Worthwhile Reads 3/15/15

Good morning on this lovely Ides of March Sunday! The weather has been a little dreary lately after such gorgeous weather last week, and the change in weather has matched my mood to some extent. I have been feeling pretty low-energy over the last few days and my sleep hasn’t been that great recently. I was also bit by a pitbull on Friday (damn you, Friday the 13th), so that was neat. I’m hoping to spend today doing some relaxing before I head into another week, but first I am linking up with Amanda to share some interesting and amusing reads from around the Internet with you. Enjoy!

Recovery

Trauma & ED: Is It Possible To Fully Recover From A Traumatic Event?

An interesting look at the relationship between  trauma and eating disorders.

Regaining My Mind And My Hair

A lovely, honest post on one woman’s ever-changing relationship with her hair, her body, and her identity.

The Problem With ‘Fat Talk’

I was glad to see that Facebook removed their ‘feeling fat’ option, and this is an excellent article on why the call to end ‘fat talk’ should not stop there.

Forgiving Ourselves Is Not An Excuse To Engage ED

This spoke so much truth to me. I can’t count the number of times I have confused my disorder’s attempts at staying in control with giving myself grace. ‘Everybody makes mistakes. Just go hungry this one time,’ or ‘You can focus on recovery tomorrow when you’re less stressed out’ are some examples. It is essential to forgive yourself in recovery, but that can easily turn into an eating disorder’s excuse for keeping you sick. Lasting recovery comes from the ability to acknowledge the disorder’s attempts at remaining in control while they are happening and choosing to make a different choice.

Anorexia, Body Image Disorder Share Brain Irregularities

I always find the neuroscience behind mental health, especially eating disorders, absolutely fascinating. It may not come as a surprise that these disorders share some neurological characteristics, but I found this article pretty interesting nonetheless.

Eating Disorders, Body Image, And The Women’s Rights Movement

A great post on how the pressure for women to meet an unrealistic beauty ideal leads to the development of eating disorders, and ultimately holds back all women from reaching our full potential in society.

There Is No “Right Way” To Recover

We all follow different paths to recovery and that’s completely okay. Just as our lives tell different stories, our recovery journeys may not all be the same.

Life, Etc.

All The Disappointing Ways American Sex Education Is Failing Young People

We seriously need to get our act together, America.

Authentically Loving The Skin I’m In…Marks And All

As somebody who struggled with my complexion for much of my teenage and early adult years, this post resounded loudly with me. Like everything else about our appearance, our skin complexion says nothing about our worth as human beings.

Misophonia: What It Is And How It Affected Me

It takes a lot of courage to write a post like this that shares a very personal experience, and Alison did a wonderful job writing a post that raises awareness for a condition that I, for one, knew little about.

How To Rediscover Yourself Through Selfies In 7 Days

I love this challenge! There’s no better way to confront a fear of having our ‘real selves’ exposed than to consciously choose to expose them.

Why We Demonize Mental Illness So We Don’t Have To Do Anything About It

Mental illness is so painfully misunderstood and mistreated in our society, as this article articulates nicely, and compassion is a wonderful first step toward changing our attitudes.

Killing The Cool Girl

This is such a wonderful article on how living a life trying to be ‘cool’ can ignore our needs and prevent us from living full, happy lives.

That wraps things up for this week – rain or shine, I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!