Go Give Love To Your Body
Since I was a young child I have shared a secret and thrilling language with the Universe. There are no words necessary, only the ability to be present in the moment and open to messages from every possible source. Sometimes our conversations spring from a brisk walk by a familiar creek and occasionally the epiphany is born from popular song lyrics as expressed through speakers and mainlined to my soul. I remain open and willing to see the deeper layer of what Great Spirit reveals to me through the perspective of others.
This week as I was squandering time watching YouTube, the requisite advertisement popped up prior to my George Michael video. I rolled my eyes as the video treatment for a former boy bander and a pop songwriter interrupted my anticipation of “Father Figure.” And then the hook dropped and I suddenly received the message of this powerful Top 40 song “Dusk Till Dawn,” as performed by ZAYN and Sia, respectively.
The fantastic video plays out as a short cinema noir feature. At first glance the song is a heavily-produced and mimics every other love song that describes unrequited and rare love:
“But you'll never be alone
I'll be with you from dusk till dawn
I'll be with you from dusk till dawn
Baby, I'm right here
I'll hold you when things go wrong
I'll be with you from dusk till dawn
I'll be with you from dusk till dawn
Baby, I'm right here
I'll be with you from dusk till dawn
Baby, I'm right here”
- ZAYN/Sia “Dusk Till Dawn”
As I was bargaining with the embarassment of falling head over heels for this song (side note: I am in my mid-thirties), the lyrics took a turn. I realized that these are the words my Higher Self is saying to me in this particular season of my life. That voice in me that manifests as balanced thought. Gently calling me “baby” and letting me know that I am never truly alone no matter how much light seeps out of the day. “I'll hold you when things go wrong, I'll be with you from dusk till dawn – baby, I am right here,” those words pouring out into a profound stream of staccato notes I did not realize a human voice could hit, those words are exactly what I need to hear right now. There is an inner 3-year old, 6 year old, 12 year old in me dying to be heard and honored. I am working a difficult and strategic path to acknowledge her needs, but this being human stuff is some tough shit. The batting average on my EQ could use serious practice. I am in a state of radical acceptance that mistakes are the surest and foolhardiest way for me to learn. Just gotta make them. “Dusk Till Dawn” is providing the soundtrack for this epiphany and acceptance. Not “it is what it is”, but rather; “it just is." The final moment I felt the impact of “Dusk Till Dawn” was when I heard the lyric:
“Go give love to your body, it is only you who can stop it. (6x)
Damn. The answer to thirty-six years of bottled up resentment and body issues crushed in a simple sentence. It has only been me stopping it. What?!? I may or may not have cried when I really heard this on the guttural level that spikes a visceral reaction. I HEARD IT.
The point of all of this is that I listened when my angel George Michael turned my bad attitude and eyeroll into a lesson of radical self-acceptance and nurturing. I am and have been the only one who ever mattered when body-shamimg myself and only I can stop it. I am going to go love my body. As a matter of fact, I started the day that I heard this song. Small changes, one at a time, including feverishly dancing to this song in celebration of life and learning. Gonna love my body.
photo credit: invisibleman.photography.com
