Dydis Nesvarbu (Unframed Me) is about breaking stereotypes, opposing laws of beauty or simply, how Giedre Valaviciute says, tickling your imagined orders. It embodies both a concept and an action – it is a way to reason and absorb things related to your body. And the soul, of course. It started from Dydis (Size) literally and lately, it has evolved into something quite abstract, basically anything related to your appearance, physical and emotional existence. Giedre points out that everyone is free to give it a different shape, depending on his/her personal context and interpretation. Dydis Nesvarbu has no common definition. But it has a common ambition – accepting yourself the way you are.
“Abstract embodies the whole sky. It embodies small details creating the BIG essence. It embodies unframed bodies creating the new beautiful.”
When?
Although every time, when asked, I tend to tell the story of Dydis Nesvarbu in a different way (with time it gains different aspects to reflect on), its timeline has always had one clear point of departure, Giedre says. “The initiative, or rather me, was incentivized by some foreign adverts (one of them was asking: “Is your body summer ready?”) and the subsequent reactions of many ladies who boycotted them. They all raised their voices to claim that life is beautiful despite the shape of your body”.
Where?
Dydis Nesvarbu has been flourishing in a different environment and in various shapes. Started as a social initiative, it has been spread widely through various social media networks engaging an increasing number of supporters online and not only. Yes, Giedre can also mention quite a few real-life projects organized under the umbrella of Dydis Nesvarbu. One of them – Sport Does Not Care About Your Size. The latter invited EVERY BODY to try various kinds of sport with professional trainers. This project proved the simple truth that sport does not know any body standards. And EVERY BODY must do the same. Another initiative united 10 beautiful women to be photographed while wearing swimwear for the project Summer for Everybody. As Giedre notes, the main idea of the initiative was to show the diversity of the body, be it marked with scars, physical disability, inked with tattoos, or changes after giving birth to a baby. All of them were different. And all of them wanted to celebrate the same summer!
Currently, Giedre devotes all of her time to the new fundraising project aiming at helping Lithuanian teenagers to develop a healthier body image: “I believe it is important to speak to young people face to face explaining that the value of our inner personalities, ability to accept diversity and empower the ones close to us should be more important than the looks in the mirror”.
During 2018/2019 Giedre would like to visit 30 more Lithuania’s schools. For this reason, Giedre strongly invites you to become a part of this project by donating to it.
Why?
Because our society still holds strong stereotypes as regards the perception of beauty and, as Giedre says, she feels the mission being possible to combat them: “Although I was never aiming to prove something when I started Dydis Nesvarbu, but the process as such gives satisfaction and motivates me to move forward”. She also added that the positive reception of her initiative and feedback received after it was launched encouraged and inspired her to form a community of Dydis Nesvarbu, which slowly but steadily is being transformed into an actual movement. The latter fights for beauty in various sizes, shapes, colors, and textures. It also protects the right to feel not beautiful. Diversity and the right to choose is the key.
How?
Simply. Step by step. The first one was to think of the name for the initiative. All the following ones were important to implement it. What has inspired Giedre to take them? She answered that the main sources for her are found in books, other people, and their ideas (to be less abstract, she shared with us a list of magic below).
When asked what’s next, Giedre noted that she is eager to continue developing her current projects but never willing to stand still in one place. It is all about growing your own personality and gradually revealing your inner intelligence: “I want to leave beauty aside. I want to show that it’s totally alright to feel not beautiful”.
P.S. Giedre’s sources of magic:
1. Kisses
2.
3.
4. TED Talks
5. Friends
6. Own mistakes
7. Own successful stories
P.S.P.S. When we were about to end our abstract conversation, Giedre expressed an interesting message, which essence lies in the presumption that all the words one says are being already taken from the others… Sounds interesting, doesn’t? Mmm… Who said that?
