty = value. Beauty is a currency. "All bodies are beautiful so you should love yours" is still telling you that the most important part of you is your body...so you should love it!

But how is constantly being told you should love your body much different than constantly being told you should change it? Hint: It isn't. Both can leave you feeling inadequate.

Listen, I hope you love and feel positive about your body. But loving it shouldn't be a prerequisite to feeling that you have value.

One of the most life changing things I ever read was this: Your body is the least interesting thing about you.

I balked at this idea at first. I thought, my body makes me, well...me! But as I started exploring the idea, I realized something. I am me because of my actions, my thoughts, my kindness, my intelligence and my ability to tell a joke. I am me because of my memories and my dreams for the future. I am who I am because of the relationships I have, the people I've loved and lost as well as the difficult decisions I've made. My body has helped me experience all of these things and I'm certainly grateful for her, but my body isn't who I am.

And you know what? I've never felt more liberated. All of the "self-love" work I have done never made me feel more free than the body liberation ideas I have embraced.

My challenge for you is to begin exploring the idea of body neutrality (if you haven't already)...the first step to body liberation. You don't have to love your body. You can feel neutral about many parts of it. As you work toward neutrality, you might begin feeling more alive and spending more time in the parts of you that really make you, you.

How freeing is that?

Love,

Celeste

SPOTLIGHT

Please meet Ebony and Denise from Team 2 Moms. Their YouTube, and social medial platforms share helpful, family friendly videos that address many difficult to talk about subjects, like coming out, raising kids in a two mom family and handling anti-gay comments. Start with their YouTube video about the birth of their twins, Jaydon and Lucas! (Y'all know I'm partial to twins, right?)

@Team2Moms on Insta!