i love my body...

this is my new mantra. when i hear myself thinking, god i'm still so fat, what is wrong with me? why can't i lose these last ten pounds? i Stop that shit in its tracks. i crash into it and tackle it to the ground and then i repeat with glee, I LOVE MY BODY I LOVE MY BODY I LOVE MY BODY. 
you know why? because you never hear women saying that. little girls never hear their mamas or aunties or best friends or grandmas saying it. and yet look at us. we walk all around town, we hike and swim, we sit cross legged on the floor, we hug each other. we do yoga, we lean over and touch our toes, we stretch our arms overhead to pick plums, we jump up and down when we get excited. we grow babies and birth them, we carry them in our arms that get stronger and stronger, we write poetry with our beautiful brains and hearts, we create wild dances to stupid hiphop songs, we laugh our asses off. we do all this in these beautiful bodies of ours and i think under all the H8....we secretly delightfully love our bodies and we're just scared to admit it. even to ourselves. so i'm saying it. i'm loving it, all of it, face and chin, breasts and legs. grey hairs, wrinkles, thunder thighs, calloused feet, jiggly arms, fleshy belly, all of it.


and i gotta admit, i'm inspired by lena dunham. have you been watching Girls? (i'm not quite caught up so no spoilers!) how she gets naked all the time and gets sexy with her big belly and little boobs, how she will wear a tight romper and not give a shit if she doesn't look like a stick in it. that she's not tiny and not perfect and not skinny and she embraces it and even flaunts it; awkwardness is queen! 
and even though she's selling awkwardness in a show about lost 20-somethings, i think she's also loving being awkward. you can just tell. she accepts herself and she finds herself damn sexy. 
now i'm a long shot from a brooklyn hipster but i can say without hesitation that being yourself, in whatever situation you are in, with you own likes and dislikes and body and memories and stories, embracing your own quirks, makes you feel beautiful.


i want to help my daughter grow up loving and respecting every millimeter of her sweet precious wonderful amazing body. right now she is learning to crawl, scooting herself around like a vigorous little inchworm and it is so cute it kills me. she is discovering the possibilities of her wondrous little body and it reminds you as a parent the true intricacy and strength and perfection of our human animal physicalities. it's a good reminder. it is pretty rad to be alive and to be breathing and moving in these cool, flexible, marvelous bodies of ours! and that is what matters, that with all the magic of our imaginations and spirits. not our size, shape, or how cool we look in a romper. when we feel good we look good or as audrey hepburn says "i believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls." 


so how about you? will you join me in exuberantly exclaiming, for all the world and especially younger women to hear, I LOVE MY BODY?! then dash off merrily to your next big adventure.

Comments

Unknown said…
I love this so much so much so much. I have been working to get my own thoughts on this written down. I love this body of mine and I shouldn't be embarrassed that I do just because it isn't perfect. Thanks so much for helping me reflect on this a little more.
Milla said…
I love your body! ;) But most importantly, I love your mind. Because you think of these kinds of important thoughts, common thoughts that you give a positive spin to, because you remind me to love my body and I do I do, it's just the most perfect body I ever had, because you are raising this daughter just the right way. Girl, I can't wait for a hot date with your mind soon and bring that beautiful mama body along! So many hugs to the both of you from the bottom of my heart.

ps. thanks to you I'm almost ready to give Girls another chance.
Jessica said…
I LOVE this post so so much! I've been struggling lately thinking the same thing...when am I going to lose these last few pounds? I wish my body looked like it did before I was pregnant! But you are absolutely right! Our bodies are even more beautiful because we gave birth! We need to embrace every inch and love how our little miracles have changed us! :)
Anonymous said…
Wonderful post! I love my body, too, and it's good to hear some positivity about bodies :)
Hoodoo Voodoo said…
I LOVE this post. and I love that you quoted Audrey Hepburn. I remember reading Breakfast at Tiffany's and Holly Golightly says: "I'm sure it's normal, darling, but I prefer to be natural." So true. who cares what's "normal". Here's to loving every part of being natural and comfortable and beautiful and female. Love you and that daughter of yours.
Amy Beatty said…
LOVE this! Your are so lovely it just shines forth! It took me years after having babies to get to that point, and even though its not perfect and sure I would love to be fit. I'm freaking healthy and get to do so many wonderful things with it. it is such a gift. and the real hard truth is, it was from having a daughter so wonderfully herself she is just PERFECT. I never want to be a reason that would give her self-doubt. We will build up women!! love you and I stinking tried to post a big fatty on your easter blog from my phone but it was being stupid so i quit. but loved it xoxo
polly compost said…
i could cry, partly from the beauty of your post and partly because my fantastic, body-positive comment washed away somehow! i'll try again:

hear hear!!!!!

there is no remedy in condemnation...ever.

your heart and your soul are free from the nasty effects of society's concepts of beauty and worth. that nagging voice comes in and it is not your true-self, it is a ghost and a shadow; a lie. the deeper, wiser true-self comes in and envelops you with love and gratitude. you rock.


occasionally berating thoughts come to mind when i'm looking in the mirror, but i quickly recognize and excuse them, loving my health and my self. how can i love myself if i don't love my squishinesses?

lastly, i think lucy's in good hands. she'll see her momma looking and the mirror, exclaiming love and appreciation for her body and that's all she'll know. i know a few moms who obsess over size/food and say things like, "ughh, i'm soo fat!!," in front of their young daughters. so what????? we need to smash our culture's habit of fat-shaming.....self love is the revolution. we're rejecting the unhealthy, arbitrary standards and loving ourselves.



