Swimsuits and Authenticity

Saturday, June 28, 2008

I, as many of you, have spent the last several months preparing for summer...the dreaded swimsuit season. Staring at my reflection, picking a part my "flaws", so that I knew just what to work on so that when I revealed myself half naked I would be accepted.

Before attending a co-ed event at the lake my senior year of college I was having major insecurity since two of the girls attending had just finished competing in Miss Alabama the week before. Bryan asked me why I was so worried and the truth that left my lips surprised even me. I told him it was because I was being vulnerable with myself in front of a lot of people I didn't know.

I can cover my body and wear the right clothes to make certain areas look smaller, bigger, flatter, etc. I can disguise my body with clothes and make my reflection acceptable. However, stepping into that swimsuit means that everything I have covered up all year is now out in the open. I can't hide any longer, I must reveal to people what my body truly looks like.

Community/Authenticity is just like this. We try to cover our true selves up, our flaws, sins, things that might bring criticism, by not being authentic. We don't want to be naked for fear of being rejected.

However, as this summer has approached and settled in I have been daily reminded of the freedom that comes with vulnerability/authenticity. I am still loved and accepted by friends and family no matter how much my body has changed or looks in a swimsuit; just as I am accepted by those some friends and family when I am willing to be spiritually naked with them.

My figure isn't perfect and neither am I; but the freedom that comes from being naked with those close to me is far more valuable than