WIAW With a Poem

Happy Wednesday! My week has flown by, since a good chunk of Monday was spent in the ER with my roommate (who knew washing dishes could be so dangerous?! 4 stitches and 4 hours later, she was fine!) and Tuesday catching up with school. I ate – nothing too exciting, but I still enjoyed every bite, I ran, I studied, I did yoga. A peek into my eats:

Breakfast: oatmeal cooked in water and almond milk, with pumpkin butter, raisins, cinnamon and sunflower seed butter. Morning workout: 4.5 mi run. Lunch: Pan-fried polenta, steamed Swiss chard, and black beans, topped with nutritional yeast and salsa. Dinner: Oven-roasted snap peas, pita chips, and Sriracha swirled hummus. Evening workout: 1 hr power yoga class. Pre- and post- yoga snacks: Trail mix with peanut butter filled pretzels, raisins, granola, and peanuts; a rehydrating orange and chamomile tea.

The focus of this post, however, is not about me or my day. I recently received a copy of the book of poetry, Jump, written and published by the girl that I mentored in college. Even though we are no longer formerly involved in the mentorship program, we still meet up from time to time to catch up on life, her college applications, and hopes and dreams for the future. I could go on and on about how amazing she is, but I think her poetry speaks for itself. If you are interested, she has copies of her book for sale for $10 – email me (homemadeadventure@gmail.com) for information about how to purchase one!

I wanted to share this poem because I think it is particularly applicable to the healthy living community. Often, healthy diets and vanity are confused. A strong motivation for what we put on our plates is purely motivated by trying to fit into a certain pair of pants or meet certain expectations. While vanity can kickstart our motivation for healthy living, it cannot stop there. If we are never satisfied with our weight or our shape, then we are not healthy. Being healthy is more than just being thin: it is about self-acceptance and loving the body you have been given, no matter the number that is written on your pants tag says. My favorite seventeen year old articulates this much better than I ever could, so I will share her words.

The Marshall’s Fitting Room

from Jump, by Yolandi Cruz

Sorry I’m late

I just came back from the most wonderful date with myself

It was love at first sight

In a Marshall’s fitting room with dancing chandeliers,

flying monkeys and a pair of frozen cacti

For the first time in my life I had butterflies in my stomach

like we were meant to be

I stood there

Naked

Admiring the most beautiful landscape.

I had never seen me before

I’m not an architect but her body

was full of diverse composition

Every line falling perfectly into the subway of the city

Her breast lying loosely from her chest like

wet spaghetti waiting to be dried

Her eyelashes, spring-wet grass being pushed by the wind

Eyes yelling out Help Me!

Help me crawl out of fire I’ve started

My body is aching from the

infinite, constant, darkness I’ve been living in.

Even her insecurities made me fall for her

I was in love

Me: had the most royal name

I am a queen

Me: had the most beautiful smile

I am beauty

Me: had the most soft lips

I am tenderness

She was perfect.

She traced the stretch marks around her body like a map

Contemplating the useless times, she stressed over them

They have become more visible than they should be

She has been through bumpy roads

These yellow street lines symbolize

People physically and mentally abusing her

But she is her worst enemy

No one has hurt her more than herself

I had never met anyone like me

She was beautifully scary

Her reflection a fountain of jewels

erupting from a volcano

Her smile a rain shower of treasures

leaping from hidden chambers

The four walls in my room have trapped me

from seeing her

The PacSun skinny jeans that will never fit me

The Seventeen Magazine girls with no blemish

The various corsets my family has bought me

I stood in that fitting room for an hour

Forgave me for canceling our dates in the past

For telling her I would call but never finding

the courage to dial her number

For ignoring her

After our date

I promised me that would be

here,

there,

later,

now,

forever

I promised me to let go of people who are mistreating her

I would always remind me that I am not beautiful

But that I am beauty itself

After all you don’t meet your soulmate everyday.