xoxo
anne said…
such a good post heather! thank you for the reminder, i needed to hear this!
My darling daughter, I am the luckiest Marma alive to have such wonderful children. I admire you, adore you and, like Lucy, you light my life with joy! Now... thank you for the beautiful words about women's bodies. All my life I have felt my body was not good enough, even when I was young, firm and a young mother, pregnant constantly it seemed, with my five beautiful children! Those years are gone now, and I wasted alot of them complaining and feeling insecure about my body. But look what it has accomplished, and at 60 plus, is still accomplishing. I love that I am soft, cushy and curved, small breasted, big hipped, varicose veins, floppy arms, all of it, a testament to my life and the most important part of my life, my favoritest part of all, raising my beautiful babies. And now, enjoying my most precious, wonderful, adorable grandbabies. Thank you Heather for being such a wonderful daughter and for affirming my life here on this earth! I love you so much.
Kendra said…
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! 3 cheers for loving ourselves in this world so ready to eat our selflove up and spit us out sad and whittled.

Heather, just from reading this blog the past year or so I find you so very lovely, in word, deed and body. And I'm gladdened and inspired to see you striving to BE a wonderful example of a strong, selfloving mama for your little girl and also her cousin Utah and all the kids and adults you come into contact with. So so so important to spread the seed of We are Wonderful!
Tina Dawn said…
Wonderful post and I will declare just for you "I love my body!" Love T
shannon said…
oh heather. this couldnt come at a better time for me. after gaining close to 80 lbs with my first child 11 years ago, i have never been the same. i struggle with it daily. my skin stretched terribly on my lower belly, i have stretch marks, thunder thighs (haha)but I got all of this by bringing three beautiful boys into this world...(and maybe a few pasta dishes here and there:D) what a trade off right! i wouldnt change any of it. it is hard sometimes to see women that also carried children that didnt seem to change a bit. but guess what? thats not me. i have met women that are bigger than me that never utter a single insult about themselves. they are confident, and sooo sexy that way. i strive to be that way and after turning 35 this week, i have made it a serious goal to be good to myself, not so hard on myself, and learn to appreciate what God gave me. thanks for your beautiful post to reitterate that.
Jen said…
I love this! I love that you're already thinking about this issue and how you want to teach your daughter. And I love my body, too. FINALLY. After years (so many years) of wasted time and energy hating this part or that area of my body, seeing my body as somehow separate from myself, I finally came to this mindset about a year ago. It had a lot to do with my husband's cancer diagnosis and diminishing mobility (tumor in his spinal cord)... I suddenly realized how lucky I am to have a healthy, fully functioning body and how important it is for me to be healthy vs. thin. And you know what happened? Within a few months of deciding that I love my body/myself just as I am... the weight started coming off. It's an interesting journey, this life.

Also, the comment from your mom made me cry/grin. :D
i love you i love you i love you heather!
by the way, its me, ruebi!
Crystal Lee said…
I love my bucked crooked teeth, my wrinkled elbows, my old lady hands, those few freckles that have turned to age spots, the spider veins all over my thighs. That felt good. Girl, you are beautiful. I love this post. I love watching “Girls” too!
regina said…
wonderful post heather! i admit, i am still working on this one, it's so important and yet so hard for me.

thank you for the reminder :)
amy*lou said…
absolutely LOVE this post. :)
Tera said…
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Tera said…
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Tera said…
August LOVES her body, she throws it on the bed and rolls in it, she loves her tummy and her feet and belly button! I didn't know that in the sunlight babies had what looks like baby cellulite, it is so cute and her rolls, I was just thinking, what is wrong with rolls and cellulite and dimples and fat later????? NOTHING! August is inspiring and I want her to love her body the way she does now.

I look in the mirror and see a pancake ass, my ass is gone (I mourn it) I see skinny, shapeless, stick legs and a blotchy chest (some hormonal thing has caused that) and though my tummy is flat...it isn't pretty. I lost weight with pregnancy and breastfeeding and I am not feeling so super fantastic about that.

I miss my curves! I miss my butt the most and how it cushioned the seats for me. Right now it is too painful to sit too long. Not use to this. I loved NOT having Olive Oyle's legs, I want pretty, curvy thighs and calves. I remember my 25 year old boobs, how wonderful they were... Maybe it is my culture but I am struggling with what I see in the mirror. I want curves. But then in walks August wearing her diaper, and it's like who cares! All thoughts out the window.

Maybe I am wrong but all sorts of men in men's bodies out there not crying about what they see in the mirror and babies and children don't so, no reason for us to go there. Love your post and you are so beautiful!!!!!!! In fact, Heather, your have made me envious here and there post Lucy. You have a great body!!!! So you better love your body :) I just want to be healthy and watch August marry and hold her kids one day. Really, that is all I want now, HEALTH!!!!
Anonymous said…
I LOVE MY BODY!

So wonderful to hear this refreshing-as-lemons post from you.

xoxo
Anonymous said…
Great post. I struggle with this daily. I have a 15 month old and am still working on about 12-15 pounds. I know I'll lose it,but I hate that it hurts my self-confidence. I'm not normally a vain person. Or maybe I am. In any case, I need to work on seeing myself in a different light. Thanks for the inspiring words.
Jenna E said…
I am obsessed with this post. I was in the works of writing a little something myself but you couldn't have said it better.

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