When WW Stands for Woke Weenie

I am a Libra. I hardly ever take a stand on anything because I avoid conflict like my son avoids broccoli. I dig peace and justice. I don't like discord. Let's all just hold hands and be BFFs, K?I don't know a lot about astrology, but I generally believe in the traits associated with signs. My personality certainly seems true to the Libra scales. What is also true is that I have hidden behind my zodiac sign, both consciously and subconsciously, since I learned what it was. I am a Libra who is also just kind of a weenie who doesn't like putting herself out there and then being told that I am wrong or uninformed or anything negative, really. (Well, but I mean, who does.) (But still. I am a weenie and I admit it.)Yesterday, I decided to try my hand at standing up for something. The cover of the new issue of WW Magazine, depicting hands toasting wine and the words, "Cheers! Here's to Health, Joy & Connection," bugged me. It bugged me enough that I decided to write about it.So I did. I spent about an hour writing. One hour out of the two and a half that I have free most afternoons, while my son is at school. During this time, I also have to walk my dogs, make my lunch, and address any other of the myriad life tasks the day demands.I posted the piece to Connect (the WW social media network), then to Instagram, then here to this blog. I felt proud of what I'd done and, I admit, I hoped my post would garner some attention. But then my post started to trend, and I started to get some negative comments. Pride turned to anxiety. Satisfaction turned to ickiness. Regret creeped uninvited into my mix of emotions and I fell into a bit of a tailspin."I'm proud of you." This humble instant message was sent by my husband after he read my post on Instagram. And it meant everything.He knows I'm a weenie. He knows how much it takes for me to dredge up enough courage to present my point of view on a potentially contentious topic. He also knows that I'm still finding my voice. And his kind and simple words helped me boil my stew of mixed emotions back down to that first ingredient: pride.This morning, with butterflies in my stomach, I went back and read all 140 of the comments my post received on Connect. Most were supportive of my viewpoint. But more importantly, many of the comments were thoughtful, well-articulated, and opened my eyes to other sides of the alcohol issue and other issues related to WW rebranding itself as a "wellness" company. As for the negative stuff, well, it still bothered me. I wish it didn't. I'll get there, I hope.These last 24 hours have been enlightening for me, to say the least! Here are my top three takeaways from my adventure-atop-a-soapbox:

1. Social media is... sigh. Wonderful and awful. The best and the worst. Tricky. Because you can just throw anything out there and there's no telling how, or where, or for how long it will stick. Part of me wishes I had spent longer writing the piece, because there are some things I would have changed. But I was really hungry and had to pick up my kid from school. I did my best in the time I decided was appropriate to spend on it. But, yikes. Oops. Eh. Sigh.
2. Some people don't actually read what you write. They will read what they expect or want to read. I received several comments talking about how "offended" I was by the magazine cover when I never used that word in my post. (One person even put the word in quotes! Who was she quoting? We'll never know!) I was disappointed, yes. Offended, no. These are not the same thing, y'all. Read the words, please.
3. I now have a more woke view of WW - which, at the end of the day, is a company that needs to make its shareholders happy (read: rich). So they put glasses of wine (but they are moderate pours, people!) on their cover because wine sells more magazines than water. And who doesn't aspire to a life lived in perfect moderation? Join WW and you'll become a moderation maven! ...after years and years of dedication and practice. Maybe.

Here's the deal, yo. I stand behind what I wrote and I acknowledge that my piece could have been better. I also see that WW is a company with an inherent conflict between its new mission of wellness - not just weight loss - and its priority to make a profit. I firmly believe WW needs to do a better job reconciling this conflict. I hope the company chooses to make its boatloads of dough while retaining integrity. And I will not shy away from calling out the good folks at WW HQ if I feel they are not.Consider me more woke. And maybe a little less of a weenie.