Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi Review

Unbearable Lightness, A Story of Loss and Gain by Portia De Rossi

Written on 6/12/2015

Shout out to Rachel for sending me this book! :)

De Rossi wrote a brave and inspiringly honest book about her battle with disordered eating and her identity. She wrote it to help herself heal and to help others realize they aren't alone. That, in itself, makes this book worth reading.

By writing this book De Rossi makes a strong point that anyone can have disordered eating. Its not a disease saved for the famous, the beautiful models, or the exceptionally wealthy. Importantly, she talks about the difference between disordered and ordered eating. Ordered eating means eating when you're hungry and stopping when you are full. Its eating for enjoyment, for health, eating to sustain life. Disordered eating is an obsession about food. Restriciting your diet to foods that are good and foods that are bad. Ignoring bodily signs of hunger and fullness. That its important to be in tune with you body and to give it what it needs.

But, this book also could just as easily be seen as a novel about the pressures to be accepted, to be the best, to feel love.

De Rossi worried that she did fit in from a young age and worked hard to be exceptional so that people would look past her innormalities. After recieving fame, she realized that too often, "The preception of who you are is more important than who you are. You are what other people think of you."

So De Rossi decided she wanted to be the best, the prettieset, the thinnest. It wasn't until she realized that being that meant losing her life that she realized she didn't need to be the best. She only needed to be better than you used to be, by making small changes everyday to become who you really are.

Lastly, De Rossi talks about love. The importance of loving yourself, loving others, and loving who you want to love. In this novel, De Rossi speaks about her feeling of unacceptance towards her sexuality, from herself, from her family, from the general public. She was so afraid people would discover she was gay that she hid from any form of love.

When she finally became honest with others and herself, love was ultimately a big part of her healing process. She says, "healing comes from love. And loving every living thing in turn helps you love yourself."