That one tear marked a shift in me. The tear streamed down my face as I multi-tasked busily in the kitchen, cooking dinner, bouncing my baby in the bouncer, throwing the toy for my puppy and watching The Human Experiment documentary on Netflix. It’s not that I hadn’t cared before, rather, I just had never slowed down enough to give myself room to care. Call it a fatalistic attitude, but shamefully, I, a typically upstanding and activist-minded optimist, had resigned myself to believing that I had no ability to make an impact on the impending toxic environmental changes going on around me. I dutifully recycled every week, but more out of obligation than out of belief that my recycling made a difference. In the back of my mind I knew that the products I put on and around my body were laden with chemicals, yet I naively clung to the false belief that my skin was impervious to their potentially harmful and toxic effects.
And yet here I was. Unable to keep my head stuck in the hand anymore. The information shared in The Human Experiment was too much for me to deny. I had heard too much and couldn’t un-hear it. Having six-month old Ellie stare at me with her big blue eyes in her bouncer forced me out of the bliss of ignorance. No longer did my denial simply affect me, now it affected my daughter, her health and her future. I have always been meticulous about how I moved my body and what I put into it – but hadn’t give much thought to what I put on my body and around it.
That moment marks a complete shift in the wholeness of my approach to physical wellness.
In the past I have always thought I had a whole approach to wellness. I took care of my body, stretching it, exercising it and honoring it with sleep. I put good food into my body, fueling myself with thoughtful nutrition and as much non-processed, natural food as possible. And finally, I celebrated my body as my vehicle for life, thanking it every day for giving me the capacity to engage actively in life. What I didn’t realize is that wellness is a four-part equation and I was missing half of the parts. Aware of how I moved my body and what I put in my body, I never gave enough respect to the impact of what I put on my body and around my body.
It’s not like I haven’t cared in the past, I just have had more excuses and justifications for my inaction – and kept myself too busy to have to think about it – to actually care enough to take action. I convinced myself that my actions wouldn’t make a dent and that the trace-level exposure of chemicals to which I was exposed wouldn’t ever negatively impact me or my family. And then I realized I was wrong. Exposure is exposure, and we are surrounded by a world saturated and created by chemical compounds, the majority of which are synthesized and never tested. To make matters worse, a large number of these unregulated chemicals are known carcinogens and endocrine disrupters and have also been linked to being learning and developmental disabilities, reproductive/fertility issues. To speak to my other excuse of inaction, every little change towards the positive makes a difference and has a compound effect. I preach this message of the compound effect of small actions in every other area of my life, so why is it that it didn’t translate to this area? To be honest, the truth just seemed too inconvenient and the solution too daunting. Moreover, rather than be inspired to learn more I became overwhelmed with what I didn’t know and with how much I needed to know to make what I thought would be any real or sustainable action. How wrong I was.
Putting new knowledge into action shouldn’t be overwhelming. It’s actually a lot simpler than we make it out to be, which is why I felt compelled to share my breakthrough story with you. As Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better do better.” It’s that simple. Now that I know better I am going to do better. I am making small changes in the products I use on my body and around my body and I invite you to do the same. Every small change you make matters.
And in this case, I have the ability to make smart – and safe – consumer decisions about the products I use to create the environment in which my family lives. I may not be able to control the chemicals I am exposed to in daily life outside of my home, but I can control what products go directly on my skin and my body.
I have dedicated myself the past ten years to helping others grow in confidence about their internal environments – confidence about what they put into their body, confidence about how they feel about their body and confidence about what they think about themselves and about life. Now I am compelled to think about confidence in a new capacity: I am compelled to have more confidence in the environment outside of my own body. As I journey to claim more confidence in this area of my life, I invite you to join me in the journey. Let us be conscientious about not just how we move our body, but about what we put in, on and around it.
As you start to consider the wholeness of your wellness – and as you think about what you are putting on and around your body, I urge you to take small steps. To help you get started I’ve put together my list of the nine switches I made for me and my family, a #SwitchToSafer Starter Guide if you will, …. three switches for what you put in your body (your nutrition), three switching for what you put around your body (your cleaning products and supplies) and three switches for what you put on your body (your personal care products).
Get your free copy of my simple #SwitchToSafer Starter Guide at: www.trishblackwell.com/switch .
I am proud to announce that, as a result of all of my new wellness revelations, I am now confidently partnering with Beautycounter for all of my self-care products. To learn about the products I now put on my body with confidence, learn about my new love for Beautycounter at www.trishblackwell.com/beautycounter . (And if you want to partner alongside me – and work with me to make a difference educating others – as I partner with Beautycounter then send me an email at trish {at} trishblackwell.com for more information.)
