How Summer Stopped Being About Swimsuits
I have gone back and forth, up and down about all the bathing suit options. My husband shudders when I bring up swimsuits because he knows what’s coming – the onslaught of a suit not fitting right, my perception of my body in it and the endless questions I ask him about what he thinks about this spot here or that spot there.
I have worn bikinis, tankinis and one-piece swimsuits. And honestly, I have complaints about them all. Rarely have I felt comfortable or happy with any of them. I have always known that it was my body that I was frustrated by deep down and not really the swimsuits, but I have let my annoyance with both get out of hand at times.
If I'm being honest, there are some things about this picture I don't love. My instincts tell me to crop the picture right at my elbow, deleting my lower half. And it's embarrassing to admit that that part of the picture takes my eye away from what's really going - holding my daughter on a chilly morning at the beach during her first visit. That's what matters here, not my thighs or belly!
Swimsuits – you let me hang out beside the pool/beach and soak in the sun. You let me swing my daughter around in the pool and go down water slides.
We haven’t always gotten along, but I think it’s time to call a truce. I'll stop expecting you to turn me into someone I'm not, and I'll appreciate your pattern/style and what you enable me to do. In turn, I'm taking back all the power I gave you that doesn't belong to you.
In solidarity, let's join the movement of making summer about SUMMER - the activities, the food, the fun - and not about swimsuits.
Here's to walking in freedom and confidence this summer, no matter what you rock at the beach or pool.