The Body Acceptance Movement is in our mainstream media. It works to fight negative stigmas and encourages us to find inner peace with our body, no matter the size.
While we have come a long way with this type of movement, what about our mental body? What about our brain? Stigmas surrounding mental illness still radiate this world, and people fail to understand that someone could be struggling, even though their pain is not visible. I think it's important to embark on a journey to learn to accept your brain the way it is, mental illness and all. This is a short piece that I wrote as a love/acceptance letter to my own brain through its struggles with depression. Remember, you are never alone and there are always people willing to help out there.
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"The lobes cuddle close, inside their protective shell. Pushed up against one another; trapped in this safety helmet. Safe, but not all together. Every minute they feel the throbbing, the pounding. The sensory synapses. The signals. Simultaneously, too much. My brain is sick, and these lobes cuddle closer because they are centrally nervous. Sometimes too nervous, and other times they feel nothing at all. The balance of the cerebrum, the cerebellum, the medulla oblongata. Overwhelming. There’s never enough serotonin in the world to set the systematic wavelengths straight. My brain is sick. So much gray matter. But it feels as if nothing really matters.
My beautiful brain is sick. So I hold the lobes in the palms of my hands and say 'I love you, my beautiful, sick brain.' I love the way the neurons zap through your surface area. The cashmere cushion of the frontal lobe resting against the hard skull and the back of my knuckles. I love the way your synapses drive me crazy, I say. I feel the rush when the dopamine flows through my bloodstream. I love how you allow me to freely think. How you allow me to walk and talk and sleep and rationalize. I admire your delicate craters and accept your imperfections. Even with depression, I love you, my beautiful brain."
