365 days of aRt. DAY THIRTY.

don't be afraid of a little extra weight
there's beauty in expansion

The two of us are in our late twenties, and we have finally reached the point in our lives where we are content in our own skin. These bodies have birthed two babies; They've danced and have made love and have climbed mountains. There is no part of us that doesn't fit. We are whole. Sure, we've both been subjects of Cooley's Looking Glass Self. Adolescence was tough -- self conscious doubts ran as deep as our veins. And sometimes, yes, we may need another lesson or two in self actualization. But the fact that we've come as far as leaving the insecurities in the past and acknowledging that our bodies are more than surface beauty, well that says a lot. I myself, remember the exact moment that Cooley's theory went to heck. I was gloved up, gowned up; It was my first day on the job, in the basement of the Pathology lab. I was an arm-length deep in an autopsy, extracting organs and vitreous fluid and all kinds of body what-have-you's. The superficial layers were being stripped and it struck me, hard -- how short life is; how much time I waste being critical of my own body; how thin the external layer really is; how easily the scalpel can separate the body from the being. To keep from being too gruesome -- I'll stop, and say that it was an intense moment for me. I begged for the minutes to move faster on the clock that day. I never did go back to sign my W4's.
I can't tell you I'm perfect. I have scars and bruises, stretch marks and that dreaded cellulite. My skin is changing faster then I ever thought it would in my twenties. And, I still get acne breakouts when I'm stressed. But it doesn't matter. I've come to know myself better in this body -- each little imperfection reminding me how glorious life has been. I'm healthy. And I'm ALIVE.