MEscovery

As I'm on holiday at the moment and lying by the pool (stick around, I'm going somewhere with this) it's only natural to have a look around at all the people surrounding me. Men, women. All different nationalities, ages and body shapes.  I start playing the ranking game. Not very consciously but nevertheless I do it. A woman might be taller and leaner but have a slightly bigger belly. Bigger boobs but chubbier legs. Pretty arms but pasty skin. I think it's a way of confirming my own body shape is not perfect but neither is anyone else's. Would I want to swap one of my flaws for another? I wonder if we were put in a room by ourselves with no one to compare ourselves to or measure against would we be happier to accept who we are? Does the culture to share and compare through magazines, social networking etc. feed into our insecurities or is it a way for us to "like" ourselves by highlighting the areas we like and blurring out those which we don't.  I...

We're having a sunny day here. I realise that the rest of the country is flooding, but let's focus on the rapidly approaching spring. Days are lighter longer, the sun is shining and birds are tweeting. Soon it will be summer and with that, time to bare all. Bikini anyone? I have always been pretty confident when it comes to just wearing what I like. You know those people  who see themselves as lots bigger than they really are? Not me, I'm probably more on the delusional side where I tend to think it's not that bad. Surely not. Can't be. It's all good. But then a picture will show up that makes me question my whole theory. It's like a slap in the face seeing yourself in black and white (or colour), on paper or on screen. Especially when the person you are looking at looks nothing like the person you thought you allowed to walk out of the house after a look in the mirror that day. Usually the person in the photo looks a lot less sleek, pretty and slim th...