Every so often, I come across a TEDx talk that I love and can watch over and over. And today it happened, not once but TWICE. I found the first one by accident, and the second one came up and started playing right after the first one. Because both of them share such important messages, I felt the need to share them with you, but only one today đŸ˜‰
While I loved this one, it was my least favorite out of the two. Mainly because this was full of statistics and quotes, which can seem more ‘boring.’ But I did pull several golden nuggets from the talk, Stripping away negative body image with Lillian Bustle:
“Courage Reference – doing something brave & keeping that feeling in your pocket for times you’re not feeling so brave anymore.”
“Being beautiful is a decision that you make.” -Fancy Feast
(in reference to talking to performers with non traditional bodies) … “what I’m doing is BRAVE. I’m standing on a stage and saying I’m fat and I’m beautiful and not only am I not afraid to be seen, I’m WORTH looking at. What I’m doing IS brave. What I’m doing IS important. What I’m doing IS socially significant …” – Lillian Bustle
That courage reference thing? Hot damn! I loved that idea and will be “stealing” it for my life!
And the quote about beautiful being a decision you make – uhm, mic drop!
The last piece I shared from Lillian herself is just a reminder that we’re all worth looking at; it does not matter our size. We’re all brave in our own ways. We’re all doing important things.
What I loved most? Lillian is a fat burlesque dancer!
My body-love yoga instructor used to do something different & fun once a month – she would bring in a burlesque dancer, and we learned a quick, simple burlesque routine. It’s nothing like what she does on stage (stripping, etc.), but it’s still fun to learn some of the routines and get in touch (literally) with my body.
Anyway, you can watch Lillian’s Tedx talk here: