What living in Greece taught me about body confidence

I never felt like I belonged in Australia. I just didn't fit. I wasn't like my peers and felt a little too traditional compared to others. In 2007, I moved to Greece to meet a boy I'd been talking to online.

Greece had always called to me. I loved the language, the expressiveness, and cultural traditions. I'd moved there in hopes of falling in love but kept my options open.

The moment I arrived in Athens, Greece, I felt like I finally arrived home. It made such a significant impact on who I am today. I learned so many valuable lessons there.

The first lesson I learned was about love. I was 24 and quickly fell in love with my Greek boyfriend. It was a passionate, all-consuming love - very typical Greek love.

He taught me about love - what I wanted, what I needed, what I deserved, and what I would never ever tolerate again. Sometimes the all-consuming, passionate love can be dangerous.

Insecure about an ostomy bag

One of the biggest things he taught me was unconditional love. I was insecure-ish about my ostomy. I'd had it for just over a year so I was pretty much a newbie. He didn't care at all. He wanted to know, learn, and be a part of it all. I would shy away and try to shower without my ostomy bag on as quickly as possible. I didn't think he should or would want to see it. But he didn't care.

Laughing back now; he would always jump into the shower with me, despite my insecure pleas, to prove to me that he didn't care. He just didn't care if he got poo on him; it's the shower and it will wash off.

Empowered by other's confidence

Greek Summer - There's nothing like it! Beach, sun, frappe, nap - Repeat.

As an Aussie, I'd go to the beach with a mentality of what I should look like; preened, tanned and bikinis. Greek people work to play - it's not important what you look like. You are there to live your best life.

Every single person you'd find on the beach would be confidently enjoying themselves. I'd see very large people who you'd have probably thought were naked because their swimmers were so tiny!!! You'd see women who'd probably never seen a razor in their lives!

As you can imagine, I was shocked, amazed, and significantly humbled by their confidence. It's just not something I'd ever seen in Australia.

Above all, I was empowered by them.

Show scars or ostomy bags and be confident

Who you are is who you are and you weren't forced to look a certain way. Of course, if your mother told you not to then you best not do it! Greek gossip and standards were of high importance but only to the older generations.

Being around other Greek people who allowed me to show that confidence without judgment gave me the opportunity to normalize exposure to others and it helped me continue it when I came back home to Australia.

I'm technically not Greek but my heart is and so is my soul.

Maybe after all of that, it was just simply making it all normal, that I got the opportunity to move past the self-depreciation. Maybe that's the trick to getting confident; just like the repetitive messages to change thought patterns, but for confidence. Maybe if we show our scars, ostomies, and keep living openly, it will become so normal we won't remember the time that we thought of ourselves as anything but less than perfect!