Please, if you have 15 minutes, and you know someone who struggles with Anorexia specifically, (if you are reading this blog... you do!) watch Laura Hill’s Ted Talk about what it is like to struggle through the “noise” of this disease. It is the most beautiful and accurate depiction of what this is like on a day to day basis I have ever heard.
This is particularly relevant as the shallow, pop-media continues to perpetuate that people who are afflicted with Anorexia are vain and posses the “will-power” to take dieting to the extreme, with their only and ultimate goal, a thin body. That this is not a disease but rather, a “choice”.
I’ll never forget the look of helpless sorrow on my dear friend’s face who supported me through treatment the first time around, when I tried to eat my first evening meal (in many weeks) through panicked tears. After that meal was finally over, I believe he understood for the first time, that something more sinister than a drive to be “thin” was at work. I felt finally, that someone understood~ really and truly understood, that I was not “choosing” not to eat. It was the first time I ever risked letting anyone in to see what the struggle was truly like. The relief in that moment, was like being wrapped in a warm blanket and feeling safe in the world for the first time since Olivia arrived in my life.
So I ask my readers (hi mom!) to please watch Laura Hill describe with true compassion, why someone with Anorexia can’t “just eat”.
As you look for Angels in your life and I’m sure you will always find, you will know them by their kindness and love for all mankind. They won’t be wearing angel wings or doing supernatural things, they are ordinary people, just the same as you and I. - may you find many Angels as you go through this horrid disease~~**~~SLC
ReplyDeleteThank you Shirley!
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