Bodies Are Weird and Interesting and Cool… So Why Don’t We Love Them More?

Bodies are weird, eh? They’re also weird to write about. I’ve been feeling a lot of things lately about the way we treat our bodies and the way we talk about them. Sitting down and getting it all on paper (and by paper I obviously mean screen, though do I like the idea of yelling HAND ME MY QUILL, I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!) is a tricky one, but I’d like to give it my best shot.

My body is chalk white with very dark hair. It’s a little round, a little lumpy and taller then most of my petite friends. And, along with my dad’s sense of humour I also inherited his feet. But - and I can’t emphasise this enough - these aren’t criticisms, because I like these things. They make me, me. My body is also strong, it lets me have fun and it takes care of me if I fall over (which is, admittedly, rather often!) or get sick.

Some people run marathons in their bodies, some people grow other tiny humans in theirs. Other people can sing, dance, create art and do all sorts of awesome and interesting things!

When I listen to the way people talk about their bodies, I feel as though we’ve been conditioned to not like these marvellous things and I can’t help but feel like there’s something wrong with that. The thing about bodies is, we all have them - and no two are 100% alike. How cool is that?!

There’s a lot of focus (and entire industries!) dedicated to improving our bodies or modifying them in some way and, while I agree that’s OK on one hand (I have several tattoos and dye my hair, so I certainly can’t pretend that I’m 100% au naturel), we seem to have forgotten how to talk about the bits that we DO like. And that’s the part I can’t wrap my head around! Talking about what we would change seems to come a lot easier than confidently talking up our favourite body parts, which is a real shame. Surely we can get back to loving ourselves just a little more!

It’s the time of year when I take my pale, tattooed, round body out of its normal clothes and put it in a bathing suit on holiday. Heck, I even get my feet out (twinning is winning, right dad?). I like to do this as an act of self care and a reminder to myself that we’re all different but also, we’re all the same! Enjoying the weather and the pool and having a jolly good time. I even get to wear a giant straw hat! Yippee!

My butt is round and a little dimpled but when I stop to think about it, it’s also one of my favourite parts of my own body. It’s very comfy to sit on and looks nice in jeans (on the rare occasion I decide to wear ’em, ha!). I’m not going to compare myself to a bronzed 18-year-old because - surprise! - I’m neither of those things. Don’t fall into that comparison hole, pals - it’s hard to climb back out again.

Would you indulge me just a little more by taking part in an experiment? I would love it if you could think about your favourite body part for a minute. If you want to share it with me, you can either comment below or tweet me! But even if you don’t share it, please do have a wee think about it and then think about it again when you’re giving your body a hard time.

Bodies are weird. But they are also interesting, very cool and 100% ours. I hope you’ll join me in making time to celebrate them a little more!