Summer Time 2022

What heralds Summer for you? Not to be a Debby Downer, but the beginning of Summer for us is when the bugs come out, especially mosquitoes, who have to be Satan’s little helpers because honey, what purpose do they serve other than to torture us? Mosquitoes and all foul creatures aside, the “GET READY FOR SUMMER!!!” posts on social media are starting to pop up, how to wax, tweeze and banish all body hair for good, how to lift, plump and whittle your body into a pleasing shape and how to generally glow and sizzle in your swimwear. Ladies, Gentlemen, Non Binary and all other People, repeat after us, “My body is amazing and this Summer I am going to go out, take my coverup off and I am going to enjoy myself once and for all!”.

Don’t waste so much time thinking about how much you weigh. There is no more mind-numbing, boring, idiotic, self-destructive diversion from the fun of living. -Meryl Streep

Do you remember the first time you felt less than, imperfect, unlovable, not like the “others”? It is a hard thing to admit, but for a lot of us the image of perfection and our inability to hit the mark probably planted itself in your brain when you were barely double digits. Who destroyed our beautiful naivety? Also, if you are in your 40’s and higher, we can’t even blame social media! Who were we comparing ourselves to, Barbie and Ken, Jem, He-Man and She-Ra? Maybe we should have looked more towards the Smurfs and Care Bears (your writer is smiling right now thinking of any younger readers Googling who these characters are), they were cute, colorful, had killer curves and everyone loved them!

I realize everybody wants what they don’t have. But at the end of the day, what you have inside is much more beautiful than what’s on the outside. -Selena Gomez

Our goal this Summer, like every other Summer before, is to love ourselves, to look in the mirror and say, “Woah, I look good!.” It shouldn’t be revolutionary to love ourselves, it has been said by many, over and over again, but it bears repeating, if you can’t love and appreciate yourself then how can you possibly expect anyone else to?

So, what are some steps you can take to get ready for the best and most self accepting Summer of your life?
•Unfollow every social media account that makes you feel bad about yourself
•Get rid of your scale
•Go shopping for a bathing suit that looks amazing on you
•Stop comparing yourself, just STOP
•Thank your body for the amazing things it allows you to do
•Give yourself one compliment a day
•Eat well and exercise to be healthy, not to fit into a specific size
•Do not buy into diet culture

I’ve made peace with the fact that the things that I thought were weaknesses or flaws were just me. I like them. -Sandra Bullock

Here are some things you can practice saying to your body, i.e. body positive affirmations:
•Thank you for the things you do so well, thank you for allowing me to get through another day, for the body parts that may not work as they should, thank you for trying, for the parts of me that I don’t love, I am working on it, thank you for your patience.
•I am sorry for being critical and wishing parts of me away, I am working on acknowledging my strength and power and while I am not where I want to be, I will continue to work on loving each and every part of myself.

You define beauty yourself. Society doesn’t define your beauty. -Lady Gaga

Everyone who comes to our site is beautiful and worthy, your differences are what make you amazing, your pain is valid, your experiences are very likely helping someone else realize, maybe for the first time, “I am not alone.” That is a very powerful feeling, to go from feeling singular to being part of a community. So thank you for being here, for sharing your innermost thoughts and helping others along the way.

As always, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your life and your journey.

All the very best,
Team SG