Being 5’ 2”, I have had visions of myself taller with longer legs. When I was young I thought my feet were too big. It was a sad day when I could no longer fit into my Mom’s size 5 ½ pointy toe pumps. As a teenager I used to cram my feet into shoes too small because of a number on a box. Ah, youth.
So the first time I heard “Jo, I want to look like you”, I was surprised. It was a comment from a participant in a fitness class I was teaching. The student was referring to my fitness level and muscle tone. I admit I was flattered. Though my feet looked even bigger in fitness shoes, I realized I had become a role model.
My stylist tells a story of the client who brings in a photo wanting her hair to look like a celebrity. The hair in the photo looks easy to achieve. However, it’s a red carpet moment, where the star has spent hours before with a team of professionals to cut, color, highlight and style her hair. And probably 5 different styling tools were used and as many styling products.
So here’s what I have learned. We are all unique individuals and not meant to be clones. We are meant to be our best self. Someone who uses another as a fitness model has to recognize that similar to being runway ready, most likely much work, time, professional advice, tools and whole foods has gone into the achievement. And, we will never look identical to the picture.
One of the biggest joys I get teaching classes is looking across a room of people and seeing diversity: different height, weight, body composition. This is my picture of perfection.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I also get to wear the most comfortable shoes ever.
(photo credit Romeo Sanidad)
