What Psoriasis Taught Me About Body Positivity

This is a world where society and advertising seem to dictate to us how we should look and how our hair should look. Or what the size of your bodies should be, and how and where our muscles should be.

A world where fashion trends are followed despite their obvious discomfort. In this world, I often feel like I do not belong.

Comparing myself and my body image to others

Growing up I was never as thin as other girls. I always wanted to look a little more like someone else. Oh, teenage version of me, if only you knew then what you know.

As I have matured and grown older, I have learned so much along the way. For the longest time, I have carried these demons with me. My psoriasis helped me let so much of that go.

Finding positivity through psoriasis

It took me learning to love myself at my absolute worst to realize just how much I deserved my own love when I was at my best. I come from a great home. My mom allowed me to dress as I wanted, within reason.

She never berated me or my body, I was never told I was fat or had to lose weight to be a better person or to look better. So I grew up, for the most part, thinking that I was pretty okay.

Now that I understand most things better in life. I get it. Those guys and gals are a small percent of the population. They are dressed (or not) and have their makeup done.

Loving myself and my psoriasis skin

Post-production ensures that there is not a blemish or an uneven surface. Leaving the end product as more of artwork than actual reality. An unobtainable reality, no matter which way you look at it.

Learning to love myself and truly accept myself was really tough. It is a worthy lesson in life, for no other reason than we all truly do deserve it.

Body positivity is a constant lesson

Learning to walk with my skin out in the open and be okay if people stare is a constant lesson for me. What I know for sure now is that the kind of people who judge you on something as simple and fickle as how your skin looks are not people I want in my life.

Or even the size and shape of your body, the clothes you choose, or the way you wear your hair. Those people are not the kind of people I want in my life anyway, so they can stare, whisper, and snicker behind their hands. I smile. I hold my head high and I walk on by.

Lessons on loving yourself and being kind to others

Some short and deeply important lessons I have learned by the gentle, and often times not so gentle, hand of my psoriasis.

• Everyone wants and needs to be loved.
• Never EVER judge a book by its cover. I can almost guarantee you, you will be wrong.
• Be kind to everyone you meet.
• Look up, make eye contact, and smile at strangers.
• Body weight and, size and shape says NOTHING about who someone is.

Learn to love yourself as you are right now, you are as deserving of the love you give to others. Shine a little bit of that love on yourself.