There’s this Arabic quote, الكلاب تعوي والقافلة تسير

It translates to: the dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.

It was 2020-2021 and I had decided to continue my corset training and content creation even though I was receiving so many negative comments from both online strangers and family members.

A lot of those comments were made public, naturally… no matter how many I deleted, more would pop up over and over again. I had mentioned either in an IG story or on Snapchat that I was thinking of deleting everything because I was unsure if I could handle all the negativity.

Then I received a DM from someone I didn’t know. He was very kind and sympathetic to my situation. He assured me that no matter my decision, it should be made on my own, that no one should influence what I do with my life. He sent me that Arabic quote mentioned above.

He said, there will always be people criticizing you, telling you what they think you should do with your life, how you should live, what next steps you should take, and what path you should go down (or not go down).

Same thing can be said for that quote: the dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.

The caravan, or train, has a specific road or path that it must keep to. And as it rolls along, there will inevitably be dogs that bark at this vehicle. But this long set of cars cannot just stop over some noise not understanding or liking what it’s doing (aka barking dogs); it pays no mind to what is alongside its path and keeps going toward its destination. The caravan/train solely focuses on its path, and if it, for whatever reason, does pay mind to the objects along its path and decided to stop and acknowledge the barking dogs, it could derail, most likely crash, and either be late to its destination, or not get there at all.

Basically, life must go on no matter who or what tries to stop your progress. When it comes to wearing a corset, you are the caravan. Everyone who spews their negativity onto you, attempts to persuade you into stopping, or tries to fill your head with fear and worry, those are the barking dogs. You, my friend, have a destination to get to; a waist size you’ve been hoping to achieve through waist training. If you pause or completely stop your corseted ways because of some ignorant naysayers, that destination might take even longer to get to, or it may never come…

Be the caravan. Ignore the barking dogs. Go on.

“I think I need to keep being creative, not to prove anything but because it makes me happy just to do it… I think trying to be creative, keeping busy, has a lot to do with keeping you alive.” – Willie Nelson

I often ask myself –and receive the same questions from others– “Why corsets? Why make corset content? What’s the point of all this? Why put myself/yourself through all this (“this” being a content creator/receiving trolling comments)? Why, why, WHY?!”

Well, for one: because I can, and who gon’ check me?!

And two, well, two is more of a fourfold answer.

1. I enjoy wearing corsets and showcasing my waist training experiences, tips, et cetra all over the internet because I think it’s important. My story is important just like anyone else’s! And sometimes listening to or reading about someone else’s story can have an impact on you, and even improve your own story. When I first starting looking into “how to spot reduce your waist” back in 2013, I hoped and prayed that someone, anyone, had shared their story, their experiences, (literally anything, because beggars can’t be choosers) on spot reducing their waist. And when I stumbled upon Lucy Corsetry’s YouTube channel, I was like, OH MY GOD. YES. I’M NOT CRAZY. SPOT REDUCING YOUR WAIST IS ACTUALLY A THING. So I made it my “mission” to share my corset training / waist training / tight lacing journey too. And I’m glad I did because I have received so many messages and comments and emails from viewers and followers and subscribers who tell me how happy they are that they found my corset content. That alone encourages me to keep going, to keep waist training. So thank you! All of you!
2. They say INspiration comes from withIN; no one can inspire you, they can only motivate you to want something for yourself, to which that feeling inspires you to take action. I think inspiration and motivation go hand in hand when it comes to being a content creator and having viewers/followers/whatever-you-wanna-call-ems (I think the PC term now-a-days is audience or community). As a content creator, it’s my audience who motives me to keep going, which inspires me to create. And when I post said creation/content, it motivates my audience to which they feel inspired to comment, like, follow/subscribe, share my content, and maybe even start or continue their own waist training journey. And then the cycle repeats. Over and over. Also, it’s just so fun being creative and finding likeminded people who vibe with your creations.
3. As an online corset wearer, tight lacer, waist trainer-er, or whatever I, a woman who wears corsets, am referred to as, I feel it my duty, obligation, and commitment to do whatever I can to hinder, or put a stop to, any negative chatter related to corsets. I have responded to many (maybe hundreds of) comments, and have made tons of TikTok’s, blog posts, and YouTube videos that debunk myths about the “dangers of corsets” and how they are “so anti-feminist” (which is so laughable, IYKYK). Now, I’m not saying that I HAVE TO do this BECAUSE I’m a corset content creator (although I kind of did when I said it’s my obligation), it’s just that I hate, okay maybe not HATE, but more so roll my eyes at the fact that our society has built this impression and instilled the idea that corsets are horrible, terrible, no good, and very bad. And on top of all that negativity, corsets are deemed taboo or dirty; as in, if you wear corsets you’re probably kinky or over-sexual and are labeled as inappropriate. So yeah, busting myths is something I enjoy, especially because it calls people on their bullshit, and I so love calling people on their BS.
4. As much as I find myself cringing at my own content, it seems to sit well with the majority of my audience. Obviously, you can’t please everyone so why bother trying, right?! But I have always enjoyed making people laugh with my dry humor or witty clapbacks, and teaching others things I’m interested in, such as waist training with corsets. Although sometimes, if you repeat yourself over and over again (like I tend to do when answering the same comments), it kind of gets dull and boring, and a bit annoying, I’m not gonna lie. Nevertheless, I do it again and again, because deep down –deep, deep down– I enjoy it. Every bit it. And from time to time, I take breaks when it comes to answering the same questions (how do you breathe? isn’t that dangerous? that’s anti-woman! etc), but I somehow always find myself back in my own comment sections, or making content in the hopes that someone, somewhere out there in the dark abyss we call the internet, is giggling or smirking as they double tap, maybe having learned something new, too.

Overall, IT’S AN OUTLET TO EXPRESS MYSELF, TO INSPIRE/MOTIVATE OTHERS, TO CREATE, TO LEARN, TO SHARE.

Until next time,

♡ S