The Breasties really get it that community, connection, safety, and acceptance are deeply healing things.
These are core needs for human beings, and they are also things I've tried to create through Blissoma. (thus why we fit here!)
It was absolutely beautiful seeing a group of super diverse people of all sizes, shapes, cultures, skin colors, and gender expressions coming together so fluidly.
(I don't want to say it's easy, because it took intention on the part of the organizers to create that, but when these things form the foundation of interaction it feels extremely natural)
Unfortunately our world isn't built around these concepts, so we have to seek out spaces where we can feel these things.
Last night was Breastival - a sparkly, costumed, brightly colored dance party.
The magic was really in people (mostly women) celebrating each other 100%.
There was no body shaming.
There was no second guessing of how an outfit looks, or if it shows too much skin.
There was no social jockeying.
There were no concerns about showing off scars and bodies exactly as they are.
There was just an ability to be in a body freely, and experience joy.
A woman that was sitting and eating with me had an emotional moment as she shared how much she has had rude remarks about her scars, and how much she has felt like she has to hide parts of herself.
It was profoundly healing for her to just get to exist without worry that anyone is judging.
While not all of us have faced life threatening illness, and the transformation they create, we all exist in a body and we all have many, many moments where we feel self conscious about our bodies.
The beauty industry doesn't do anything to help that.
Self criticism sells more product, and so punishing beauty standards become the norm.
Hating our bodies is still more socially normalized than loving them.
And yet, you live inside a miracle.
Every day many millions of chemical reactions have to happen just perfectly for your body to maintain itself, heal, and evolve.
Bodies are not objects to be controlled.
They are our one and only way to experience all the beauty, magic, and mystery life holds.
We may not all go through cancer, but if we live long enough we do all navigate changes with our bodies that are not always of our choosing.
Chronic skin conditions, injuries, and general aging can all force us to renegotiate what we thought we knew about living as ourselves.
At 48, and deep into perimenopause, I'm extremely aware that my past assumptions about living in my body aren't holding steady. It's not all great, but it is forcing me to continue to "walk the talk" of loving my body through this process.
We're never really done learning to love ourselves.
I hope that your relationship to me and Blissoma will offer you some of that community, connection, safety, and acceptance that you need in life.
The idea of offering more people that kindness and peace with themselves is part of what keeps me going each day.
When we can live in a peaceful way with ourselves we have a chance at creating that with others as well, and the whole world gets a little better.
Blissoma is how I can touch lives and offer that peace daily to more people.
I'm looking foward to sending many of you "care packages" this next weekend when you shop our Summer Sale.
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