Let's have a conversation, a connection of minds, right here, right now. Let's be real, raw, honest and unafraid to share our naked truth. You be you and I’ll be me.
Let's skip the mundane “where are you from? What brought you here? How long are you staying?” type questions because all we really have is this moment and we already know we are made of the stars and the earth and are here for only a fleeting second.
Make a soothing cup of tea, (replace with coffee, wine, green juice if you prefer), find your favourite, comfortable chair and stay with me here, exactly as we are and let's begin. How is your physical body? Close your eyes for a while, notice the eyelashes fluttering together, gentle as butterflies wings and now softly feel your skin, your on-display-outside layer. Is it hot, cold, clammy or something else? Touch it. Let your fingers explore whether it is smooth, rough, hairy, sweaty or more.
Open your eyes and look at yourself. Take your clothes off immediately (maybe wait until later if you are in the middle of a public place, or don't! Get naked in public if you are that comfortable in your own skin. Disclaimer: I don't want you to get naked in public! If you did just get naked in public you probably don't need to read the rest of this article! Maybe put your clothes back on!) But seriously, when appropriate, get naked and openly look at yourself. When was the last time you really saw you? Does the body seem familiar or is it like looking at a stranger? Is there comfort or disgust in seeing flesh on display? Chances are it looks older than it used to and perhaps there are new wrinkles, wobbly bits or scars. Maybe there is more, or less, of you than before. Are we ok with what we witness? Simply notice how it makes you feel and don't look away. Emotions cannot hurt us, only the actions we attach to them can, so stay with the emotions as they arise and don't take any action, simply observe.
Start at the top and work your way down. How is your hair today? Mine is messy and a bit unruly as it has always been! It is a mixture of autumn browns, sun kissed blondes and moonlit silver. The silver is a new addition and I use the word silver deliberately as it sounds more magical than grey! To me silver implies that I am wise and have the ability to flounce around magical kingdoms on my winged unicorn whereas grey implies I am simply getting on a bit and will soon be surrounded by 50 cats! That, of course, is only my take on the words, and I do love cats! Anyway, there is more silver in my hair than there was a few weeks, months, years ago and as I shake my mane more of them bravely appear. For a while my emotions conflict as my inner child feels betrayed by my 33 year old shell that such greyness on display manifests an ageing process that I have no control over. But as I stay and wait a while longer I feel a sense of love, of comfort and pride in myself that I have lived long enough to age. My silver streaks can stay here without being coloured in or hidden away.
My face? For sure looks older than before, and thinner. Perfect cheekbones on display that appeared after a kidney infection ravaged my body and stripped me of weight. How is your face? How did it become this way? Can we make peace with it now?
Keep exploring. Breasts, arms, stomach, buttocks, legs, feet. Notice everything. Stay longer with the parts that bring up stronger feelings. Stay there all day if necessary until the emotions transform to those of peace, forgiveness and acceptance. Allow the memories of scars, of tattoos, to surface and fade; the happiness, the sadness, the regrets that we weren't as kind to ourselves as we could have been, the joy that we treated ourselves like kings/queens and ate the good food, drank enough water, rested and exercised appropriately. With love and kindness, as though touching something fragile and new-born touch all of the places of yourself that need to be thanked, forgiven or apologised to and say the words out loud and feel the release and the sense of returning to wholeness with yourself. Embrace it. Enjoy it.
Love all the places of yourself where your truth lives. Our bodies are road maps of our lives, our memories and imprints of everything we have survived and thrived through, the surface of a tangled web we weave of chaos and creation, the gift wrap for our soul, so let's love ourselves as we are; exactly as we are.
In a world where it is an outrageously rebellious act to be comfortable in our original skin let's be the revolutionaries who stand up unashamedly saying “This is me, the real me and I love myself exactly as I am.”
Our flesh tells part of the story of who we were and who we are right now so let it be told as it was originally written.
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