Home Body

I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, thinking I would wait to share it until I had a full essay of thoughts about how I’m working to change my relationship with my body, but I haven’t had many thoughts, yet, much less a whole essay of them. I’ve spent decades trying to “fix” my body, trying to make it perform and feel the way I want it to; the way it did for a while, when I was younger; the way society/ableism says it should. The idea that my body could just be, exactly how it is—imperfect, sick, aging—is so completely radical to me that it clears the landscape all the way to the horizon, echoes like a bell in a canyon.

So maybe that is the thought, for now. Maybe these are just the first few degrees of a slow, creaking turn toward a new way of being. If so, I invite you to turn along with me.

How has your relationship with your body changed over the years? What’s it like these days? However you’re feeling about being embodied, I hope you can treat yourself with gentle care this week.

As Disability Pride Month comes to a close, I’m reminded again and again of how far this work reaches. Disability rights benefit everyone, regardless of ability. The difficult truth is, bodies change. My wish is for all of us to feel more at home in our changing bodies, to fight for the support, protection, and inclusion of the disabled community, knowing that we’re fighting for ourselves and the beating hearts we’re learning to love.