When I was a little girl, I felt light, I felt free. I ran through the woods with my wild curly hair swinging around me and my conch shell tied to a leather strap from my neck. I blew it ceremoniously when I came across a sight that delighted me or when I encountered a dead animal that needed a witness to its passing. I choreographed dances and slid across the wood floors in my house. I scrunched my nose and smiled. I twinkled. [Read more…]
Why I won’t be sculpting my bikini bod
See me at fourteen years old. I monitored every single bite of food that passed into my mouth. I ran my hands along my stomach to see how it felt to be one bite bigger. Each bite of food felt like a threat. At the end of the meal, I would turn sideways in the mirror to assess the damages. How much my hip bones protruded from my body and how much my belly caved in determined how I felt about myself. It made me feel sick to see what food did to me. Sometimes I panicked seeing my belly with a meal of food in it. Eating felt like a big mistake. [Read more…]
A perfectionist’s Lenten journey of radical self-care
“You are my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
I imagine God telling me these words. And I enter the wilderness.
Two things happened the day I realized I did not love myself. I sat tall in my vessel in yoga class, motivational words pouring into me. “How you treat your body says a lot about how you feel about yourself. Listen to what you tell yourself in yoga class.” [Read more…]
Hello, world. The silence brought me here.
I had a dream the night I secured the domain name UNSILENCED WOMAN.
I unexpectedly found myself in my ex-boyfriend’s house. When I realized I was there, I scrambled to get out. I left so quickly that I forgot the notebook where I had been writing down my ideas for this blog, my whole vision. [Read more…]