Stark Nakedness, Aging & Needfulness

Among other embarrassing things that make us relatable

Credit to the author

Honest writing comes from a place of stark nakedness, like when we look at the mirror and find a balding spot. Then decide not to hide it.

I’ve been struggling to bare myself entirely — as if my singular experience were something I could hide behind the vagueness of my words.

I’m in awe of artists who can easily convey discomfort.

Like the fact of owning the embarrassment that walks alongside the human condition — a feeding, birthing, defecating organism — is actually the one thing that makes us relatable.

I want to bear myself because I believe in art’s ability to open those liminal spaces — where we can cultivate compassion for ourselves through another. It’s a unique form of empathy that (once in a while) takes root when we touch on something deeply human.

I found my first white hair in the mirror a week ago, and suddenly, aging became so real. I am here for a brief moment in time in a changing body. Yikes! Aging brings me closer to the fact of my own dependence — I am so fragile.

There’s something radical about owning the ways in which we cannot do it alone. Total independence suddenly seems like a youthful vanity.