Today, I am taking that step through writing out my thoughts on an issue that is sensitive and personal to me: body-image bullying. In the past, I was ashamed to discuss this subject but I soon realized that this is an important topic to share.  I have come to learn that if I don’t speak up, who will?    

Years ago, my second-year social psychology professor shared a case with our class that taught me to never rely on someone else to take action.  My professor was talking about the famous Kitty Genovese case that occurred during the early 1960’s. In a populous U.S. neighbourhood one morning, Kitty was attacked on a street and left to die over a 45-minute period. Kitty’s death was heart-breaking for its needlessness: 38 people witnessed her attack, but none did anything to help her! Kitty’s story is not the only documented case of the Bystander Effect; there are many more where people didn’t do anything to help someone in extreme need; they thought another person was taking care of it. 

I have had this happen to me a couple times before, when I was starting to write large papers for some courses I took. However, I have never experienced such a large mental roadblock until recently. When I went to start writing my book, I had all these ideas running through my head; but when I went to type them out recently, I couldn’t.

I know from past experience that you don’t make any progress by doing nothing.  So I decided to try to overcome my writer’s block and found some successful ways to do that. The small changes I made and the strategies I learned (which I have shared below) made a world of difference!