Today I sat in the sun and marveled at my body, at the scars, the marks, the skin that shows all 40 of the years I have lived.
I did not cover any of it up. I did not simply tolerate.
I marveled.
Physical reminders of growth, of how much I’ve been pushed and pulled and stretched past what I thought was my edge, what I thought I was capable of enduring, and still came back together. Still whole. Still here.
A reminder of my past, of who I used to be before I knew better, before I unlearned the lie that my body was a problem to be solved.
Because that’s what it was, wasn’t it? A lie. Sold to us early, sold to us often, that smooth, perfect, youthful skin in a “just right” able body was a worthy body. That a body which shows evidence of living life is a body that’s failed somehow.
I don’t believe that anymore. But, and, also that took me time, healing, a journey of unlearning and a commitment to my own liberation to arrive at this place.
A place where I see these marks as evolving beauty. I see my humanity, written in gold, across skin that has held every version of me. And embrace the honor, the absolute honor, of living in a body that tells so many stories, holds so many memories and continues to grow, evolve and be present to experience more!
Today I told my body I loved her, and thanked her.
Out loud. Not as a performance. Not for anyone watching. Because no matter the pressure, no matter the change, she always knows how to hold me, even in the seasons when I thought I would break.
She doesn’t resist the stretching. She adapts. She becomes something new. Not better than she was. Not worse than she was. Renewed.
And I think that’s the part we skip past too fast: renewal isn’t a return to some “before.” It’s not bouncing back. It’s not snapping into an old shape like nothing happened. It’s becoming, again and again, a body that has evidence of every place it’s been, of everything it has seen, of every moment it has endured or relished in.
A body with legs that have walked out of rooms and relationships that did not honor me. Hands that have held community when they needed me most. A heart that feels deeply and connects genuinely. Skin that tracks the privilege of aging.
So today I sat in the sun and marveled, in gratitude, at my body.
I wonder, when was the last time you sat and marveled in your body, thanked your body and rejected all of the lies you were taught to believe?
Try it won’t you? You might be surprised just how glorious you feel!
W/ Tenderness
Weeze
What a beautiful thing it is to pour love into yourself and body. Going to practice this 💕
beautiful, thank you. for the vulnerability and the invitation.