How a Sea Witch Taught Me to Love My Body

Once upon a time, in a world where the scale ruled supreme, I found myself in a lifelong battle with my reflection. Even during my brief stint as a so-called "skinny" person in the early 2000s, I couldn't shake the ghost of my chubby past. My childhood self lingered in the mirror, echoing grade school taunts and pudgy-cheeked memories.

Year after year, diet culture and media drilled into me that thinness was the ultimate goal, the key to unlocking a fairy-tale existence. And Disney? They weren’t exactly subtle. Want the prince? Better shed those pounds. So I chased an impossible reflection, never quite reaching the fantasy.

Then came Halloween, the one night a year when we get to rewrite our own narratives. That year, I ditched the princess ideal and embraced a character that actually fit me—Ursula, the fabulous sea witch from The Little Mermaid.

Modeled after a plus-size drag queen, Ursula was confident, bold, and charismatic—qualities I desperately wanted to embody. I meticulously planned my costume, perfected the makeup, and on October 31st, I transformed.

What I didn’t expect was how becoming Ursula changed me.

For the first time, my size wasn’t a flaw—it was a superpower. Being big wasn’t something to shrink away from; it was part of the role, something to be celebrated, not hidden. I walked into that Halloween party owning my presence, and in that moment, I felt something new: self-assurance.

While Ariel was willing to trade her fins for a different body, Ursula reigned in hers without apology. And what if, I wondered, we all did the same?

Today, when I look in the mirror, that chubby kid from grade school still stares back at me. But instead of seeing them as a poor, unfortunate soul, I see them as the protagonist—someone who was born to take center stage in their own story.

And maybe, just maybe, the secret to our happily ever after isn’t about changing ourselves—it’s about owning who we already are.