If you’ve ever been in eating disorder treatment or perhaps embarked on a personal journey of body acceptance, you might have heard the phrase “a body is a body is a body.” This translates, of course, to all bodies are good bodies.

One day, in recovery from bulimia nearly three years ago, my treatment friend got a pear for a snack. She loved pears. Soft pears. Ripe pears. The pears that you bit into and the whole thing just fell apart in your mouth. That is not the pear she got that day for a snack. It was the rock-hard, crunch-when-you-bite-into-it kind of pear.

Another girl shrugged. “A pear is a pear, is a pear.” She said.

So what is a pear?

It’s a body, apparently. A body shape, in many magazines. A sometimes not-so-ripe fruit. You know what I mean, though. A pear, it’s a metaphor. Of course it is. (It’s always a metaphor.) A body is a body, is a body. All bodies are good bodies. A pear is a pear, is a pear. All pears are good pears.

Don’t be so hard on yourself.

Give your writing a chance.

A pear is a pear, is a pear.