You did not invent the stories you carry about pleasure. You did not sit down and decide to constrict around food, around worthiness, around your body,

Each of us inherits a legacy of pleasure. Growing up, we observed who got to rest, who had to cook and clean, who got to slow down, who managed the calendars and the schedules. We overheard conversations about food, worthiness, hunger, body, and almost more importantly, everything that also went unsaid.

We grew up in a culture that told certain kinds of stories about certain kinds of bodies: who was worthy of luxury, pleasure, feasting, and savoring and who hadn’t earned that right. We saw which bodies were cast as villains, as outcasts, as criminals and which bodies were lusted after, centered as heroic, and got to fall in love.

We did not choose to inherit these stories inside this broken culture that values certain bodies over others. We didn’t consent to the ways we’re measured, judged, dismissed, and oppressed.

But when we begin to see the stories we inherited, the stories we’ve taken into our bones, where so much of this fear and worry and guilt and shame came from, we can also begin doing some work to rewrite those stories. We can begin to choose differently, or at least to feel into new questions and new ways of being.

Because you are built for pleasure. You were born worthy. And your body – no matter the size, shape, or ability – is wise.

What stories may not be yours to carry any longer? What stories would you like to carry? And what legacy would you like to leave for younger generations – weaving a new story in how you live your life, how you prioritize your pleasure, how you listen to your body, and connect with others?