#or that show my chest in any capacity when I haven't got my binder on

[abd-illustrates]

Turns out the face I make when scrutinizing my own flaws in the mirror actually looks pretty okay 🤘

(Anyway, jokes aside; that wasn’t a joke! Like - by my standards anyway - that’s actually a really affirming statement to be able to say! Lemme explain:

I took these snaps tonight ‘cause I had an out-of-the-blue burst of real intense self-image anxiety - (the likes of which are thankfully fewer-and-farther-between for me these days, but certainly not unfamiliar. Gotta love the lifelong side effects of ur negative childhood experiences, amirite fellas!) - and didn’t feel like I could trust my own reflection. But actually seeing the pictures I took made me realize I didn’t actually look anything like the actual cave troll my brain was making me feel like. I just looked like a person. And that was such a fuckin’ relief!

So yea, I know this might sound fake deep or whatever, but this was honestly a bit of a random epiphany that ended tonight’s anxiety p much instantly: turns out that when you’re having major anxiety about your appearance, taking shitty, no-filter-or-makeup-or-whatever pictures of yourself in the state you’re currently self-conscious about can actually give you some real clarity and make you realize that you don’t look anywhere near as gross as you might’ve thought.

Note to self, and anybody else who might need to hear it rn; You’re okay!)