Dear Jameela Jamil

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Dear Jameela Jamil,

I sit here in tears as I write this. I know you probably won’t answer, but you are one of my biggest inspirations and I thought that if anyone could offer words of advice it would be you. Every time I see one of your tweets advocating body positivity or feminism or disability rights I like it and retweet and I think “I wish I could inspire people like she does”. I love what you are doing with iweigh. I love your acting but, even more so, I love your outlook on the world and your ability to inspire others.

I am 19 years old. All of my life I have struggled with illnesses and disabilities that have left my body in a not-so-perfect condition. Don’t get me wrong, I am still grateful for all that I have – all of my limbs, a healthy weight, etc. I have struggled with body image for a decade already, but I thought that I had come to terms with my body. I even wrote a blog post at https://persistingpain.blogspot.com/2019/01/metamorphosis.html about my body positivity and every time I talk about it I talk about how people should love their bodies in all shapes and sizes.

But that still hasn’t changed that today I tried on a swimming costume for the first time in years and as soon as I looked at my body I burst into tears. I looked at my slightly-too-large figure, my cellulite and my stretchmarks, and I felt a wave of disgust and shame. I couldn’t go out in public looking like this!

How can I tell others to be happy with their figures if I cannot do it myself? Can I really go out in public in a swimming costume looking like this and not cry and panic as I do so?  And will I ever be able to look at my body and love how it looks?

If you have read this then thank you so much for taking the time to do so. I really appreciate your time as I know that you must be very busy. I know that you will probably not have the time to respond but, if you do, it would mean the world to me. I could really use some hope and inspiration at the moment.


Many thanks,

Alex Compton

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Comments

  1. Anne Idakwo21 February 2019 at 13:57

    I understand perfectly what it means to be unhappy with your body. But let me say that just reading this post, I know that your mind is superb. You are young and passionate and eager to impact the world and that is a hundred times better than physical image. I hope your letter gets to Jameela well but these are my own words of encouragement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex Compton21 February 2019 at 14:25

      Thank you, Anne. I really appreciate your support and kind words :)

      Delete
  2. Unknown24 February 2019 at 00:35

    I hope that this letter reaches who you wrote it to. We all have something about us that we are not happy about no matter the size. I hope you learn to embrace who you are and love EVERY bit of it. Nobody is perfect, but we are all special 🤗

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex Compton24 February 2019 at 04:31

      Thank you :) You're right, we are all special and I am really thankful for your support!

      Delete
  3. Suktara2 March 2019 at 15:07

    I understand you love. I struggled with my body issues as well. After years and years of suffering I have begun to understand and accept myself. Lots of love to you. You are beautiful ❤️

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex Compton2 March 2019 at 17:30

      Thank you :) I am glad that you are starting to accept yourself and see your own beauty. Love to you too x

      Delete
  4. Unknown2 March 2019 at 19:42

    Hey Alex, thanks for sharing your blog with me on Twitter. Read this post just now and just wanted to comment something I hope will encourage you to be kinder to yourself. I'm 27 now and only just realised how amazing my body is despite the cellulite and wrinkles or whatever else I considered a "flaw". Our soul gets one life and this is the body that will be taking us from start to finish! What it looks like doesn't matter! Don't get to 27 and realise, like I did, that I've been wasting precious hours of my one life worrying about what others are thinking about me because trust me, for every one person that doesn't like the way you look, there's about 10 others that love it! I promise you! Anyway, let's hope Jameela sees this! She's a legend x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex Compton2 March 2019 at 21:40

      Thank you! I really appreciate your support and I am working on getting to a place where I am happier with myself x

      Delete
  5. ThatUnknownBlogger5 March 2019 at 19:57

    After reading this post, I can definitely say that you are also very inspiring and just as inspiring as those who inspire you. I just don't want you to think less of yourself because you are awesome. :D Thank you for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex Compton5 March 2019 at 20:33

      Thank you, I really appreciate your kind words and hope that I do manage to inspire others :)

      Delete

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