Valentines day for Oh

*I love the movie Home, it's so heart warming and adorable! I had to get this off my chest, the movie gave me so many ideas and It was honestly just cuteness overload and I've watched the movie a billion and one times and it just never gets old! PLEASE EXCUSE THE MEGA CHEESINESS!*

“Today is the day of the Valentine’s! The day when humans persons shows their feelings through gifts and prettyful cards! I am on a mission! A mission in the searching for the perfect gift in a demonstration of my affections for my bestest friend!”

The happy little purple creature called Oh plodded along the long street, scanning the windows of near by stores in search of the perfect gift for Tip. Oh searched for what seemed like hours until came across a flower shop, surrounded by stalls of beautiful smelling and very colourful flowers. He waddled over to have a closer look and sniff! As Oh got closer to the flowers, the smell got stronger. He looked around, checking no one was looking. He took a deep breath in, the sweet scent filling his nose. Oh turned a light pink as he thought of Tip and My Mom and wondered if the pretty flowers taste as good as they smell.

“Something that smells this nice has to taste nice. Maybe Tip would likes these!” Oh grinned. “Tasting test first” He giggled, excited by the thought of Tip’s reaction when she sees the flowers. Oh plucked the biggest and most colourful bunch of flowers from the stall, sniffed deeply, opened his mouth wide preparing for the taste test….

“BLEH! NOT FOR EATINGS!” Oh exclaimed in disgust, running away from the revolting but pretty smelling flowers. He spent a few minutes trying to get the taste off his tongue, petals of all colours floating to the ground as he frantically whacked them off his tongue and face. A tiny wave of disappointment washed over him. He soon realised that there were better tasting things than flowers to give as a gift.

“Hmm, it seems looks and smells can be deceiving!” Oh chuckled to himself. “Not to worry, I will finds the perfect gift for Tip!” He said cheerfully, continuing on his way.

Oh searched every store he could to find something Tip would love. It was getting a little bit late and some of the stores were beginning to close. He was beginning to feel worried when something caught his eye and stopped him in his tracks. In a small store, with its green paint peeling from the wooden window frame, a small blue heart pendant on a thin silver chain shone in the almost setting sun. Oh darted to the window, his purple, grinning face pressed hard up against the glass, pink stripes rippling over it now and again.

“This is perfect! It’s so prettyful for Tip!” Whooped the little purple Boov. He was so excited he ran straight into the closed door of the store. He fell backwards and bounced back on to his feet. “Ow pain!” He said, still grinning. He then carefully opened the door and rushed inside and bought the pretty pendant for Tip, that was wrapped and carefully placed in a paper bag covered in small spots of muted colours.

“Thanking you!” Oh yelled joyfully to the humans person behind the till as he bounced and waved out of excitement and scampered from the store, again not looking where he was going and smacked into the closed door. “Ow pain!” He said, deciding to lay there for a few seconds holding the small colourful bag close to his little boov heart, thoughts of his best friend racing through his mind, turning bright pink as he thought about how important Tip is to him, a big smile spreading a cross his, now pink, face.

Oh soon arrived back home, where Tip was sitting with her mum talking about their day. He approached her overflowing with joy and excitement.

“Tip!” Oh said holding out the small multicoloured paper bag in his small purple hand.

Tip turned towards him, a big smile spreading across her face, happy to see her best friend. “Hey, Oh. Where have you been?” She said.

“I has been looking for a gift for you” Oh grinned, gesturing to his outstretched arm, eagre for her to open it. “And it was not easiness! I searched until almost everywhere was at it’s closing and then I found this!” He smiled, he wanted to see her big green eyes light up. “Happy day of the Valentines to you, I hope you likes it”.

Tip took the small package, smiling shyly “You didn’t have to, Oh”. She pulled away the paper, revealing the small, blue stone, the chain falling between her fingers. Oh bounced a little with excitement as he saw Tip’s expression change. A small smile appeared on her  face,  she looked over at her little purple Boov, her eyes had lit up and they seemed to be a brighter green than usual.

“it’s beautiful, Oh, thank you! I love it!” She smiled, and wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. The little Boov was so happy Tip liked the gift he got for her, the grin that spread across his face hadn’t gone away since he found the beautiful pendant.

“I got you something too” Tip said excited. She disappeared for a second to get her back pack. She unzipped it pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Oh. It was a card. A Valentine’s card that Tip had made herself with a hand drawn picture of Oh and herself and a little love heart painted carefully with red glitter. Oh realised that Tip had put a lot of effort into making this, just as he had made a lot of effort trying to find something for her. He loved it, and glanced up at his smiling friend. “Open it” Tip whispered.

