Good & Worthy of Love

This poem is part of the forthcoming collection Remind Me Again, shared with permission of the artist.

I often tried to run from my body 

because it didn’t feel like a safe place to be,

yet no matter how I fight or punish my body

it still chooses to stay with me. 

As if it only ever wants my highest good 

and was purposefully made for me.

As if love itself was stitched and knit together, 

perfectly shaped for me. 

I didn’t organize my organs,

order my bones and hair to grow,

or explain to my valves, vessels, and veins 

where blood and air should flow.

Without forcing me to believe,

no need to perform or achieve, 

my body was there to care for me,

and all I did was receive. 

My body pledges allegiance 

to the thesis of my being, 

releasing what doesn’t feed me

and keeping all I need. 

If I hug myself,

my body hugs back even tighter. 

Every time I take a breath 

my chest opens even wider. 

I will stop looking for excuses not to be loved because 

if this doesn’t speak to an infinitely loving intent 

then I don’t know what does.

I am grateful for this body 

for it is divine, sacred, and Godly.

I will listen to its gentle whispers  

so it needn’t shout so loudly:

I am good and worthy of love

I am good and worthy of love

I am good and worthy of love

I am good, I am more than enough.

Your worth is never an effort 

nor earned 

but adorned 

when you were born  

it was inherent and apparent 

from the womb when you were formed.

Perhaps this is something 

you’ve never been told or never felt, 

but I am here to help you tell yourself  

until you feel it in every cell of yourself.

And although this truth 

is the most beautiful truth 

I could ever give you, 

it is true not because I wrote it,

but because it’s written within you.

You are immeasurably loveable,

every single inch of you.

You have an intricate system 

dedicated to defending you. 

Every softened edge and scar is hardwon. 

You may not believe in miracles,

but I’m here to tell you:

you are one. 

Will you stop looking for excuses 

not to be loved because 

if this doesn’t speak of 

an infinitely loving intent 

then I don’t know what does.

There is beauty in your body,

it is divine, sacred, and Godly.

Will you listen to its gentle whispers  

so it needn’t shout so loudly:

You are good and worthy of love

You are good and worthy of love

You are good and worthy of love

You are good, You are more than enough

The body is our best friend

no matter how many times 

we neglect or disrespect it,

everything it ever did 

was to keep us safe and protected, 

without question. 

So much time invested 

trying to turn the body 

into what it already is: 

good and worthy of love.

Goodness moves with a boundlessness. 

So much goodness surrounds us 

and abounds so much 

it’s bound to be found deep down in us.

More than empty rhetoric or pretty aesthetic, 

goodness is where we come from 

and where we’re always heading.

Goodness is our essence, 

our natural state,

our default setting.

Our goodness will grow 

and overflow 

and spread 

if we let it.

My body, your body, our bodies 

are not meant to be discarded.

Our mother earth births bodies to be fed, 

bodies to be watered, 

all that we are 

is to be held in love and honored. 

We can stop looking for excuses not to be loved because 

if this doesn’t speak to an infinitely loving intent 

then I don’t know what does.

We can celebrate this body 

for it is divine, sacred, and Godly.

Will we listen to its gentle whispers  

so it needn’t shout so loudly:

We are good and worthy of love

We are good and worthy of love

We are good and worthy of love

We are good, I am more than enough.

Practice:

Hold one hand over your heart and one hand over your belly, soften your gaze, lengthen your spine, and deepen your breathing. Repeat these words inside your head or aloud, as many times as needed for your body to believe them:

I am good and worthy of love. 

If you’re unable to say these words to yourself or simply need some encouragement, find someone who is willing to say them to you. Ask if they’d also like to hear these words said to them. Repeat these words together as many times as needed for you each to believe them:

You are good and worthy of love. 

It can be powerful and transformative to say these words with your community. Invite as many people as needed to repeat these words as many times as needed for their bodies to believe them:

We are good and worthy of love. 

Write a list of all the reasons this is true, about yourself and about others. Revisit this list and this affirmation as often as needed.