Do you have a story to tell about your body?

A few months ago the lovely Fairy Clare (the one who makes it all happen smoothly back here at BCHQ) sent me an email with a heads up  about  Body Gossip  with the suggestion that I may want to have a look at the website (she's good that way is Fairy Clare).


It's always exciting to come across other small, grassroots organisations who are  challenging widely held beliefs about what defines beauty and health. There are more and more out there and it's great to see the creativity and passion behind that.  It also makes me realise just how many women there are who have had enough. When we created Beyond Chocolate over a decade ago, it felt a bit lonely. Nowadays there are many voices of dissent - all with their own unique flavour and all campaigning for change.  


Anyway, I'm rambling...Body Gossip is a body image campaign aimed at collecting 'real people's stories about their real bodies'. These stories are then turned into films and performed onstage by professional actors. It's a lovely idea and a fabulous antidote to the sterile, phoney, sensationalist 'real life' proposed in the media and in television adverts. 


I decided on the spur of the moment to submit my own story, inspired by a visit to the supermarket to buy moisturiser and have only just heard back that my story has been produced as a video. More on this soon!


Body Gossip have a new project to publish the Body Gossip book containing a selection of stories and they are looking for contributors. I've pinched the blurb from their website so I don't have to paraphrase: 


Do you have a story about your body that you would like to share? Could others benefit from hearing about your experience? Then Body Gossip would love to hear from you! We are searching for real stories for our forthcoming book. They can be touching, tragic, funny, inspirational or celebratory – we want to hear your voice, speaking out about your body. This can be in the form of a story, a poem, in lyrics, stream of consciousness, or however you would like to share. For more information and to share your story, click here.


The Beyond Chocolate community has many voices and many stories - and all are very real. If you want to share your body stories and inspire other women and would love to see your words in print then get to your mouses now and start writing.