When Oh opened the card he read:

To Oh,

My best friend in the whole world, we’ve had so many great adventures together.

You helped me learn the true meaning of friendship.

Thank you for all the awesome memories!

Lets make more!

All my love,

Tip xxxxxxxx

“Thanking you, Tip” Oh smiled. The little Boov’s heart pounded in his chest. He bounced and gave Tip the biggest hug he had ever given. Oh liked hugs from Tip, he couldn’t help but turn bright pink again, he had everything he needed in this new world, his best friend and a place to call home.

Anorexia

Food! Everyone needs it to live, and as human beings, we love it! We all have our guidelines, our favourites and our least favourites. Food can be your best friend. What goes on inside someone's head when the fork load of vitality is their worst enemy? When the thought of gaining weight is the most terrifying thing? When the mouthful of food has been demonised by the authority figure, the monster that is inside their head? The monster that is... Anorexia.

Eating disorders affect 1.6 million people in the UK according to the estimation provided by B-eat, a UK wide eating disorder help and support network. There are four types of eating disorders, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge eating disorder and EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified). People with EDNOS are people who do not meet the criteria for anorexia or bulimia but show characteristics of one or more of the 3 main disorders. People between the ages of 15 and 30 will be affected by an eating disorder, 25% of these cases are male adolescents, although the condition is more common in women and girls, it can also occur in boys and men.

Eating disorders are a very sensitive and very personal topic, a very painful experience for the victim.

Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by obsessive calorie counting, weight loss through purging, starving or use of laxatives or appetite suppressants and an extreme fear of gaining weight. It is seen as an attempt to have control over something in life when other elements of life seem uncontrollable, often linked to anxiety, depression, body dysmorphic disorder, obsession compulsion and perfectionism. It is more common in women but men are also being affected by it. Anorexia is becoming increasingly common in industrialised countries where cultural ideas play a significant role in encouraging women to be thin.

From some perceptions it is seen as a coping mechanism for deeper emotional problems. Distorted body image is a common factor in eating disorders, people with eating disorders commonly have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). BDD is not like just having a fat day, it is in fact much more serious than that. It is an anxiety disorder that causes people to have a distorted image of themselves, more commonly the face, but they may see other parts of their body as distorted and try to conceal their perceived imperfection, causing them to worry about their appearance and compare theirs to others constantly.

Puberty seems to play a big role in the way people feel about their bodies. When bodies are changing physically and hormonally, it brings a multitude of confusing, new emotions to the surface and when you are young and easily influenced, young girls seeing skinny, glamorous, successful women in magazines and television programs and think the way they look is the key to success.

From my own experience, emotional problems with weight are extremely hard to deal with when all around you are adverts about eating healthy and men eating crisps and bloating until the buttons pop off their shirts.

As a youngster I was always sensitive about my weight and the way I looked. In primary school I was always jealous of the other girls that were thin and pretty, always asking my mum and grandparents for reassurance when I felt sad and cried about thinking I was fat. Nothing could reassure me. I remember one day in primary 7, coming out of P.E and a boy walking behind me commented on the size of my bum! He said it looked like I had 4 bums and since that day I weighed myself and tried to diet. In high school, I never joined in P.E because I was so sensitive about my weight and was teased by other girls about my weight, I was 14 years old and weighed 10 stone and was a size 14. Healthy and in proportion for my age and height. The mirror told me different. Every time I saw myself in front of the mirror, clothed or not I saw folds upon folds of fat hanging over my clothing. Truly disgusted with the sight of myself, I cried and cried and exercised in secret until my whole body hurt.

At age 16, size 10, I started going to college, those were the years when I really could control my weight. At college we weren't monitored at lunch times like we were at school, I ate very little or nothing at all to try and lose my “excess weight” only drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes with the occasional sandwich here and there. Food haunted my every thought and my whole life was based around when I was next going to eat. When I did eat, I felt disgusting afterwards, like I could feel my stomach expanding and folding over my trousers. Hunger pangs were a sign that I was winning, every time I did exercise, and felt so hungry to the point where I was almost passing out I felt beautiful! It was never ever enough.

We know weight loss is a choice, and we do it out of our own free will but when anorexia surfaces, does the disease win because we listen to the voice in our head? 

We may look for someone or something to blame for our disorders, it is hard to break away from the taunting voice of anorexia, especially when it seems like it’s the only friend you have that keeps you in control and it can become part of an emotional attachment to the disease. Having an emotional attachment to your disorder does not make you a bad person, it becomes part of you.