In thinking about the start of the new year, and all the talk of New Year’s resolutions, diets, and workout plans, I have been reflecting a lot on the past year. 2021 has been a year of immense emotional growth and change for me, and I think that in past years I would have thought: “Okay, now is the time to make some changes- stick to a workout routine, only eat “clean”, become that girl who gets up early.”
This time of year, and frankly, all the time now with Instagram and social media, it is hard to escape the constant videos and pictures of thin, white women changing their bodies and their lives in sunlit gyms surrounded by beautiful photos of fresh produce. The words are often about “starting now” or “becoming your best self” which can be intriguing but the message that sticks with me are the pictures of girls becoming thinner, more toned, more glowy, more valuable.
Recently, I’ve been doing presentations to local high school students about body image and diet culture. I tell these students about how diet culture is the agreed upon term for the way our society tells us that the more you fit into a thin ideal of what a body should look like, the more valuable you are. I tell these students that message is not true. That our appearance is the least interesting thing about us, and that our worth does not change based on our weight, size, or how we look. And I truly believe that. And yet, seeing these videos still makes me wonder if I should try eating differently or run more and try to change my body.
Diet culture is sneaky, and even for those of us who work to reject that mentality, it is a struggle hearing diet talk in everyday life. We often think that someday (definitely before that big event) we will lose “the weight”, or that one day (preferably on January 1st) we will wake up and have the motivation and energy to workout every single day, perfect our morning routine and suddenly eat the same way as that Instagram influencer. But what if that person doesn’t exist? And what if it’s ok that they don’t exist?
I believe that our lives, our bodies, and our world are cyclical–we all go through seasons of growth, motivation, rest, recuperation, and more–though that can be hard to remember in a world where we are also juggling deadlines and social lives, never ending emails and so much pressure to live a certain way. This last year I’ve been working on reminding myself that I go through these cycles, and that it doesn’t make me a failure or mean that I’m undisciplined. Some days I’m going to feel like working out, some weeks it will be fun to go for a run with my friends, and sometimes I’m going to want to sit on the couch with my blankets and not do anything but eat leftover pizza. And that is all okay. Respecting these cycles does not make me a failure or a fraud. And it won’t in 2022 either.
After sharing a snippet of these thoughts with our community manager, Tori, she shared this quote with me:
“To get better at wintering, we need to address our very notion of time. We tend to imagine that our lives are linear, but they are in fact cyclical. I would not, of course, seek to deny that we gradually grow older, but while doing so, we pass through phases of good health and ill, of optimism and deep doubt, of freedom and constraint. There are times when everything seems easy, and times when it all seems impossibly hard. To make that manageable, we just have to remember that our present will one day become a past, and our future will be our present. We know that because it’s happened before. The things we put behind us will often come around again. The things that trouble us now will often come around again. Each time we endure the cycle, we ratchet up a notch. We learn from the last time around, and we do a few things better this time; we develop tricks of the mind to see us through. This is how progress is made. In the meantime, we can deal only with what’s in front of us at this moment in time. We take the next necessary action, and the next. At some point along the line, that next action will feel joyful again.”
Kate May, Wintering
We all go through phases, all the time. As the old cliche goes, the only thing constant is change. So why do we not allow the same grace for our bodies, our ambitions and our lives?
If you are looking to set a New Year’s resolution this year, consider May’s words about the natural cycles of life, and allow yourself the grace to change and grow, this year and every year regardless of calendar deadlines.
-Aimée
Marketing and Outreach Manager
