Dear friends,
I hope this little message finds each of you well and savoring the beauty that you are.
Last week, a once-believed-impossible-dream of mine that I have been imagining for quite some time started coming true. My website dawndones.com went live (Woohoo! Take a look if you'd like!). Not being much of a computer wizard, I needed help creating the website, so I collaborated with my much younger, brilliant, amazing, incredible friend Julia.
On the final day of the final review of the final draft of the website, I was swimming around in a gigantic puddle of bliss. Julia had taken my content and concepts, waved her virtual magic wand, and transformed words and ideas into images and reality that made me feel like I was floating every time I saw the site. I wanted everyone everywhere to see it, to feel inspired, to be connected, to soak in the love, to jump in the puddle of bliss and swim right alongside of me. It was
AMAZING!
Until
I saw
THE LOVE HANDLE.
You see, in one of our many conversations about minutia that all seems to matter in the moment, Julia and I realized that an ‘About’ tab needed to be created for people to learn a little bit about me. It is a basic detail that we overlooked until the last minute. In a crunch, I adapted my bio from choosingwholeness.com and Julia selected the photos.
I did not see this tab until the final, final review, and when I did, all of my bliss melted away like the Wicked Witch of the West in the puddle. All I could see was the way my side and the waist of my pants met causing the unfortunate presence a love handle. I instantly dismissed my delight and focused in on my bulge, my bigness, my body not being pictured the way I wanted to be seen.
There I was walking alongside my great friend, Susan, in Cherokee Park on a crazy-cold fall day having so much fun. We were laughing and smiling and chit chatting about everything and nothing all at the same time. Our friend Liz had the camera in hand and quickly snapped the photo savoring the sweetness of that moment.
I had seen the picture before but never noticed what I now could not notice. The love handle.
Why do we do this to ourselves?
Why do we focus in on the trivial and sacrifice the wonderful?
Why do we let our joy be stolen so quickly by things that really do not matter?
Why do we only want to be seen in certain ways and convince ourselves we can control other people’s perspectives?
Why do we think that if someone sees an unflattering piece of us that it will immediately distort the whole?
I wanted to have Julia pull the picture.
BUT, I knew that I needed to leave it alone. I know that I need to leave it alone.
I need to refocus my perspective, meet myself with kindness, love, and compassion, and see the wholeness of me rather than just one part.
I need to be seen.
I need to remember not to surrender my joy.
I need to remind myself that loving the world is my work and that work includes me, all of me - the pieces that feel unworthy, the parts that I would rather hide, and even the love handles.
Maybe you need that too?!
Friends, let’s dive into the puddle of bliss together! Let’s swim around in the goodness that we are, the wonder of being alive, the delight of dreams coming true, and THE BEAUTY OF IT ALL.
To Choosing Wholeness!
Always, Dawn
This post was originally featured on choosingwholeness.com