‘To me, where the wild things are is a place that exists in our mind, it’s a place of liberty and shamelessness. It could take a split second or a lifetime to find it, but once you do, you’ll be free’

Alessia Cara

I’m not here to talk to you about anorexia. Or bulimia. What pain feels like. Or what it feels like to want to die every day of your life. I could, but I’m not going to. I’m here to talk to you about you. Yes, you.

You - the person who says they’re going on a diet. The person who talks about how many carbs are in a slice of cake. You hurt. The person who thinks having Cara Delevigne’s thigh gap would be the best thing to have in this whole world.

Yes, people talk about food all the time. Being thin. If only I could be a stone lighter. People talk about eating disorders all the time. We’ve all heard of anorexia and bulimia, but do we really know what they are? Do we really know the hurt we’re causing when we pass a dismissive comment on someone’s butt?

For most of you, these things represent undernourished teenage girls or someone sticking their fingers down their throat. But it’s not these things. It’s so much more than that. We are so much more than that. We the recovered, we the warriors.

I chose this quote because we all have this in us, we all need this, whether we are affected by an eating disorder or not.  When the hurt and the pain stop then we can be free and without shame. Liberty and shamelessness.

To the warriors reading this: don’t stop. Don’t give up. Ever. Because what’s on the other side is so worth the fight. You are so worth the fight.

Dedicated to Lulu Flowers