I Praise the Body Magnificent!

Hello,

I’ve been away for a few weeks following a successful knee replacement surgery. I’m back and thrilled to be writing again. I hope you enjoy today’s installment!My title for this article was taken from “I Sing the Body Electric,” by poet Walt Whitman, which salutes and honors the human body as well as the soul. You can find this poem in his “Leaves of Grass” anthology, in which he celebrates democracy, diversity, nature, love, friendship, and the view that each and every body is sacred.

"I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world”

According to the dictionary, to “yawp” is to shout or exclaim hoarsely, as when you’re at a rock star concert. (I was, and still am, a forever fan of Tina Turner, and I gave many a “yawp!” at her concerts.) In Whitman’s case, the yawp is an intense shout-out to the human body.

I’m pointing to this particular poem because it’s the closest I can come to the experience I’ve had of my body as it heals from this knee replacement. No, I haven’t been actually “yawping” every morning, but I’ve found a particular affirmation called “I am fearless” that I recite to myself every day, and I feel great energy from it when I do.

Say what you will about the process of healing; I have found it to be almost magical. I’ve watched my leg go from a painful, red, swollen limb to where it is now, an appendage I can straighten out entirely for the first time in two years! This is a big deal!

Read the full article here.