The Body Love Series: Ode to a Sock

What the hell does a sock have to do with body love you are probably wondering… For me, a lot. I am often asked how I have such positive body image. It really comes down to being so damn amazed at being able to do little actions every day. Little actions as magical as putting on my socks.

If you would have told me several years ago I would be celebrating the actions of my feet I would have thought that was crazy.  But I also would have never foreseen myself trying to do something as simple as putting on a sock, and face planting flat onto my bedroom floor nearly missing my dresser. Yes, trying to put on a sock was enough to cause me to completely fall over. I am still shocked I didn’t break my nose or a hand – or my dresser! Once I got wiser to the pitfalls of Gluten Ataxia, I would sit to try to put on my socks (and pants and tops and bras and shoes), an action that would take less than 30 seconds normally and it would sometimes take up to 10 minutes. Some days I would just go sockless out of frustration.

I am still mastering pointing my toes again. This week I can’t feel half of my left foot. This changes frequently. It used to be half of my leg and almost my entire foot so this is progress. If I walk more than 20 minutes, I usually can’t feel the front half of both feet. Then my walk becomes a really sexy stomping kinda thing. I haven’t worn high heels since 2014 and then I was cheating them on TV for 5 minutes and got help walking onto the set or put them on once seated.

I had a long luxurious bath recently and stared at my toes peeking out of the bubbles for quite some time. I guess you are at the ultimate level of body love when you can stare at your feet in wonder!  Being able to stand and walk and move is everything to me – my size isn’t. Being able to feel my feet enough to walk is more important to me than my weight. There is so much joy in being able to point a toe again! And being able to put on a simple pair of socks is the ultimate gift – in pride, independence and accomplishment. For me, body love literally starts from the tips of my toes up to the top of my head. And every morning, after my meditation, as I am getting dressed for the day, I am grateful for the simple action of putting on my socks.