I recently watched a Buzzfeed video called, "I Wore Body Paint Instead Of Clothes For A Day." This video shows a girl named Julie, who of course wears body paint instead of clothes for an entire day. She has a white shirt painted on as well as a pair of blue jeans. Julie talks about when she started having issues with her body. She discusses how that when she trades her clothes for body paint that it will be like taking away a shield. This video made me think about the way girls see their bodies.
It's no secret that most, if not all girls see themselves in a bad light, some way or another. Society has molded us into thinking we have to look a certain way, dress a certain way, and act a certain way. Julie's words showed me that it doesn't matter if you're skinny, fat, short, or tall, you still probably don't like one thing about yourself. People watching this video, look at Julie and see a beautiful girl, but that doesn't mean that that is what Julie sees.
The only way I can begin to describe this tunnel vision in our minds is this. Have you ever tried on a pair of this beer goggles? The goggles they have you wear at school so you can see what it's like to have your senses distorted while drunk? Seeing yourself in a different way than everyone else sees you is like that, but without the dizziness. The beer googles make your vision blurry and distorted. While you may not see yourself through blurry eyes, you also aren't seeing clearly. You're own tunnel vision is causing you to focus on one or a couple things about yourself that you don't like, instead of seeing the big picture.
How do we solve this, you may ask? Well the answer is, I don't know. I still have that same problem. Who knows maybe we will never out grow it. I don't think there is a solution to all of it, but there may be a way to train ourselves to see the big picture. I 'm not saying that we should all get our bodies painted with body paint and where that instead of clothes for a day, but we should try something.
Zenhabits.net has a pretty cool article on ways to work on the way you see yourself. Everyone should love themselves and each other. How can we learn to love ourselves if people are putting us down around us? So work on how you see you and the world around you!
