This may sound strange, but since when does my world experience not sound weird?
Yesterday, I felt how marvelous my body felt when I was first out of bed.
I had done an early morning stretch, taken the time to feel into my joints and muscles and as I prepared for my day, I felt my body with gratitude from a space of gratitude.
Considering I have been at odds with my body for more of my life than I have been partnered joyfully with my body, this is a big thing.
Remember, belonging is to live, work, play and grow vulnerably with others within a community who are committed and devoted to caring for one another. Not just talk about caring for one another, but acting with care towards one another in a context of transparency, acceptance and openness.
When I belong in my body and with my body, is to to live, work, play and grow vulnerably with my body. It is to stretch, to exercise, to move, to go places physically I didn’t know I was capable of going.
Here is one way I felt belonging in my body that will give you some context.
About ten days ago, I did the shocking activity of going to the mall to find a pair of shoes.
Cute shoes, with actual low heels.
I haven’t worn heels for such a long time because my feet hurt. They have bunions and the podiatrist told me I had deformed feet and basically had to live with my feet as they were.
I have worn the shoes in small bits and chunks, preparing to wear them out in the world.
I didn’t want my feet to get shocked by me insisting on wearing them for a full work day or a night out without walking around in the comfort of my home.
I was acting with care towards my feet – my body – in the context of what has been, what is now, and I was transparent with my feet (and the rest of my body) in a space of honesty, acceptance while open to a future of wearing them comfortably all day.
I tried to put a supportive sole inside, but when it was inside my foot could not fit.
I slid my foot in and stood up and the shoe and my feet felt like heaven.
I walked around the manse tall and strong, my vertebrae lined up, a smile on my face, there wasn’t pain.
I chose not to wear the shoes to choir practice – and I know and recognize I can wear them next week and who knows where else?
I was belonging in my feet, belonging with my vertebrae, belonging in the smile that stretched across my face.
This is how belonging feels in my body: a miracle, a doorway to joy and a means to an even more glorious future.
Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she has recently finished her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.
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