Daily Journal #100 - Acceptance & Image

The second definition of the noun "acceptance" is "the action or process of being received as adequate or suitable, typically to be admitted into a group."  

The first definition of the noun "image" is "a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art."

It is almost the end of the calendar year and it is the last year on earth that I will be the age I am now.  It has taken me almost four decades to sit in the "small, quiet room" of acceptance as Strayed calls it.  It has taken me almost four decades to look in a mirror and love the image that I see.

I accept my image as whole and beautiful and perfectly imperfect.  And if that sounds like I'm ego-trippin', careful so you don't fall.  

I spend a lot of time with my daughters (as you can imagine) and a lot of that time is teaching them how to love themselves, own their bodies and their beauty (which we call hard work and kindness and determination).

The other day I overheard Thing 1 talking with Thing 2 in the bathroom.

"It's important to be kind, A."

"Why?"

"Because ugly is as ugly does."

"Oh. Okay, Z."

When you stare in the mirror, I hope you all see the kind of beauty that only gets better with age.

I hope you'll pull up a seat next to me in the small quiet room someday.

I'll be waiting.

P.S. - A little snippet of my favorite Maya Angelou piece...Love, Me (a W-O-M-A-N)

"Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size   

But when I start to tell them,

They think I’m telling lies.

I say,

It’s in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,   

The stride of my step,   

The curl of my lips.   

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,   

That’s me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,   

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.   

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.   

I say,

It’s the fire in my eyes,   

And the flash of my teeth,   

The swing in my waist,   

And the joy in my feet.   

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me..."

(There's more but you should read it on your own.)