50 Shades of Me.

I’m not wearing pants. I have lacy panties on sporting holes on both sides because I’m anything but careful. Always getting dressed in a rush or running late.

My hair is greasy and lays in a fallen bun on the side of my head, not even the top, and my face needs to be washed.

I’m wearing a crop top yellow Wu-Tang shirt that is flecked with oil from the pesto pasta I ate earlier and no bra.

I am anything but flawless.

Which is why I have been avoiding writing a list of things I love about myself all week. I just figured that I wouldn’t have much to say, but I’m doing it as a practice of self-love.

I assume I’ll have ten nice things to say. I can manage ten.

I imagine myself opening the Word document and staring at the flashing cursor as I struggle to think of likeable qualities, I can’t even touch any loveable ones. I imagine feeling embarrassed as ten and twenty and thirty minutes pass and I’ll blank by five likeable qualities.

But I surprise myself. The loveable qualities pour out of me, until I’m up to fifty. I keep thinking, okay, that’s probably it. But then there’s another, and another, and I don’t even touch the likeable ones.

Because I’m focused on the loveable.

Focused on the love.

Focused on the self.

Focused on me.

–S.

Clean.

Bathe me in flowers.

Bathe me with your arms.

Bathe me in your breath.

Bathe me with your flesh.

Bathe me with your love.

Bathe me with your trust.

Bathe me in your honesty.

Bathe me in your nearness.

Surround me with candles.

Surround me with your scent.

Surround me with your dreams.

Surround me with your fantasies.

Build me up with your inspiration.

Build me up with your touch.

Build me up with your promise.

I bask in your glory.

I fall at your feet.

I run my fingers through your hair,

I am home,

I am here.

–S.