Being Bodacious: Chapter 1

Woman must not accept; she must challenge.
She must not be awed by that which has been built up around her;
she must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression.
~ Margaret Sanger

*cue Don Pardo*
Previously on this blog:
I declared, just as the calendar turned the page and became all shiny and new, that this was going to be my year of living bodaciously. And that one of my goals was to make a difference. A bodacious difference.

Well, here’s my first shot at that.

I’m a huge proponent and fan of my gender. I do volunteer work with my gender. I support causes affecting my gender. I genuinely (most of the time) like my gender.

We chicks really do have it going on.

However (and you had to know that was coming)… we women are unnecessarily hard and unsupportive of each other. And in turn, ourselves. It’s partly our nature (Hey! I can say that because I am a girlie), partly our environment and partly who else knows what. We women spend – no, we waste – time being contrary to one another, either directly or indirectly when that time and energy could be better spend doing something constructive. Life's tough enough without adding any extra unnecessary angst.

Whew.

Does that make sense? It can get a little heady up here on my soap box.

In an attempt to make a small positive difference for my gender, I’ve decided to host a weekly self-celebration for us girls. Yes, it’s a meme. But it’s a meme with a purpose.

We’re going to spend time once a week Being Bodacious.

I’ll throw out a topic for discussion and exposition – something that will be thoughtful and insightful, a little funny (c’mon – it’s goofy me helming this after all) and completely constructive, celebratory and creative.

There will be a spot to share the link to your blog/your thoughts so we all can go check out your online home and… be supportive. See. Pretty nifty, huh…

So… onto our Bodacious Topic for the week.

Finish the phrase: “One thing I love about my body is…”

I can hear y’all’s “ooooooooooos” right now.

Not messing around here.

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.
~ Virginia Woolf

Yeah, this is a big one. You can blame Shape Magazine for putting the idea into my head. But I think it’s a great place to start this little journey we’re about to go on together.

If you’re like me, you can name 112864 things you do not like about your body. However, when it comes to spinning that onto the positive, it becomes a little more difficult. OK – a lot more difficult.

But it shouldn’t be hard. Or scary. Or painful.

We are wonderful. Head to toe. Skinny darlings and curvy goddesses alike. No, that’s not me BSing here. It’s the truth.

So let’s start with a little self-assessment. You might love your shoulders and the way they look in your bathing suit. Or your luscious, gloss-loving lips. Maybe it’s your fantastic, pedi-worthy toes.

Tell us about it. Don’t be shy. Toot that horn.

Share one thing you love about your body.

You can do it. Because you’re Bodacious.

One is not born a woman, one becomes one.
~ Simone de Beauvoir