Mirror

Since I've started walking home from work, killing 5 birds with one stone so to speak, people have (of course) found out.  They see me in my lycra-type pants, baggy shirt, iPod ear buds hanging out my shirt and water bottle in hand, leaving the building into the (often) brilliant sunshine.

However.  I'm disappointed to find that the first thing they ask me, instead of something like "Do you enjoy your walking?" or "How far do you walk?", is more like something along the lines of "Have you lost weight?".

Now I know we live in a society where body image is everything.  But why do people assume that the only reason I've taken up walking is to lose weight?  I feel like I'm seeing myself in a mirror, but instead of reflecting the person I see myself to be, I see the person others perceive me to be.  Apparently that person is only as deep as the flesh on her body.  And that disappoints me.

Is it inconceivable that I may have other reasons for wanting to walk?  For me, it's about fitness, filling in time until my mum finishes work, fresh air, my good music, and fitness.  But above all, it's my stubbornness.  I'm too bloody stubborn to let my faulty legs dictate my life.  I will walk.  And I will fight them.  If I lose weight in the process, it's a bonus.

I guess I'm just disappointed that all people see me as is a girl who needs to lose weight in their eyes.

As a side note, today in New Zealand we have suffered a tragedy the likes of which has not been seen in at least 30 years.  On Friday there was an explosion at a mine on our South Islands West Coast.  It trapped 29 miners, and for the last 6 days, our whole population has held out hope that they survived and were waiting for us to rescue them.  Today there was a 2nd explosion, stronger than the first by far, and it burst through our remaining hope in finding these brave men alive.  There is no way anyone could have survived the 2nd explosion.  My heart goes out to the West Coast community who have been hit hard, losing 29 of their members, and NZ as a whole is grieving.

RIP Pike River Miners, 29 men who didn't deserve to have their lives snatched from them like this.