Hi First name / love,

 

How are you this week? I'm feeling a bit… overwhelmed. I find myself monitoring the wildfire news in Los Angeles, worrying about a friend with a scary health diagnosis, and stressing over what's to come next week with the inauguration.

 

It's a lot to hold. And this morning, my anxiety woke me up before sunrise. I could feel myself worrying in my dreams, and then I felt even more frustrated that I'd lost precious sleep.

 

But as I write to you right now, I'm wrapped in a blanket at my desk, watching dawn break from my office window. This simple moment is calming my mind, my heart, and my spirit. Here's the view if you'd like to take a deep breath and join me.

 

 

While sitting here, I've been listening to a podcast interview I did at the end of last year with my client-turned-friend Leah Kern about the relationship between my break-up with diet culture and my break-up with social media.

 

In case this seems counter-intuitive or off-topic, let me rewind and share a bit more about my journey—

 

In my earliest days on Instagram (circa 2012), I spent a lot of time critiquing my body. I'd carefully curate photos of myself, untag “unflattering” photos on friends' pages, and fall into pits of compare, despair and self-loathing.

 

Over time, I shifted my relationship to my body by learning to see it in new ways. In essence, I took a lot of selfies and learned to love how I looked. I developed my selfies for radical self-love practice. I guided small groups of folks through this path. And I wrote two zines capturing my stories and supportive prompts.

 

I “officially” broke up with diet culture in an Instagram post on September 20, 2018. Four years later, I wrote this blog post revisiting that decision and sharing reflections like:

 

 

Looking back now, this same sentiment is what led to my break up with social media in April 2021, and it's led me to make more liberating, soul-aligned decisions in my work and life since.

 

 

My conversation with Leah felt like a beautiful invitation to reflect on these life-altering decisions, tapping back in just over 7 years after breaking up with diet culture and almost 4 years since leaving social media.

 

If you're interested in learning more about my story and swimming in the seas of personal liberation from diet culture and social media with me, I hope you'll tune in to the episode where Leah and I explore:

 

If anything resonates as you listen, feel free to reply here to chat with me or to reach out to Leah directly. She's a wise, powerful guide if you're seeking support with intuitive eating.

 

That's all for today, First name / my friend. Until next time, I wish you many moments of quiet comfort and care. ♡

 

xoxo, Amelia

 

 

 

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