Heather | Portland, OR

Images by Jen Hecht

"It's such a shift to focus on loving myself as-is, and stop trying to run. Stop feeling like some kind of martyr. I have done, and am doing, good things. I am enough."

From Heather:

"Before, I was in a constant competition. Not just with other bodies, but even with my PAST body. My pre-pain body. My over-a-decade-ago body. I've seen health and wellness as a race to some unknown finish line. I've longed to reach the end. I've been tired, frustrated, and wanting to give up, because I haven't been doing any of it out of love. I've been angry.

I want to stop seeing my health as some kind of competition. I want to move, and eat, and love, and sleep out of appreciation and respect for my body. I want to stop punishing myself for not GETTING THERE FASTER, stop responding to pain with anger and start reacting with understanding. So much more peaceful, when it's living with love, not running with hate.

Before this project I really saw myself as "doing all the right things," and not getting enough in return. I saw myself as failing for being in this marathon, and still not having reached the finish line. It's such a shift to focus on loving myself as-is, and stop trying to run. Stop feeling like some kind of martyr. I have done, and am doing, good things. I am enough."

-- Heather

Images of Heather by Jen Hecht.