When I began to rebel against the narratives about my body I’d swallowed wholesale, I used curiosity as a lighthouse beacon. I tapped into the little girl inside me who could ask fifty-seven questions in two minutes without taking a breath. And I let myself believe that there had been a time when I didn’t hate my body.

Making peace with your body is also about making peace with your crooked third toe on your left foot. And your eyes that aren’t quite symmetrical. And your cowlick that makes your hair lay in a funky way. It’s about making peace with all your body’s parts, one at a time, from your crow’s-feet to your pinky toes.

Making peace with my body helped me make peace with religion. To be clearer, it helped me find peace when I broke up with religion.
I am in love with the Divine. I talk to them daily. I listen. I feel guided, supported, and cared for. I wholeheartedly believe in a higher power. But I no longer believe in institutional religion.

I didn’t worry too much about them because I expected the ziplining to be easy. How much would I need Legs to soar through the trees?
A lot, it turned out. This particular course required me to land on a very high stool, at each platform, and jump/climb down. On platform 3 of 16(?), I jumped down and my knees screamed.
The pain was familiar and nauseating. All I could think was Fuuuuuck! I am stuck on this course. I must finish because there is zero way I can hike out. How stupid am I? I am going to ruin this trip for everyone if I say anything.

Making peace with my body helped me make peace with money too.
Are you questioning how in the daylight I got comfortable with money after I got comfortable with my body? If you think it sounds like a stretch, I get it. But it’s a true story!
And before anybody asks—no, I wasn’t selling my physical delights to pad my bottom line.

I’ve been experiencing big feelings—the ragey grief kind—since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and I thought you would understand the way jagged snips of memory slice their way to consciousness, demanding attention.