“The human body is the best work of art.” ― Jess C. Scott

As a portrait photographer, I often encounter people who don't like this or that about their bodies.

And although I know there is always room for improvement, it really makes me sad.  I recently came across this website: http://www.bodyheart.com/

And although I didn't read a ton on the site, I did come across one woman, who makes a conscious effort to say how she likes her body in front of her little girl.  She talks about how that was never said in front of her, and about how when it isn't said, we sometimes start to believe we should never be happy with our bodies.  We should always hate our hips, or think our feet are too big, or our cheeks are too fat, etc.

I was thinking back to how I grew up, and I thought... damn, my mother was soo, sooo good at teaching me to love myself.

When she was young, my mom had surgery on her leg to remove a cantaloupe sized tumor [I think].  It left a scar all down her left calf, and although I noticed when I was young that she rarely wore shorts outside our house, she never once said anything about how she "hated her scar".  As I grew older, and tried to convince her to wear a knee length skirt, she explained that she didn't really like showing off the scar, but it was never in a "I hate this part of my body" type way.

And I think the way she went about that while we were growing up, really shaped how I love my body.  I love my nose, and my cheeks, and my chin, and my thighs, and my butt, and my fat calf's [although, that does pose a bit of a problem for buying skinny jeans, and taller boots].

I can remember being in high school and saying something along the effect of being dissatisfied with my hair, or something else, and my mother telling me I was fine, and perfect.

As long as you are living a healthy life style and taking care of your body... I really do think that it's okay to not hate any part of your body.  To love it all.  To be satisfied with how God made you.  He created your nose, your hips, your feet... he created you, and could you really say, "God, my nose, what the hell were you thinking?"... he would say to you, I created you just the way I wanted you to be and I love you that way.

-mrp-

Edit: HA!, the woman who's story I read about [one sentence actually], was Kate Winslet... she's so cool. http://www.bodyheart.com/2012/09/28/are-you-proud-of-your-body/