After work on Friday I was in the mood to listen to some Tim Minchin; specifically “I Am So Rock”, mainly because I was feeling like I AM so rock. Once I played that a couple times, I went on to a few other songs, listening to a few things of his I haven’t heard before.
First, for those who don’t know, Tim Minchin is a British comedy singer. Recently he did “The Pope Song” in protest of Ratzinger’s state visit to the UK. You can see that video if you’re interested. Be warned it is SO NSFW. Or small children. Or adults who have no sense of humor when it comes to mocking religious figures.
But the real reason I’m writing is to talk about the lyrics of this song “Not Perfect”. In one of the verses and choruses he sings:
This is my body
And I live in it
It’s 31
And 6 months old
It’s changed a lot since it was new
It’s done stuff it wasn’t built to do
I often try to fill it up with wine
And the weirdest thing about it is
I spend so much time hating it
But it never says a bad word about me
This is my body
And it’s fine
It’s where I spend the vast majority of my time
It’s not perfect
But it’s mine
It’s not perfect
I’ve spent so much time criticizing my body and wishing it was something else (see the previous two entries – Hell, see the entire blog. Hating my body is what got me into this mess in the first place.) But Tim’s verse about his body really brought tears to my eyes and choked me up when I tried to sing along.
This is MY body and I live in it. It’s 43 and 6 months old. It’s changed alot since it was new and I did things to it, I shouldn’t do. But as much as I complain, it doesn’t say a single word about me.
It’s not perfect, but it’s mine.
Instead of complaining, I’m learning that my body is just fine the way it is. I have lumps and scars and double chins and bits of skin that keep waving after I’ve stopped. But you know what? I’m really okay with that. My body is comfortable and it’s broken in just the way I like it. Rather like my old loafers that, even though they’re a bit ratty, I can’t part with them because they’re perfectly broken in.
Sure there are things I’m not totally pleased about but after everything I’ve been through, I don’t care NEARLY as much as I used to. Yes I could lose some weight but I refuse to obsess about it. If I DID lose all the weight then I’d probably find something else I didn’t like. So I’m done with that.
As Tim sang, “It’s not perfect, but it’s mine.”.
If you would like to hear the song for yourself, please click the link
Boobcast 