While Moxie Mind was just starting out, I took a job as a nude model at an art college as a side hustle. As you might imagine, it was a blend of anxiety, self-consciousness, and excitement! I had no clue what I was doing on the modeling stand, but inside I was determined to fulfill the experiment I was having with myself on body acceptance. Could I get naked in front of complete strangers… and feel COMFORTABLE with it?
Turns out, my answer is yes. (I realize this may come for a host of reasons, including (but not limited to) my length of recovery, the comfortability I already feel about being in my body, and privileges such as being in a culturally acceptable body, being white, and being able-bodied.) The first few times were hard in ways that I wasn’t expecting, and I became more aware of my body than I had been in years. But after a few more times, I started to feel more comfortable in the idea that, “This is my body. No armor, no disguises, no layers. Just me. Just a body.”
I started to realize that my body in the classroom wasn’t good or bad, it was just a body. It was art. I took notice that I was the only person who noticed my unshaved knee caps or the fact that I’d forgotten deodorant or that I felt a little more bloated than usual. The students’ drawings taught me that my body could look different not just from different angles, but from the eyes of different students (and perhaps their views of their own bodies). I started to understand that the interpretations of my body are just differences in perspective - not better or worse, likely not even 100% accurate.
I say it all the time, so I’ll say it here again: ALL BODIES ARE GOOD BODIES. Your body is yours. It’s not up to others to decide how you feel about your body. You don’t have to love your body, you don’t even have to like it. Maybe today you just tolerate it; maybe you just accept it. All the while knowing that your feelings and interpretations of your body and yourself are fluid and flexible - just like food, just like movement, just like sleep, and stress, and energy levels, and all other components of this life. The lens through which we view ourselves matters. All bodies are good bodies.
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