I know I keep raving talking about The Curvy Con, but it is still high in my heart.

There were a lot of wonderful things I experienced during that day, but…when it comes down to it (and on maybe sort of a selfish note), having spent most of my life as The Biggest One in the Room, it was…comforting? Refreshing? Whatever, it felt GOOD for once to be just like everybody else. Or at least, it wasn’t my (our) BODIES that made us stand out. We were ALL big. So the things that made us different from everyone else were…better. The outfit we’d put together…the reaching out to people who were there alone…the comments we made or questions we asked during presentations. The things that made us US made us different…not the way our bodies looked. And that was good.

JCPenney debuted a video at The Curvy Con entitled Here I Am. If you follow the plus-size community you may recognize some of the icons spotlighted in the video. If not, you’ll see plus-size blogger Gabi Gregg of Gabi Fresh, Valerie Sagun of Big Gal Yoga, Jes Baker-blogger and author of Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Mary Lambert, and this past season’s Project Runway winner Ashley Nell Tipton. They share their stories, both their struggles and successes. They’re all beautiful women, but they are also strong, successful women who did not let their bodies get in the way of following their dreams.

I hope you watch.