With that said I created this piece a few months back, and I have been living with her since. I knew she had more to tell me. And today, in the shower (because that’s when things often click in my head) I realised that she was telling me that my 5 foot 1 inch body, of reubenesque proportions was still the body of a goddess.
Not the tall, slim, blonde haired, blue eyed goddess like the Venus de Milo, more like the ancient goddess known as the Venus of Willendorf.
This well rounded deity spoke to the respect and awe that women evoked in ancient times. Women who were the bringers of new life, without whom there would be no tribe, no community, no continuity.
I know that as a short, rotund lady, that looks nothing like the socially accepted ‘norms’ for beautiful women I have often struggled to be at home in my skin, in my body. A body that has served me well, has been a source of untold strength, and has hosted 5 new lives and seen them safely into the world.
It is strange, that now, as I grow older, and this very body betrays me at times with aches and twinges, I have finally learned to live in this skin, and to accept, no not just accept, but glory in the realisation that I am, and always have been the Venus of Willendorf.