There was a moment where I paused in the full length mirror and saw the 31 year old that I am. I like the way I look, but for the first time I realized that my body looks a little different. Meaning, it occurred to me that I don't look 18 anymore. I was looking at a 30-something's body, and guess what?
I smiled.
Back in high school my favorite singer/songwriter was Ani DiFranco. I own approximately ten of her albums. I've definitely not kept up with her music like a devoted teenager would, but her songs have always stuck with me. There was a certain lyric from her song "Jukebox" that came to mind.
her hair bears silent witness
I know some cancer survivors personally and on their bodies are scars. Some are surgery scars, some are "tattoos" on their bodies used to mark where the chemo laser would need to be pointed every time. Signs that their bodies have survived.
A more public example would be Elly Mayday.
A college friend of mine sent me to a website telling her story. At 25 years old she is battling cancer. Although she started as a plus-size model for Forever Yours Lingerie (https://foreveryourslingerie.ca/), one year later Elly was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She most recently underwent a nine hour operation to remove stomach cancer. The owner of the Canadian lingerie company decided she wanted to show Elly as is.
Her bald head and scar on her stomach were left for everyone to see. If you take a gander at their website, you will be very encouraged at the use of models of all sizes. As a side note, there are images of Elly as is, but also wearing wigs and photoshopped. They do so, because she requested that she continued to be viewed as a model, and not just a model with cancer.
But here's where I'm going with this...
Our culture only values youth and perfection, but I don't. I smiled at my 31 year old body, because it has experience. It's traveled with me and been a home for my soul, and I like that there are scars and bumps. It shows that I've won some, and I've lost some. Others may look at their bodies and see the battle of the weight, but why not feel proud of the body that has given you so much life? Do we not respect those with wisdom? Then why don't we respect our aging bodies?
Where has your body been? What do you have to show for it?
her hair bears silent witness
to the passing of time
tattoos like mile markers
map the distance she has gone
winning
some, losing some
I know some cancer survivors personally and on their bodies are scars. Some are surgery scars, some are "tattoos" on their bodies used to mark where the chemo laser would need to be pointed every time. Signs that their bodies have survived.
A more public example would be Elly Mayday.
A college friend of mine sent me to a website telling her story. At 25 years old she is battling cancer. Although she started as a plus-size model for Forever Yours Lingerie (https://foreveryourslingerie.ca/), one year later Elly was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She most recently underwent a nine hour operation to remove stomach cancer. The owner of the Canadian lingerie company decided she wanted to show Elly as is.
Her bald head and scar on her stomach were left for everyone to see. If you take a gander at their website, you will be very encouraged at the use of models of all sizes. As a side note, there are images of Elly as is, but also wearing wigs and photoshopped. They do so, because she requested that she continued to be viewed as a model, and not just a model with cancer.
But here's where I'm going with this...
Our culture only values youth and perfection, but I don't. I smiled at my 31 year old body, because it has experience. It's traveled with me and been a home for my soul, and I like that there are scars and bumps. It shows that I've won some, and I've lost some. Others may look at their bodies and see the battle of the weight, but why not feel proud of the body that has given you so much life? Do we not respect those with wisdom? Then why don't we respect our aging bodies?
Where has your body been? What do you have to show for it?
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