In which I pose questions that I really would like answers to

Do you remember the first time you began to love your body?

Was it all at once, one fine day, when you realized, "My goodness, I am lovely"?

Or did you grow, piece by piece into the knowledge, beginning perhaps with an ambivalence (or even a loathing), and then sliding into a contentment, a satisfaction, a love?

Did you catch a glimpse of your eye in the mirror one day and find yourself mesmerized by its depths and patterns?

Or did a friend tell you that your smile was radiant, and you let yourself believe them?

Did you fall in love with the way your muscles throb when you run, or the way your hands smoothed your crying child's hair out of her face?

Have you ever glanced at yourself in the shower and shivered with delight at what a completely matchless, flawed, ever-changing wonder you are?

Or catalogued your list of wishes: that your armpits would sweat less, that those three perfectly stacked rolls wouldn't appear whenever you sat down, or that your hair were just a bit less stringy; and once your list was complete, determined that you still love your hair, your belly, and yes, even your pits?

Have you ever just realized that you, your body, your mind, yourself, are magnificent?

And if you haven't yet...I promise, you can. Because you are magnificent.