Naked
‘This is a safe space to undress’
It took me a while to be comfortable in my nakedness.
The ‘rawest’ part of me. No comfortability or respectability came with my nakedness—even from myself.
I shied away from all naked bodies, including the ones that looked like mine. I could not understand how people just walked around bearing it all. I barely exposed myself to me.
From the shower and into my clothes was the norm.
My coming of age allowed me to be comfortable in my body, and I created a new routine—shower, admire, then dress up. The shame that I associated with my nakedness was gone—so I thought.
My journey through life made me discover another layer of nakedness.
One so raw I could not face it in the mirror.
One so raw I had to mask it.
One so raw I had over dressed it.
I did not realise that when I got comfortable being naked, it was only the parts I saw on the surface.
Until one day my mirror shattered... and through the broken glass shards on the floor, I saw reflections of myself that I had never seen.
Reflections of a deeper nakedness—so deep in my subconscious it felt like I was staring into a naked body that was not my own.
‘Why had never seen this in my reflection before?’
Shame?
Fear?
You see, my mirror had a glitch—it only reflected the parts of me that I wanted to see—all good. Like the mirror in Snow White that always told the witch she was the fairest of them all.
In my mirror...
I was always the fairest.
I was flawless.
I was perfect.
In reality, though—I wasn’t.
To see my rawest form, I needed a new mirror.
A mirror that...
Made me feel safe.
Allowed me to be vulnerable and unashamed.
Held me accountable.
I found the new mirror—unglitched.
As I was setting up the new mirror, I looked at myself—and the mirror sparkled.
A sparkle so inviting and warm, I could hear it softly chant;
‘Ivy, this is a safe place to undress.’
‘Ivy, this is a safe place to undress.’
‘Ivy, this is a safe place to undress.’
The chant caught me off guard…and I stumbled.
‘What in the sorcery was this mirror?’
I slowly regained my balance and looked into my sparkling mirror again. The chanting continued….
‘Ivy, this is a safe place to undress.’
‘Ivy, this is a safe place to undress.’
‘Ivy, this is a safe place to undress.’
…..and for the first time, I let my guard down.
At that moment, I felt something I had never felt with my other mirror. I felt…
Seen
Safe
and vulnerable.
I slowly started undressing, removing each layer as I scrutinised what it symbolised in my life. Each layer I removed had more layers. Some layers did not belong to me—yet here I was hiding my nakedness with them.
‘How was I doing life with what felt like a lifetime of layers on me?’
‘How could I have not seen all these layers for this long?’
Finally, my last layer of clothing was off, and in front of me stood the rawest form of me—all my fear, shame, and glory staring back at me from my new mirror.
