(Written last Thurs. 7/14)
I am sitting at a playground in New York City on 70th Street as I write this. It’s a hot day and kids are splashing through the sprinklers with abandon.
Can you even remember when you moved so freely, so at home in your body, so uninhibited?
As I watch I am wondering when the turning point occurs. When do we become self-conscious, ashamed of our bodies, critical and judgemental?
Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned form them. Sometimes you need to embrace what you’ve got and let loose. Channel the self who used to charge confidently onto the Slip & Slide (come on, you remember those days, don’t ya?). Go back to the time when you cared more about what you were doing (riding your bike, cannon-balling into the pool, racing after the kick ball), rather than what you looked like doing it.
Go back to a time before you counted carbs, tracked your heart rate, and analyzed and agonized over your thighs, butt, or whatever!
Remember when you embraced movement AND your body, for the pure JOY of it!
Now go find a sprinkler to run through!
PS I really would have run through this one if I wasn’t on my way to a play at Lincoln Center. No, really I would have!