Copyright © 2019 Spreekbuis
Maya set down her fork. “Tasha, can I tell you something I wish I’d learned ten years ago?”
One evening, her younger cousin, Tasha, visited. Tasha was sixteen, already speaking the language of calories and guilt. She eyed Maya’s dinner—a bowl of pasta with roasted veggies and a sprinkle of cheese—and whispered, “Isn’t that… heavy?”
Maya laughed. “I know.”
Afterward, they sat side by side, eating apple slices dipped in almond butter. A woman jogged past, lean and swift. Another person walked slowly with a cane, smiling at the sky. A child chased a squirrel. Bodies everywhere, each one telling its own story.
In the soft glow of a Saturday morning, Maya scrolled through her phone, thumb hovering over a photo of a model in workout gear. The caption read: “No excuses. Transform your body in 30 days.” Maya sighed, pulling her oversized sweater tighter around her midsection. She had tried that program. And the one before it. Each time, she ended up feeling less like a transformation and more like a failure.
That night, Maya wrote in her journal: Body positivity is not pretending every day is perfect. It’s showing up for yourself on the wobbly days, the bloated days, the days you can’t touch your toes. It’s understanding that health looks different on every body. And the most radical thing you can do is live well—not perfectly—on your own terms.
Copyright © 2019 Spreekbuis