“You don’t owe anybody thinness” is what I keep repeating to myself every time I find myself sucking in my stomach or hunching my shoulders in public. After a million or so times it should sink in.
For good measure I try to follow this up with “It’s okay to take up space.”
How silly it is that we live in a world where we’re judged by the amount of space we take up to go about our daily lives and that somehow our value should be derived from how much or how little space we use.
Has anybody directly told me “You take up too much space”? No. Is that message present in marketing and clothing sizes and diet culture? Yes.
My favourite feature is my face, I like nothing about my size or about my body. To even myself, I’m only just a pretty face.
Hope this finds you well,
-L
Sight Unseen 
To play devil’s advocate I have started looking at my insecurities as notifications from my conscience that I need to address something in my life.
The ‘take up too much space’ one is common with me too, but instead of trying to brush it off as societal standards, I’ve begun questioning exactly why I feel that way, and what I can do about it.
Your post has given me food for thought. Thanks for sharing!
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