Bikini Body

Summer means fireflies, baseball, grilling on the deck. It also means pools, beaches, lakes - and putting on swimwear. For many of us, putting on a swimming suit invokes complicated emotions of discomfort, embarrassment, and vulnerability.

We have our own backyard pool, and yet, even in the privacy of my backyard, I feel immense trepidation about putting on a swimming suit that feels the most comfortable. I dislike one-piece suits because they are difficult to take off when wet if I need to run to the bathroom. Tankinis are better, but the billowing top that often results when in the water is not ideal. I honestly prefer to swim in an athletic-style two-piece swimming suit, but doing makes me feel both physically and emotionally exposed.

And it makes me think, when was a time when I did not worry about my body's physical appearance? Prior to puberty, I did not care or notice whether my thighs touched each other or if my stomach was flat. My primary concern about my body in the water was its functionality - could my legs propel me to do an underwater flip? Could my lungs hold enough air to touch the bottom of the deep end? Could my body lie still enough that I could seamlessly float on top of the water?

This summer, I want to recapture the joy I felt in my childhood from splashing in the water, racing in the pool, cannonballing off the diving board. Whether or not you wear a bikini this season, I hope we can all strip ourselves back to a time before we worried about the shape of our bodies and simply felt alive. And know that you are always bikini body ready.