Sometimes it’s hard to know what we want. This may sound counterintuitive, but one good way to determine what we want is to first look at what we don’t want. The reason for this suggestion is that we often have more clarity about the unwanted elements of our lives. Our wardrobes can be much the …
In my last post, I reflected back on the capsule wardrobe challenge that I did in late 2018 and was pleased to learn that many of my capsule pieces remain in my wardrobe today. I also recapped my 2019 wardrobe goals and summarized how I did in fulfilling upon them (it was a “mixed bag”…). …
If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that I make a habit of selecting a one-word theme each year. This theme serves as sort of an over-arching beacon for my goals, activities, and introspection for that given year. Some examples of themes that I have chosen during the past decade include simplicity, …
I’m fat! My thighs are huge! I’m ugly! I’m old!
How often do you say these types of things about yourself, either aloud or inside your head? How much time and energy do you spend disparaging yourself and your appearance? Do you think this kind of negative self-talk helps you to change?
For many years, I was my own worst critic. I would criticize myself for a multitude of “sins,” but my most frequent criticisms related to my appearance. I set unbelievably high standards for how I looked, and I would berate myself for not living up to these benchmarks. Whenever I would look at myself in the mirror, all I would see were my flaws; my virtues were invisible to the harsh judge inside my head.
I used to believe that my self-criticism served a useful purpose. I thought that my brutal thoughts and words motivated me to change, and that the judgments pushed me toward productive action. While it’s true that seeing that I didn’t live up to my own standards propelled me to exercise more often and restrict my food intake, there was also a downside to my self-criticism that I didn’t see until recently.
NOTE: This post was originally published on my previous blog, Body Image Rehab. Today’s post is dedicated to a topic which some may consider to be frivolous… fashion. I have always enjoyed clothes and shopping, but it has only been in recent years that I’ve come to learn the power of what we wear to …
My Wardrobe, Myself 