Lyrically Speaking

One of my biggest faults is that I can often be too forgiving of people when they emotionally or physically harm me. But I would also wager that it is one of my better traits as well. I see the good in people, even when I can’t see it in myself. I see and seek out other peoples light like a heat or sun lamp. The hope is that their warmth and light will make me shine a little brighter. As an empath, I have a hard time separating my feelings and emotions from others. It’s why I find being around people so incredibly draining. I need time away in order to sort through my own emotions, but I also need people to fully thrive.  This can be a really hard balancing act because it often leaves me open to be taken advantage of and thus I become more standoffish when meeting new people. Being around my energy comes at a price of me taking a moment to fully assess you as a person before opening myself up.  It’s what every friend I have always says.  So I thought it was really interes...

I often find it difficult to exist in the Body Positive and Fat Activist communities because I find that the people who are given the microphone or spotlight are the people who already fit into what is considered an acceptable fat.  This is not to diminish the struggles that anyone who falls on the plus-sized category but more to draw attention to the struggle that many of us who do not fit this aesthetic fall into and that while there are crusades to get brands to be more inclusive in their sizing, it seems that we area easily satisfied with a company that decides to offer up to US Size 18, because they’re including the whole 3-4 sizes of Plus into it. The sizes that are still considered “acceptable” fat.  Me (right) Age 10.   My whole life I have toted the line of “unacceptable” fat. When I was in junior high or middle school, I was shopping in women’s plus sized clothing. My options were extremely ruffled shirts and textures or the oppressive woven polyester that lined...