Day 14: Letters to myself to be read next time I freak out about wearing a bathing suit in public

Letters to myself to be read next time I freak out about wearing a bathing suit in public

1. Dear Me,

Going to the swimming pool is not the same as going to war.

Please, breathe deeply:

bathing suits are not your enemy.

In the same way your body has never been beach-body perfect,

it has always been beach-body perfect,

remind yourself --

there is no danger here.

2. Dear Me,

I would rather die than speak to a child the way I speak to you.

It would never cross my mind to do to anyone

what I have done to you,

I know

you do not deserve my wrath

you were never meant to be hurt.

I'm sorry.

3. Dear Me,

Your body is not wrong

this costume is not a cone of shame,

not a dunce cap,

not a uniform meant to display all evidence

of your failures

it is merely

a piece of clothing to go swimming in.

Treat it as such.

4. Dear Me,

No one is looking

no one is judging

no one is waiting

to shame you,

all of this was already done 

before you stepped away

from the mirror.

5. Dear Me,

You are a woman

who can wear a bathing suit in public.

The water cannot possibly

be as cold and deep

as you imagine.