Today I went with a friend to the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida. We went to see an art exhibit titled “The Baroque World of Fernando Botero”.

The docent who led the first part of our tour said that Botero painted “fat people”. I believe she said those were Botero’s words.

In that museum with 100 pictures of gigantic people, animals and musical instruments painted by a world famous, living artist, I was forced to see fat in a different light.

When we look at art, it’s hard not to make judgments since our perceptions are influenced by our preferences, prejudices, and paradigms. When we see art, we tend to see life as we know it.

Think for a moment about fat people, what those words mean to you, how you feel when you hear the term. What would it take to change your perception about fat people?

I thought about that today when the docent said the most extraordinary thing–that the people in Botero’s paintings weren’t really fat people, but people of “heroic proportions”.

When I heard “heroic proportions “the label “fat people” instantly disappeared. A paradigm shift occurred and I will never see large people as fat people again.

Even as I struggle with my own food addictions and emotional eating challenges, I know the power of words when it comes to food and labels.

Today, I got to take a different look, a new picture, and I liked what I saw.