What Keeping it Real Means to Me

If you know me personally, or if you've read this recently, you'll know I'm obsessed with real. If it ain't real, don't even try giving it to me. 

But real can be interpreted in so many different ways, especially in today's day of Instagram quotes and memes.  Suddenly. everything is politicized.

The term 'real' is often used to discount one idea or object, in order to assert or inflate the importance of another.  Real women. Real food. Real love. 

But, 'real' is something we declare for ourselves. We must determine what is true for us by listening to our own sense of who we are, not by paying attention to the collective opinion of us.

For me, keeping it real means discovering + living your bare truth out loud - whatever that truth is. Real women are big, small, short, tall. Real women are cis, trans, bi, queer. Real women are women who are authentic, open, vulnerable and, sometimes, afraid. 

My version of real is being honest for the sheer sake of connection. Even, and especially, when it's hard.  It's remaining open in order to create a space where less women  feel alone and we are all encouraged to find our own version of healing. It's keeping it real, so together, we can attempt to discover what real means for us individually.

Real food and beauty products are not contaminated with cheap, synthetic fillers and fragrances or man-made garbage ingredients. They're uncomplicated and not overly messed with, easy for our bodies to absorb, assimilate, process and recognize. They are things that don't confuse our natural rhythm - that don't pollute or trick our well-designed systems. They nourish and sustain us, so our bodies can move forth in the world with balance, resilience and strength.

My whole mission is to explore what it means to be a healthy girl-woman in our modern society.

What do we need? What do we need protection from? What do we need to reject in order to thrive? How do we take care of ourselves, so we can fulfil our potential? So we feel well enough to go out and kick ass, fight for what we believe in and achieve our desires? That's what gets me out of bed in the morning.

So, yes, this space is about nutrition, wellness and lifestyle. But, it's also about power, politics and patriarchy. It's about feminism. It's about your mental + emotional health and how deeply we are impacted just by navigating the stress and discomfort of our current world. The macrocosm deeply impacts the microcosm. Everything we do, see, think, eat, use, and engage with affects our health. If we are going to be up to the task of living our fullest lives, we're required to examine every aspect of ourselves with an open mind and an open heart. We're required to accept ourselves for exactly who we are and be brave enough to be ourselves. That's what keeping it real means to me. 

What does it mean to you?