I found myself saying these words earlier this week: “I'm not trying to lose weight. I like my body the way it is.” I believe these words. I repeat them as a mantra to myself every day. They feel like both a revolution and a betrayal. And, perhaps obviously, I do not believe these words. For I have been programmed my whole life not to believe them. It is time to believe those words. It is time to start a revolution.
To love the bodies that we have is a revolutionary act. It means walking away from the cultural programming that defines beauty in a narrow unattainable way. It means stepping away from the constant self-immolation of the modern female. We are never enough. There is no possible way we could ever be enough. As the Duchess of Windsor famously said: “you can never be too rich or too thin.” We live on that sacrificial altar, perpetually starving the body into compliance or berating ourselves for eating too much. If we are successful at the endeavor of attaining ideal weight, we may die of madness or anorexia. If we are unsuccessful, we are always postponing life until after we have lost the weight.
To love the bodies that we have is a revolutionary act. We step down off the altar of self abuse. We step into our bodies. We walk through our grief, anger, pain, and denial. We discover that our emotions will not kill us. We can ride our full emotional range without being destroyed. We may even come to enjoy the ride more than the starved presence of anorexia or the drugged presence of overeating. When we shift our attention away from food, we discover that life is pretty good.
To love the bodies we have is a revolutionary act. It means claiming the self. It means claiming pleasure and pain, joy and suffering. It means stepping into our animal being: yes, this body is mine. I feed it, I clean it, I love it. It is what I hold first and foremost in the world. If I do not care for this body, I cannot fully live this life. Caring for this body is my primary responsibility. The rest comes after.
To love the bodies that we have is a revolutionary act. Because to love our bodies we have to love the earth around us. We discover that we are equals with all the creatures of the earth. We share this place. Our health and their health are intertwined. To feed and care for our bodies well means feeding and caring for the planet. We are responsible for the health of the world. We cannot walk away from that responsibility.
To love the bodies that we have is a revolutionary act. It frees us from consumer culture and the story that tells us we will not be happy until we satisfy some manufactured need. Our most basic need is to care for the self. When we are well care for, when these needs are met, we can work for the good of the whole. Not only do we step down from the altar of self abuse, we step off the treadmill of consumption. We discover what makes us truly happy. We discover a deeper pleasure that arises from being our human bodied animal selves. We become free.
To love the bodies we have is a revolutionary act. Act Up!
© Lisa Wells 2010
