Packing Up and Making Tracks!

Because this blog is about all sorts of Plus Size Issues, and because plus size issues relate to every aspect of our life, I thought you'd like to read about a couple of plus-size girl friends who have re-invented themselves during recent months. Through necessity and through choice.

Starting afresh in a small caravan following a stressful divorce, Rhiann packed everything into a few cartons, had them sent to her cousin's address in another State, and walked out of her home -town with head held high. Losing her home and most of her possessions through unscrupulous dealings and behaviour from her former husband, Julie was determined to find the answer to all her needs under her own "steam". She travelled to Queensland and set up her van near to, but far enough away to be independent, her cousins' home in North Queensland. It didn't take long before Julie made friends and has established herself as a mobile hairdresser and nail technician . She is well on the way to becoming financially independent. Julie has a few more dreams to follow.

Pamela had a slightly different story. She was retrenched from her job in a major city; was going downhill financially; and decided to give a small country town a try. She did some sight-seeing around a town which she had visited many years earlier and had liked; met up with some business people she knew, and made the decision to move, lock, stock and barrel. A job that was offered to her on the spot meant that Pamela fitted into the community easily and quickly.

Jillie who lived in Melbourne, is an "growing-older" woman in her late 50s, and due to a series of "family disputes" found she was on the outer fringes. Her small circle of "friends" took sides with the family and Jillie became isolated. Accepting an invitation to attend a school reunion where she caught up with an old schoolmate, she was then invited to attend her "new-found old friend's" 60th birthday party in South Australia. While in Adelaide Jillie made a momentous decision to move away from everything she thought was safe and secure and has made her home in a small beachside town many miles from the nearest major city. She has happily started up her own small business and has built up a happy circle of friends, including a highly regarded and reputable business man. That's another story!

What these three women have done is to "minimalise" their lives. Each of them stepped out of her"current" situation" and has taken a step in a new direction. With little or no "trappings" from her previous life, each woman has been rewarded in many other ways.

The one thing in common all these woman have is size. They are all plus-sizers and proud of the fact.

I've heard it said, and I've been told many times over the years, that it's difficult for "plus-size" women to make new lives for themselves. It's too hard; they'll never fit in with new surroundings and new people. That's not true. Like the women I've quoted, it's important to have a realisation of your own self-worth. Even when disadvantaged, by, as with Rhiann a bad marriage, with Pamela a loss of a job and with Jillie a fallout with family members and friends. They've looked beyond the problem and pursued new goals. And their determination has meant a successful transition into new life-styles and new friends, and even new relationships. These women believe in themselves, and the fact they are plus-sizers simply has nothing to do with how they feel about themselves. Their self-esteem is steady and healthy.