Dealing with negativity is a universal problem everyone has faced, and Jackie Goldschneider is opening up about her experiences in her upcoming memoir, The Weight of Beautiful. The book is raw, honest, and free from restraint. It touches on Jackie’s childhood, marriage, reality TV, and everything in between.
“I actually really love writing,” the Real Housewives of New Jersey alum shared with New Beauty. “It’s my passion. And I had all these terrible memories of ways I used to torture myself sitting in my head. It was very therapeutic to let them all out.”
She shared how writing honestly about difficult past experiences helped her to let them go.
Non-stop trolling
One of those past difficulties was the non-stop trolling she received when she debuted on RHONJ. Jackie talked about how people kept commenting on her face in her book. Some people said her lips moved sideways, that she had a lisp and other mean comments about her face.
The negativity was so relentless that she admitted to going to a doctor and a speech therapist. “I was really affected by what people were saying about me. It took a while to get used to it and let go.” She has since learned to step back and ignore the hateful online vitriol, but in her first season on the reality show, she was shocked by how awful people were online.
But, there’s always a silver lining. Jackie believes sharing her challenges can help others struggling with similar challenges.
You can be happy
“When I was struggling, there was no one for me to look to and say, okay, they recovered. I know they were as sick as I was, and they recovered and now lead a totally normal life,” she shared. “I had no idea what recovery looked like. I hope this book shows people that recovery is entirely possible — no matter how sick you are.”
Her ultimate goal in sharing her story is to remind people that you can live a full, happy, and healthy life, no matter what difficulties you faced in the past, including insecurities and eating disorders. “You can still feel beautiful,” Jackie said.
She added that she hopes her story can give people answers and give them a “map” of how to find themselves and feel better. She knows many women have struggled with eating disorders and fitting into society’s notions of beauty.
“I wanted to give people hope,” she explained. “If you’re struggling, here’s hop. You can get so much better.”
That doesn’t always mean instantly getting better. Jackie admitted that she still sees a therapist and dietician and works on her health daily.
Good for her!
TELL US – ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO READING JACKIE’S BOOK? DO YOU THINK SHARING HER OWN EXPERIENCE CAN HELP OTHERS?