A Poem for Showing up as YOU

I wrote this poem because there’s a transformative power in creativity that sometimes allows us to heal when we reveal ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

Showing up as You

A little girl is born

she is exactly who she is.

She dances and plays and runs

with friends and the sounds of cicadas

But she also knows the palpable fear

that starts in the pit of her stomach

at the shift in tone in her father’s voice

So she becomes -

small, invisible, pleasing, anticipatory

and never says

what’s really on her mind

The little girl grows up

Wears a suit she hates to a job interview

Says the things they want to hear

Everybody loves her

for how nice she is

but she’s hollow inside -

except for when she seethes

Like a chameleon, she changes her colors

Fits in just like she should

she “thrives” anywhere

Except she no longer belongs to herself

Until step by painful step,

she stops being invisible

She refuses to ignore

the truths she knows

She leaves the job

stops betraying herself daily

She starts to dance in the living room

She uses her actual voice

to express who she is in the world

She writes this poem

She is me.

by Jayne Anne Ammar

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Jayne Anne Ammar is the owner of Health on Your Terms, and offers an alternative approach to support women struggling with emotional and binge eating towards food freedom, which is centered around sparking new insights, cultivating self awareness, emotional work, and unlearning old habits.