Dear Body

I owe you an apology. I have not been treating you well. I know that you have needs I have not met. I know that you have been hurt.

Today I want to make a promise to you. I promise that I will always love you, no matter what. Even when I don’t show it well please know that without you I would be nothing.

While I may see the beauty in other bodies we encounter I promise that I will never do so at your expense. I will not compare you to another body because I know that it hurts you and I don’t want anything to come between us.

I promise to treat you gently and to remember that your hurt is my hurt. I know that you would never do anything just to injure me. I will try to remember that pain I feel from you is always a way to communicate a need and never a punishment. I will remember that pleasure and comfort are part of our language together and that they are needs for us both.

I hope you will forgive my willful denial of you in the past and let me embrace you again into the whole of my self.

sincerely,

me

You are as strong as a willow tree,

Even though you droop and bend,

You do not break under the pressure

You are beautiful because you can hold your breath and count to ten and never make yourself do less for the sake of pleasing others.

You have a brain and a passion for rain and no one will make you change that.

You're beautiful and I hope you know that beauty is not measured in the number of hands you've held, the number of lips you've kissed, or the number of boys who have lived you. It is measured in the amount of times you feel pleased when you look in the mirror. It is measured in the number of times you dust yourself off when you want to soak in mud.

You strong, you are hard-headed, but most of all you are beautiful.

To my dearest Self,

I was just sitting here, thinking about you, and felt like there were some things I should get down on paper. I want to be sure you know how awesome I think you are.

So, of all the people in the world, what makes you so special? Let me share few of my favorites. You are funny and have a fantastic laugh . You are a spectacular optician (get it?) .and you make terrific fried eggs. You are a great dog-mommy (love you Hugo and Penny!), and I love that you just gave them a shout-out even though dogs can't read. I really appreciate that you aren't afraid to sing out loud when a cool song comes on the radio; I get a kick out of some of your dance moves too. No, you aren't perfect, not even close, but you are a good sister, a loving and faithful wife, and you are beautiful (after you fix your hair, your bedhead is pretty "amazing").

Overall, I love being you... or me. Us? Doesn't matter, keep rockin' it girl.

Love, Me

Brandon,

As the title implies, you are just that : sometimes a sweet treat to be enjoyed at the end of a heavily labored day and sometimes best cold, like the revenge you behold. Though the others may find issue or quarrel with whatever it is you are, I only see you in truest form and am much appreciative. You're not perfect and you would never let others think too highly of you. You often push the lines with your humor, but dammit, it keeps me in stitches and though you probably give people more credit than they deserve, you do it because you extend this courtesy because you wonder if they truly know what love is. I wouldn't say you're adorable or totally vile, you're a good medium. You've been able to push yourself to do things that would cause others to break or endure great discomfort because you know that sometimes : YOU PUT THE TEAM ON YOUR BACK! You're parents graced you with their ability to retain youth in appearance and intriguing emerald eyes with sapphiric qualities. You believe that change isn't bad and try to show the world a more positive evolution of humanity by being open-minded in both ideas and of their application. I love you mainly because, we do this together, blood in, blood out, struggles, and successes. We've been the victim of scathing cynicism and the recipient of potent praise. We've thought we've known love and hate, yet we learn that it goes deeper as the days run down to moon rise. We thought we had found diamonds of human presentation and we thought we had found beings close to the gravel that is common-spread in the world, yet we tend to become more and more incorrect.

We're aging as graceful as this dying planet will allow and we don't raise finger or voice to complain, but continue to explore other ways to make change so eventually we will just smile. Your smile is broken now, but we're putting the pieces together. ;-)

-Your Reflection in mind and body

Dearest Ann,

I see it's been a while since I've taken the time out and appreciate you, your strength and character never seize to amaze me. You're a broken beauty but the sweetest kind of remedy to me myself. I'll never stop loving you as you're first to me and always will be forever in my heart my dearest, my love.