The bathtub realization that resets my brain

I was 15 and I was taking a bath in our vintage claw-foot bathtub.

I had Tom Petty’s Wildflower album playing on my dad’s 6-disc CD changer, as I gazed out the window at the snow-covered high desert of New Mexico.

I relaxed into the hot water and closed my eyes. I'd been in the bath for a while, and when I opened my eyes, I looked at my soft prune-like fingertips. I looked at my arms. My legs. My feet. My shoulders.

And then I had a thought that totally freaked me out and amazed me.

Human bodies are WATERPROOF.
It hit me like a ton of bricks and there was no going back.

It’s not like I thought human bodies weren’t waterproof before, it just never consciously occurred to me until that moment. And in that moment, I stared at my skin in amazement, not quite sure what to do with this new-to-my-brain information about the body's ability to repel water. I just kept looking at my body in the water, amazed that my insides remained bathtub-water-free.

As I stared at my body, one of my older sisters walked in to grab something, and I quickly blurted out in rushed awe, “Our bodies are waterproof!!!”

She asked if I was stoned. I told her no.

She asked if I was on mushrooms. I told her no.

She asked if I was okay. I told her I wasn’t sure, but probably.

She turned around and left as I continued to look at my body, MIND BLOWN that I was laying in water without water getting into me, orifices and all.

This realization sparked something in my 15-year-old brain I still carry with me.

Human bodies are the coolest fucking things.

It doesn’t matter the shape, size, color, stretchiness, hardness, number of scars, length of hair, amount of dimples, pimples, and / or wrinkles. The muscles, roundness, flatness, extra skin, curves, height, number of limbs, or the structure in which all of these things are put together...

The human body has its own intelligence and wisdom that's been refined generation after generation throughout human evolution.

It is much more sacred, beautiful, and brilliant than our monkey minds give it credit for. We're mad at some wrinkles and dimples on a vessel that makes it possible for us to be alive and, for some, even create life!

What an incredible thing to ponder. This revelation 27 years ago has made my bodily grievances short-lived. When they do come up, I acknowledge them and remind myself: my body is fucking waterproof. That resets my brain, almost immediately, to see the awe and wonder of my body.

A waterproof body might not be your catalyst, but we all have the potential to make peace with our bodies.

If this is something you want help with, my September Group Coaching series is all about making peace with your body.

Join Clean Food Dirty Girl to watch the first replay and come to the rest of the sessions live.

Molly