Yesterday my sweet little nieces came over for a visit. I'd just gotten home from the beach and I was wearing only a bikini...
The seven year old kept staring at my belly and breasts, robust and round as they are...next thing I knew, she was patting my belly. It was funny although I knew that I should be embarassed but on some level, I felt that it was only natural for her to be drawn to my soft, round belly, after all- it's at her eye level!
But then a minute later, her little sister, the 4 year old, comes up to me and says, "You have a fat belly!" I was embarrassed that attention had been given to it, yet again, I still felt it was quite funny! I looked down at my belly and rubbed it, like a buddha, and laughed at my nieces reaction.
It made me realize that I am not so worried about how I'm percieved, in regards to 'imperfections' and all...but more to the point, I get caught up in how I think I should react: embarrassed, ashamed, and compelled to cover up.
But I didn't feel like that. I felt sexy and natural, having just spent 2 hours lying in the sand dunes in the afternoon sun, at my local beach. Having watched the waves crash on the sand below and pondered how healthy my beautiful body is.
Why is how we 'think' we should feel so important and often so varied to how we 'actually' feel?
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