Summer Style and Body Positivity

Something that’s always a hot topic year after year once temperatures rise is the “beach body” and the pressure society places on us to reach unrealistic expectations. It seems even stronger this year, as we all emerge for our year + of isolation and social distancing, some of us a little softer than last year.

I’ve always struggled with body image. I grew up with a ballerina for a mother, dancing myself, and obviously entered a business where the way that you look really matters. Most of my life I spent waiting to feel happy in my body, making excuses for the way it takes up space, instead of accepting that whether it’s bigger or smaller, it’s mine.

I started Read & Wright because I always wanted a community to connect with. If you’ve read any of my reflective pieces since I started my blog, you’ll know how I love to write. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I love to talk to you. Why did I start a blog about books? Because it was the part of me that felt safest. There can’t be any mean trolls hiding around the corner to comment about me and my body if I’m talking about books, right?

But then my space started to evolve. I wanted to be able to share about how reading is a huge part of my entire life, how I make it work in my life to inspire others to pick up a book in their spare time too. So i shared an OOTD or two, started taking more and more photos of myself and posting them. A few trolls found me but for the most part, nothing bad happened. A few people reached out and started asking where I shopped because we had similar body types and it made me feel good that there were others out there built like me.

I’ve learned a lot about how to keep my body active for the right reasons. I feel better when I move my body (and now with Beasley, I’ll be moving it even more) but it wasn’t always that way for me. I still don’t put a lot of pressure on myself, I just tell myself “I will move my body for 30 minutes today. I don’t care when, but it will happen today.”

I don’t want to be another person on the internet telling you what to do with your body or what will make you feel better, as this is my own personal experience. But that mindset shift from, “I must move so I have the approval of other people,” to “I must move for my mental health” has been life changing.

I used to want to move to make myself smaller. Now I move and fuel my body to make myself happier, so that I can take up the space I deserve. Does that mean I never look at myself and wish I could lose weight? Of course not. But it does mean that I wake up every day happy to be able to move.

I’ve been marinating on these thoughts for a while and a couple messages about bathing suits last week finally inspired me to sit down and write it out. I’m going to be sharing a couple books featuring protagonists who may be softer and curvier like me, plus some summer clothing that I love that leaves me feeling confident and comfortable.

Swim Suit // Smock Swing Dress // Polo Dress // Chambray shorts // Eyelet Blouse // Romper //

My body isn’t perfect and there are days I love it more than others but one thing I’m proud of is that I haven’t let any of these thoughts stop me from living, which is the biggest win in my book.