Dear Body, Dear Me
Dear Body, Dear Me, If I close my eyes and press rewind and watch my life get pulled backwards, I see my body start to shrink. My limbs grow shorter and smaller, my features softer, less-defined. I go back through high school, right back through my awkward phase, pronounced chubby cheeks, braids, and freckles all return. Once I started playing sports, running with reckless abandon, kicking, throwing, passing a ball, being part of a team, teammates turn quickly into friends, my body was my favorite toy. The ability to look across a field or court, and with just a glance direct the ball to a particular spot was my favorite talent. It felt like my body came pre-programmed with that hand-eye coordination. I was never graceful, never particularly fast, or particularly anything but all around athletic. In the thick of action, my body would start out-pacing my mind and the clumsy thought process would quiet and give way to reflex and muscle memory. The love of that feeling has never stopped...