This audio piece is about the female body transcending sexual representation. She is symbolic of humanity.
I call this Gratitude to Body.
This evening I stood in the shower and for the first time - ever - I paid tribute to my body for all the wonderful, miraculous things it has done, seen, heard and spoken.
I held my breasts in my hands and remembered how they had fed my daughter for 13 months. I gave thanks.
I held out my hands in front of me and looked at them - really looked at them - and remembered all the people they had touched and held and the many things they had made and done. I gave thanks.
I put my hands on my belly and remembered how it had grown and was home to my daughter for nine months. I gave thanks.
I put my hands over my vulva and remembered how my vagina had pushed my daughter out and into the world. I gave thanks.
I placed my fingers on my lips and remembered I had shared many conversations over my life time, some hard, some fun and easy, and some so full of love and compassion. I gave thanks.
I placed my fingers over my ears and remembered all the voices and music I had listened to over the years and the goings on of life - nature, human activity. I gave thanks.
I placed my fingers over my eyes and I remembered all the beauty I had seen, how many life events I had witnessed and how moved I had been by colours, landscapes, faces, trees. I gave thanks.
As I did this I felt overwhelming joy, ecstasy. I felt awestruck by my own body and all that it had done, seen, heard, felt, touched and spoken.
The gifts of touch, of speech, of hearing, of seeing, and of doing are profound but we take them for granted, every day.
Our bodies carry us over distances in time and space. We take that for granted. Every day.
I’ve been critical of my body over the years feeling parts of it weren’t good enough, comparing it, putting it down, talking it down, but as I stood in the shower, remembering and recalling all these blessings, for the first time I stood in awe of it, for the first time I really saw it, for the first time I fell in love with it.
This morning I came across a quote from Rumi, “Today let us swim wildly, joyously in gratitude”.
Music credit: Kevin Luce freesound.org
Photo by Eddie Safarik
