the blog
be full. be free.
We get so busy thinking about our lives we often forget to be in our lives. We forget that failure and fault are necessary evils on the path to joy, and if we really want something then we have to get back in the arena and fight for it - most often with time, space and attention.
Read MoreThe first time I distrusted my body was grade school Presidential Physical Fitness testing. I also know that sometimes life feels a lot like that test – all eyes on us, waiting for our chins to drop below, feeling and comparing the weight of that failure.
Read MoreI am tired of hustling for self-worth, adapting the story to suit the audience and providing a palatable version of the woman I’ve become. The whole story is the whole story, whether you find it appealing or not. And that applies both to my circles of safety and to every priest, youth minister, teacher, preacher, bigot, straight dude with an opinion about dykes, and member of my family who still thinks this is a phase. The story will not change.
Read MoreI see you wanting to do it all too, friend. I see you overcommitting and underdelivering for yourself. I see you prioritizing the things to do and the people to care for, and I see you putting your own need to fill up aside. Here is your permission to rest.
Read MoreDo you have any some day wardrobe? Maybe it’s the “goal jeans” you read somewhere would remind you to stay focused on your weight loss journey. Or perhaps you have that “perfect dress” for when you hit that perfect size. Or a bikini you’re certain you’ll feel amazing in some day.
Read MoreEvery time our team made a decision about future content, I would think about her…I would consider if this was just another moment where the words we share would crack her open, but would offer little to help with the pieces that spilled out.
Read MoreMotherhood is not the only part of me, and I firmly believe it’s not the only part of you. It’s hard, though, not to use the feedback we get as a barometer for our value.
Read MoreI never learned that I could have my own space, that others could have their own space, and that we could still share space without an issue.
Read MoreI grew up with strong female figures in my life, whose wisdom and advice helped influence the woman I am today. However, they all had one thing in common – body image issues. So when I found out I was having a girl, I decided enough was enough.
Read MoreI gave this everything I had to give. The best parts of me. The most vulnerable parts of me. I left all of it on that stage.And I am not afraid to be rejected for it. I am, however, afraid to find out that it wasn’t enough.
Read MorePlease, let me have my body. It may weigh what it did before I had kids, but there’s more to it than that. It is mine, and I am on my own journey to learn to love it. Even with its stretch marks and loose skin and deflated boobs and doughy belly and wider hips and odd scars. I want my body because it houses Me.
Read MoreHelping hands.
Whether you give them or receive them this week, friend, may they be strong, stable, gentle and kind.
Read MoreWhen the outside world literally goes away, I look inward. I trust my body to lead me. I listen to what it tells me. I encourage it to move forward. I love it both when it conquers and when it fails.
Read MoreI think as women, we often find ourselves in situations where we end up comforting people after they have said something that makes the conversation uncomfortable. I mean, how many times have you said – “Oh no -that’s okay. You’re fine ... ” or “don’t worry about it … ”
Read MoreAs it turns out, this winter we’ve each been hibernating - some doing hard work within our caves, some doing hard work for others and waiting - yet, in that moment, we realized we were all in the same season of winter. Today, daylight savings time marks your new season, lady. It’s time to own that light.
Read MoreYou guys, I don’t expect any of us to be able to easily dismantle the systems that support the notion that women only fit when they shrink. But once we have a little light shed on something we didn’t know before, I expect that we find a way to do better for each other.And I don’t know what that looks like for you, but I have an idea.
Consider new compliments.
Read MoreHealing feels like being free, in a way that I never knew existed. It's feeling connected to my heart, my body and whispering "I chose to have faith that I will heal".
Read MoreThe last thing I want to say is recovery is possible. It will take time, it will be messy, you will make mistakes. You will want to give up, but you won’t because you are fighting for someone you care about.
Read MoreThere is a moment where you aren’t holding on to anything. That’s the scary part, taking that leap. I used to say that I wasn’t “sick enough” to recover. However, I have learned that at any stage of an eating disorder, you deserve recovery. You are worth it. You are enough.
Read MoreThis girl is me Juliana Rounds. The reason I stand and fight for mental health and Eating Disorder awareness is because it is okay to not be okay.
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