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  • Writer's pictureFaith Costa

My First Steps...


I'd love to talk about what I very much consider my first big "baby steps" I took on social media that was monumentally my start of becoming body positive.

Basically, a few days after I made made my Instagram account, I felt compelled to do something "radical". I was looking at my gallery on my phone, scrolling through all of these "selfies" and pictures I had taken that I had never shared with anyone before. I'll never be sure why I took them in the first place (considering at the time I knew I would never post them to Facebook or anything like that) but I was so glad I did. I was glad because I came across one picture that changed everything for me. This picture was unlike any picture I had ever taken, of myself or otherwise. This is the picture that empowered me. The picture that redefined how I needed to view myself and how I wanted to present myself.

This was the picture that changed it all.

Looking at it, you might think "It's just some chick taking a mirror selfie. What's the big deal?" Let me assure you, it was a very big deal. This was the caption:

I meant every word. It really was one of the most terrifying moments for me to click that "Upload" button, to solidify that I was putting myself out into the world in a way I never would have dreamed of.

A few hours later, EffYourBeautyStandards "reposted" me for the first time. This was the picture they chose. In less than an hour it had gotten thousands of likes, countless amounts of comments, I got an influx of followers on my page and I was overwhelmed with the amount of positivity I was receiving. I had never realized that social media could work this way.

How could it be? People could relate to the ways I was feeling. People were calling me "brave" and "beautiful." People were claiming that it inspired them to break out of their comfort zone as well.

How could it be that something so gut wrenchingly terrifying to me, could be such a positive and wonderful experience. It was like a weight was lifted off of my soul and I could finally breathe. I could see in front of me that I had made the right choice for myself. I could see that I needed to continue this journey of learning and pushing myself past my limits. I needed to continue this walk through life on this seemingly different path. To try my very hardest even more, every day, to love myself... That would be the greatest accomplishment of all.

This is the picture that changed it all. The picture that solidified my purpose to LOVE myself...To learn to be the best version of myself...To let others know, they are deserving of their own love, and they are not alone in learning how to receive that love...because it's hard sometimes...but knowing that it's hard is half the battle, the other half is fighting for the life and (self)love you know you deserve.

This is the picture that made me want to have a voice and be heard. This was my first baby step... and boy it was a big one.

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