Wednesday, April 10, 2013

It's time to get naked...

Driving along in my car today listening to music, a song came on my ipod that I hadn't heard in years. Another gem by India Arie. Perfectly timed.


"Private Party"

I'm having a private party
Ain't no body here but me, my angels, and my guitar 
singin' baby look how far we've come here
I'm havin' a private party
Learning how to love me
Celebrating the woman I've become, yeah

I tried to call my mother, but
She didn't get where I was going
I called my boyfriend and he said
Call me back a little later baby
I hung up the phone, I felt so alone
Started to feel a little pity
That's when I realized that I
Gotta find the joy inside of me

I'm gonna take off all my clothes
Look at myself in the mirror
We're gonna have a conversation
We're gonna heal the disconnection
I don't remember when it started
But this is where it's gonna end
My body is beautiful and sacred
And I'm gonna celebrate it

All my life I've been looking for
Somebody else to make me whole
But I had to learn the hard way 
True love began with me
This is not ego or vanity
I'm just celebrating me

Sometimes I'm alone but never lonely
That's what I've come to realize
I've learned to love the quiet moments
The Sunday mornings of life
Where I can reach deep down inside
Or out into the universe
I can laugh until I cry
Or I can cry away the hurt
***********

For me, it's not me, my angels, and my guitar. 


For me, it's me, my angels, and my pens, my journal, and my camera.


It's me, my angels, a solo lunch, and a two hour jaunt through a museum I love.


It's me, my angels, and a few quiet moments outside in the sun.


Celebrating life, art, spring, food, water bottles, and baldness. 


As difficult as it may be, we all need to strip ourselves bare, get naked, literally and figuratively, stare at ourselves in the mirror and bring an end to the disconnection, the dislike, and the disdain. 

The body you have, this body I have - it's the only one we are ever gonna have on this journey. 
Learn to love it. I beg you - love that body. Every inch of it. Every pound of it.
You will not have it in its current form ever again. 

Who was it that wrote that someday you will look at the photos of your 20, 30, 40 year old body and wish you could have it back? You will wish for that skin, that backside, those breasts, and those hands. You will wish for that hair, those legs, those shoulders, and that stomach. 

Go ahead. I dare you - fall in love with the skin you're in. 
Love the body that transports your magnificent soul. 
Celebrate the woman, the man, the person you've become and
the one you are becoming. 

Don't wait; start the party tonight when you get ready for bed.
Get naked and dance in front of your mirror. 
Laugh at the silliness and the beauty of it,
the bouncing and the rolling.
Marvel at how spectacular your body is,
at how spectacular you are. 
You are a wonder, a gift, a miracle.
Every inch of you. Every pound of you. 

5 comments:

Lisa said...

Great post!

LOVE the last photo!!!

Thank you for sharing these encouraging words of wisdom and inspiration!!

xoxoxoxoxo

silky j said...

Thank you! I am currently half way through my 3rd pregnancy and this body isn't what I expected, but for whatever reason its easy to love. I wish I always felt that way about myself. Why is that we let others judge us, and that shapes the judgements we have about ourselves. I so hate it.

Kate S said...

<3 you, Gail, its funny, every time I look in the mirror, I see my mother. Growing up, I never looked like her, but since my sister and I had kids the three of us all look like we are related. :) Sending you much love, darlin'

Linda K said...

Love it!!! A must-have song on my iPod!

Unknown said...

Thank you for more wisdom Gail - time we all got naked and loved ourselves. Hope your trip is everything you hope for and more. Heather