Dianne Sylvan, one of my favorite Pagan writers on the web, or anywhere, issued this challenge on her blog yesterday:

All right, it's your turn.  Go forth and make a list of ten things you love about your body, inside or out.  If you love the little mole on your elbow that's shaped like Missouri, or the way your eyes crinkle, or your mastectomy scars, or your right pinkie finger, say so.  We spend too much time talking about what is wrong with our bodies, what we hate, what we wish we could change--let's talk about things we love.  Your body will thank you for it.

Okay, so here I go, in no particular order -

1 - I love my eyes. Although sometimes they're mistaken for blue, they're actually green, and I like the fact that my eyes are an unusual, elusive color that people can only appreciate if they're looking closely. My eyes have this way of lighting up - sparkles when I'm happy and flashes when I'm angry. They are the true windows to my soul and one of the reasons why I will never be a poker player. They look great in purple eyeshadow and black liquid eyeliner - although not necessarily at the same time!

2 - I love my skin. I try to take care of it as well as the next person and generally stay out of the sun, but I am just blessed with good genes. I look about ten years younger than I am, and for that I thank whatever ancestress who passed along her skin to me. When I was a girl, especially during my college years, and everyone mistook me for younger, I hated it. My mother would say, "you'll be glad for that when you're older," and I thought I would scream if I heard her say it one more time. Well, guess what? Mother was right. I am glad for it now that I'm older. And now I feel like I should eat healthier and drink more water and wear sunscreen so my lovely skin will stay this way for many more years to come.

3 - I love my legs. They are strong. They can carry me for days walking around Paris or up the North Dome trail at Yosemite. They can dance all night (although the last time I went dancing I noticed my knees were none too happy at all the twisting and winding I'd been doing). They look great in cowboy boots.

4 - I love my gut. No, not my digestive tract, but that place deep inside me where my intuition lies. Over time I've learned to trust my gut instinct; it never lets me down. About a person, about a situation, about a choice I'm about to make. Ten times out of ten when I truly trust my gut instinct, I'm right. I suppose sometimes when my gut is trying to tell me something it feels a bit like a stomach ache, so maybe there is something to that digestive thing after all.

5 - I love my feet. They are cute and small and well-shaped. I keep them pedicured with red toes, sometimes a pale pink. They are a part of my body that I always feel good about, even if I'm not quite at my personal best. They indulge my shoe habit and endure high heels and pointy toes and odd straps. They like being able to show off in a pair of sandals. An extension of my legs, they take me where I need to go, and connect me to the Earth.

6 - I love my hair. It's always been very thick with a natural wave to it. The individual strands are fine and soft. It's fun to run your fingers through it. Although I confess to going a bit grey these days I have a Goddess of a hairdresser who makes my hair look better than it ever did before I started coloring it. It gleams like a polished chestnut. When I was young I always had short hair, so a few years ago I started to grow it out. It took a long time, but long it was beautiful. And a few weeks ago I decided to have it cut - I blogged about it here. And now I love it even more. It frames my face. It's fun and flirty and way more easy to wash! I can scrunch it with my fingers and a tiny bit of hair product and it's curly and wild (it makes me feel Fey, almost feral) or I can clip it here and there and, when it dries, voila - my very own marcel wave. I can take a flat-iron to it and flip out the ends for an edgy, modern feel. With my hair this way, I just feel more me.

7 - I love my hips. They are very curvy and give me a sexy, woman's figure. I look great in pencil skirts. But these curves are best appreciated when I'm lying on my side with nothing on. I've been told my hips are my sexiest feature and even when I wasn't feeling at my personal physical best I believed this to be true.

8 - I love my strength. Even though I haven't done any proper strength training in a while, my body is generally pretty strong. I can pick up things, carry things, move things. I can do pushups the "guy" way. I can give a big hug. My body always does what I ask it to, and for that I should be more grateful. As temples go, this one feels like it's built to last, but perhaps a bit of worshipping wouldn't hurt.

9 - I love my hands. They are the things with which I physically reach out and touch others, to comfort them or give them pleasure. They are the physical vehicle through which I create - knitting, writing. They are the things that allow me to do almost everything I do that gives me pleasure - hold a book and turn its pages, pet a puppy, work on my computer, perform a ritual, clean my house. The list is endless. While I believe that our eyes are the windows to our soul, our hands are the way we express and manifest our deepest desires and our will. It is with our hands that we DO. For me, that is one of the most important things.

10 - I love my heart. At night, when I'm lying in bed, I can hear it beating. It is strong and it keeps me alive. Despite how badly it has been hurt, how badly it aches sometimes, my heart still allows me to love with every fiber of its four chambers.

Now, it's your turn.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 10:03 AM