I Have a Dream of a World FREE from Eating Disorders

Welcome to the “Beating Ana” blog. My name is Shannon Cutts, and during my own recovery from a fifteen-year battle with anorexia and bulimia, I have discovered many times how relationships replace eating disorders.

In my new book, Beating Ana: How to Outsmart Your Eating Disorder and Take Your Life Back, we explore how developing a stronger relationship with ourselves and with those who love us can help us break free once and for all from our dependence on our eating disordered thoughts and behaviors.

But I didn’t always know this….it took a long time before I figured out that the one power stronger than my eating disorder was the power of giving and receiving LOVE.

In fact, if you are anything like I was when I first began working to recover, the actual state of "recovery" felt like a distant dream. I remember that I wanted recovery. Or at least I wanted to want recovery. And I wanted to believe that I could recover….but I really didn’t believe that yet, because I hadn’t done it yet. To me, I dreamed of recovery like the moon might dream of becoming the sun.

And then one day I realized that all great success stories begin with a dream. Gandhi had a dream to be the change he wanted to see in the world. Mother Teresa dreamed of a place of healing and refuge for those who were poor and sick and had nowhere else to go. Martin Luther King, Jr., dreamed of a day when racism would be eradicated.

And I dreamed of recovery from anorexia and bulimia for myself and others like me…a dream that has, just like the great dreams of those who have so fervently dreamed before me, now come true.

So for this, my very first post, I have decided to share with you a poem I wrote some time ago that has since circled the globe in the form a petition to the U.S. Congress to pass mental health parity reforms (another dream which has since come true - you can read about it here!)

I would love to hear your dreams for your recovery and beyond – so after you have read the poem, feel free to join in by posting your own dreams for us all to read and dream of and work towards together!

Warmly and with HOPE,

I Have a Dream of a World FREE from Eating Disorders

Martin Luther King, Jr., had a dream so powerful it survived him. Today, his dream continues to change lives around the world.

I, too, have a dream. I have a dream that (I believe) is explosive in its potential to change, and save, lives. I have a dream that (I hope) will survive long after I am gone. I have a dream that should and MUST survive for the sake of all those who have already passed on for the lack of it.

I have a dream of healing that edges out nightmares left over from half a lifetime spent battling anorexia and bulimia. I have a recurring dream of hope that haunts me in the best possible way. Every time I look in a mirror, I have flashback dreams to a time far past, and still yet to come, of catching sight of my own image and LIKING what I see.

I have a dream of a day when little girls will walk down the grocery store aisles with their moms, choosing healthy, delicious foods without looking at the fat and calorie content on the labels.

I have a dream of a day when the bodies of athletes, dancers, actors and models will actually look as diverse as those of their audiences, and we can see and celebrate ourselves in each other – comfortable, healthy, curvaceous, empowered, REAL.

I have a dream of a day when all eating disorder treatment facilities will be turned into restaurants – such is the demand for wholesome, nutritious food that is generated by those who have graduated from within their walls.

I have a dream of a day when the sixty billion dollar-a-year weight management industry goes out of business, and all monies formerly spent supporting it will instead go to FIGHT the damage it has done to our bodies, minds and spirits.

I have a dream of a day ahead when ‘Eating Disorders Awareness Week’ is no longer needed, and ‘Love Your Body Day’ happens not just once per year, but EVERY day of our lives. I dream of a day when ‘size-blindness’ goes global, and we can finally access the tremendous beauty available to us in ALL of its many forms!

I have a dream of holidays yet to come when family, fun, friendship, fellowship, gratitude and generosity push food back into its rightful and proper place – three squares or six snacks a day, no less, and no more.

I have a dream of a day when I can sit down to brunch with my girl (or guy) friends, and look around the table to realize that NONE of us has suffered from an eating disorder!

I have a dream of a day when a comedian makes a joke about ‘skinny jeans’, and no one in the audience knows what s/he is talking about.

I have a dream of a day when I will not be afraid to reproduce, and thus risk passing the genes for my eating disorder, which were passed to me, along to my daughter or son.

I have a dream of a day when I will wake up in the morning and smile radiantly at myself in the mirror, absolutely confident that who I am, and what I have to offer, is exactly perfect - just as I am.

And I have a dream of a day when everyone - and I do mean EVERYONE - who suffers from any shape or size of eating disorder IMMEDIATELY receives the comprehensive, ongoing treatment they NEED and DESERVE.

Yes, I have a dream. And I know I do not dream this dream alone. I know that I dream it alongside husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, boyfriends, girlfriends, best friends, sisters, brothers. I know that even the seemingly most self-assured amongst us secretly dream it alongside those who openly battle for their lives.

I know that we each, and all together, deserve the fulfillment of this dream….….but I also know that, as of yet, it remains unclaimed.

If you wish to lend your POWERFUL voice to dream this dream together, sign your name and share your dream below.

Then, pass it on, and on, and on.

Warmly, and with HOPE,

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

(Original petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/KTLEndED/petition.html)

Comments

[Cara]

Hi, I loved this and I'm printing it out.

[Shannon]

Hi Cara! I'm so glad! I think it is so important for us to not only cherish but share our dreams - makes them stronger for everybody!
xo
shannon

[Barbara]

So wonderful. Thank you, Shannon.
I am definitely going to pass this along. This would make a great poster or laminated page. I wish this could be sung from every mountaintop.

[Shannon]

What a great idea, Barbara! Thanks for letting me know that you share in the dream!
xo
shannon

[Cissy]

May it be so!

[Shannon]

Hi Cissy -
Amen sister! :)
Shannon

[Kim DeVito]

Dear Shannon:

Martin Luther King is one of my heroes. It was nice to see you mention him in a piece about your dream of a world free of eating disorders. Reading your poem made me cry - tears of joy for those who have recovered or who are on the road to recovery; tears of sorrow for those who suffer; and tears of compassion for myself for my own struggle with anorexia. I have been recovered for many years. I will share that I have recently woken up to smile at myself in the mirror - it comes not from what I ate or didn't eat the night before, but how my day was, how I felt about myself and my choices, and how I face the new day. Now that I love myself, I am able to give love. There is hope for everyone.

[Shannon]

Hi Kim,
Thank you for such a moving personal picture of how our recovery dreams can unfold! To have compassion for ourselves....that is a HUGE sign of forward movement in our fight against the ED! You said it best - 'there is hope for everyone'.
xo
Shannon