Have you ever waked past a window or a mirror and been surpised by your reflection? Shocked by your own face? Like somehow in the time between when you brushed your teeth at the bathroom mirror and now, you entirely forgot you had a face at all, let alone what it is supposed to look like? I always thought it was normal to be confused by your reflection. I thought it was normal to look in the mirror and think, “That’s not my face.”
dissociation
Breathe In, Breathe Out
When I was growing up, my relationship to my asthma entirely shaped my relationship to my body. My body was something that had to be constantly monitored for any sign of symptoms. It had to be regulated and controlled. My body wasn’t a part of me, it was a setting–it was a dangerous situation that I had been placed in for unknown reasons; a house in the path of a hurricane. Continue reading