Who I Am and Why I Am Here

Courtesy of the WordPress Blogging University Blogging 101 challenge and some self-reflection I’ve been doing these past few weeks, I’m here today to tell you a bit more about who I am and why I’m here.

Some years ago, I discovered blogging as an idea to make some extra money in my free time. I was never much of a writer, or so I thought, so it was really hard for me to create posts to sell products that I didn’t believe in at all. Yet, through a happy coincidence, I found a product that I half believed in: a dating how-to guide.

At the time, I was newly single and sad about it. I had run the gamut of after-breakup-dating-mishaps and I wanted to learn how to do it “right.” Enter the dating guide.

The post I ended up writing under an alias to advertise the guide was something so different from anything else that I had previously written. It was raw, it was honest, it was cathartic, it was cleansing.

I wanted more of that.

And I needed it.

I had never put much stock in journaling and had had a few failed attempts at keeping diaries in my teenage years. I didn’t think this writing stuff was for me.

However, the ability to be so open about my feelings and what was going on with me was addictive. And with each successive post, it helped me work through the sadness that had engulfed me since my break up.

I felt so freed by finding privacy in a public space. It was like being naked in a crowd, but invisible.

Good stuff.

Fast forward a few years, and you’ll find me starting my health coaching business. Blogging was all the rage for establishing oneself, giving a personality to an online presence, and developing a relationship with potential clients.

I was resistant.

I was so resistant.

I was afraid of “coming out” as a fat person who was daring to be a health coach. I thought no one would want what I had to offer and I’d be an utter failure. Working through these false beliefs by finding Health at Every Size and the Fat and Size Acceptance movements catapulted me to begin producing my own little feats of activism: writing. Honest and open blog posts about my personal experiences as a fat person who dares to go against the grain and declare that my health is exclusive of my body size.

I’ve been found by others who find my words inspirational. I’ve made connections with like-minded folks who want to continue to spread the word. I’ve become more sure about what it is I’m doing here and what I want to continue to do.

I’m fat. I’m proud. I’m focusing on my health. And I’m on a journey to make this a possibility for any other fat person who makes the choice to do so.

Wanna come along?