Half: One woman's journey...

HALF: One woman's journey to lose weight

Julia Kozerski's Website
Originally found  on Facebook.com from www.mamamia.com

‘While I genuinely believed that my hard work and dedication would transform me into that “perfect” person of my dreams, the reality of what has resulted is quite the opposite. My experience contradicts what the media tends to portray. While it is easy to celebrate and appreciate the dramatic physical results of such an endeavor, underneath the layers of clothing and behind closed doors, quite a different reality exists.’  J Kozerski


This series of photographs struck me on so many levels that it makes it hard to find a direction to start.

First:  It's Thanksgiving 2012, which means that many Americans across the country just stuffed themselves to the point of bursting.   The Holiday Mecca for over-eaters everywhere that starts today and goes through the New Year.  We are a nation of indulgers.  I include myself in this as well; I have too many things, need to lose weight, etc...  It's no wonder that our children are increasingly becoming more obese.  Ah, but this can be a rant for another day.  So our indulgences led this woman (and many other) to have the need to lose weight, which produced this series of photos on her blog.

Second:  So many of us think that we need to be perfect.  We strive to have perfect bodies, perfect grades, perfect homes, perfect family....  Because we want people to like us, love us even.  Because we think that everyone else has a perfect life.  So we do things like buy the nicest house, lose weight, send our kids to the best schools...., to make everyone else think that our life is perfect.  All the while, popular culture, the media, advertisements tell us that we should be perfect, that we can be, that we want to be.  If we only do this, buy that, eat this but not that; we can obtain our desires and look like the "pretty people" we see on TV and in movies.

Lastly (and more importantly):  I found these photos to be beautiful.  In their raw honesty, we see into the soul.  We see the woman, not her weight or the wrinkles of her skin.  She shines through.  She is flawed, normal, just a woman, not particularly special, but so perfect in her own way.  She is her perfect self.  I hope that we can all achieve this, if even for only a moment.