Piece by Piece

Well, it's been a year ago exactly that I came home from treatment.  I spent 57 days isolated from most of the world to focus on treatment, primarily for an eating disorder.  Being that it has been a year, I wanted to write something, anything, to commemorate my time in treatment and my recovery process thereafter.  I feel like I have so many thoughts and feelings right now that this may not make any sense, but I do hope you feel enlightened to read it. My stay in treatment felt like forever, and yet, there are many days I miss it.  I've never in my life been surrounded by people feeling the same feelings, having the same thoughts, and hoping to overcome all at the same time.  I've never had so much time to reflect on my past, what got me to the point of needing treatment, and figuring out who I am and who I want to be.  It is hard in everyday life to find moments of solitude to appreciate yourself, and really nourish yourself.  It's incredibly important to take care

I find that we all put so much pressure on ourselves.  Pressure in so many facets; to be the best employee, parent, student, have the most likes, be the best dressed, have the best hair, be the toughest man, the most ladylike woman, the strong one, the pretty one, or just needing to be noticed.  We often feel the pressure to be perfect.   Society has ingrained such high expectations of us as humans, and if we fall short of these expectations, are we failures?  If I don't fit the mold of what makes a 'woman' or a 'man', am I any less of a man/woman?  If I make a mistake on the job, does that make me incompetent?  If I have a stain on a shirt, am I a slob?  If I eat that doughnut, is it going right to my hips?  If I speak up, and I'm a woman, am I bitch? It pains me when I see a world surrounded by unrealistic expectations of a 'good body', fabricated or exaggerated stories to make us feel worthless,  What if we all just were ourselves, what i