a post about being naked and happy

Ever since my recent post about feeling good, regardless, I've received so many heartfelt emails and comments from friends near and far, sharing their thoughts about their own bodies and their relationship to them.  Thank you, to each and every one of you, who took the time to share these pieces of yourself with me.  Thank you for your honesty.  Clearly loving our bodies is something that the majority of us struggle with on a daily basis.  It seems that we all really *want* to love ourselves, right where we're at.  Easier said than done.  It's a battlefield out there.

I have skinny, flat-chested friends who wish they had curves and bigger boobs.

I have curvy, voluptuous friends who wish they had B-cup breasts and washboard stomachs.

It seems like most of us are looking to the other side of the fence, admiring the green grass, not recognizing the beauty and spendor in our own backyards.

So here's the deal.  I'm trying this new thing.  And it involves walking around naked a lot.  Showing a little more skin during the day.  I'm guilty of hiding behind loose, flowy hippie clothes because it makes me feel safer.   But when I'm naked my body is there, real, tangible.  And it is what it is.  And I'm learning to realize that today, right now, it's just as it should be.

I'm going to stop making excuses for my body.  I'm going to stop shaming it, covering it, and feeling like I'm just waiting for it to be smaller, tighter, leaner.  I'm going to love it now, as it is, in its most vulnerable and exposed state.  I'm going to stop wishing my boobs were smaller, that I could run longer, that I didn't eat those cupcakes for breakfast.  Because it's OK.  Right now.  Today.


*I wish all these things for you, too.  You are beautiful.  Just as you are.*