You and I have nothing and everything to be ashamed of but I am no longer ashamed of this heavy black body you helped create. I know that our beautiful, bruised black bodies are where we bend.

If someone close to you sacrificed a bit of themselves to help get you through tough times, how would you treat them? Would you judge, shame and think there was something wrong with them or would you love, value and be kind to that someone? What if that someone was your body?​​​​​​​​
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When we experience trauma or are going through a tough period in our lives, it is our bodies that bend for us so that we can cope and survive. I loved this gut wrenching passage from Kiese Laymon’s memoir Heavy (must read), addressed to his mother, about making peace with his body and it made me think about what our bodies do for us. ​​​​​​​​
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Remember that your body bends for you, sometimes crippling itself to help you cope. But that doesn’t make your body less than or any less deserving or worthy of your love. Choosing to radically love yourself means choosing to radically love your body too.​​​​​​​​
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How will you treat your body that has done so much for you?​​​​​​​​
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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
body acceptance body shame embodied radical self love self acceptance self love trauma