Today’s blog post is dedicated to the incredible woman who inspires me to write, Blythe Baird. Blythe released her poetry book ‘If my body could speak’, last month, and I can honestly say that it is the best book I have ever read. Her poems are so inspirational and they remind me of why recovery is worth it. I want to share with you all the quotes within her book that stood out for me and gave me hope. I really do suggest that if you haven’t already, you go and buy her book, you won’t regret it!
‘If you are not recovering, you are dying.’
This quote reminds us of why we must choose recovery. There are only two outcomes of an eating disorder, don’t let it be the bad one. Devote yourself to recovery today.
‘Recovery is important. Healing is more interesting than suffering.’
Sometimes we believe that to be noticed we need to suffer. But we don’t. We are enough. We are 1000x enough.
‘Writing is the ongoing act of forgiving and apologising.’
This quote reminds me of why I love writing. I can write and all of my emotions are released. I’m not much of a talker, I’m quite quiet, but when I write, I can express myself, and get my ‘voice’ heard.
‘You deserve all of the dazzling things that are on there way to you.’
You won’t feel this way forever. Your pain will give way to hope and your suffering will give way to LIFE.
‘Watch me drag the art out of my suffering. Watch me plant seeds down my spine and bloom into a garden of poetry. Watch me build an empire from the ashes of everything that tried to destroy me.’
What a quote! This is telling you what you NEED to always remember, no matter how hopeless you may feel, that this whole journey, this whole process of recovery and all that comes with it, will make you stronger. My eating disorder has brought me a hell of a lot of pain and suffering, but if it wasn’t for my experience with Anorexia, I wouldn’t have the insight I have to help other people. I wouldn’t have written a blog. I wouldn’t have written a book. Therefore as awful as my mental illness has been to live with, it has made me into a stronger person, and I am grateful for my struggle, because without it, I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength.
‘Will I be something? Am I something? And the answer comes: already am, always was, and I still have time to be.’
You are enough, and you were always enough, you just have to see that for yourself.
‘You cannot change the world on an empty stomach.’
You cannot live with an eating disorder, you can merely survive. Think about what your eating disorder has brought you- loss of friends? Conflict with family? Anxiety? Depression? Now think about what recovery is bringing you, and think about all of the amazing things that it has in store for you. Happy memories. Blossoming friendships. A life.
And that, my friends, is the best of Blythe Baird…
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