Deborah Lipp

Pagan author Dianne Sylvan asks us to list ten things we love about our bodies. Great idea.

1. I love my beautiful long neck. I can wear super-long earrings that would thwack most people in the shoulders, but on me they dangle above the shoulders. It is truly swan-like and I love it.

2. I love my big brown eyes. The neck and the eyes are typical Taurean traits, although surely I might have ended up with the fat bull-neck that Taurus sometimes has, and sleepy-brown rather than deep-brown eyes.

3. I love being busty. I don’t think these are necessarily the two best large breasts ever, but I love having an ample chest, overflowing the bra, all that. I feel stupidly proud of it (as if I had something to do with it!).

4. I have great teeth. My gums don’t recede or bleed, I’ve never had a root canal, I can eat ice cream without pain, they’re fairly white, and in excellent working order. Thank you, Mom, for drinking plenty of milk during pregnancy.

5. I have always gotten compliments on my skin. This one is kind of harder, because I notice the flaws, I notice when a pimple shows up, whereas others notice a generally flawless complexion with tiny pores. But I love the compliments, and I also adore the way my skin looks with some makeup on. (Man, do I love foundation!)

6. When I was in the hospital with a broken knee, the nurse praised me for having terrific upper body strength. I was able to use the overheard bar to move myself without any difficulty, and this was a huge help throughout my recovery. I was never complimented on my strength before. It made me feel good about myself; I’d previously thought I was so wimpy. So I love my upper body strength.

7. Speaking of being in the hospital, I really do love my scars. They’re awful and horrific and I love them. I love their strangeness and their inherent storytelling. I love the way they stop and say, my body is not just a picture of a body, it’s lived experience and it shows change.

8. And speaking of change, I love my tattoos. I have been changing my body consciously with tattooing for 25 years. I have no intention of ever stopping. My artwork is a part of me that is beautiful, special, unique, creative, and interacts with the world.

9. I love my full lips. Someone once told me I had the lips of a Victoria’s Secret model. That was cool.

10. I love my immune system. This has been a kickass season for me with getting sick, but generally I don’t get sick much, and when I do, I don’t get it as badly as other people with the same cold or flu or whatever. I feel fully capable of fighting off whatever hits me. That’s a good feeling.

Your turn.