Maybe it’s because I spent my summer at a hot springs retreat center where people soak naked and walk around in bathrobes like it ain’t no thang. Maybe it’s because I’ve been eating the most amazing gooey goat brie cheese and drinking Old Fashioneds made in one of Portland’s million amazing bars. Maybe it’s because I’ve been hiking up to mountain lakes and doing yoga and feeling more at home in my body than I have since I was a kid.

Whatever the cause, I’ve been feeling an extra-large portion of appreciation for all that my body can do and experience. How much pleasure it brings into my life. How it is THE avenue for pleasure, really.

But this hasn’t always been the case. I’ve spent years bemoaning the luscious curves of my ass and thighs, feeling grumbly about the tightness in my left knee that a bicycle accident left me with fifteen years ago,  and worrying about the…