Love Yourself Just As You Are
13 Songs To Activate Your Inner Beauty
by Lisa Hunter
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LYRICS
Track One: LOVE SONG (TO MYSELF)
STORY: Everyone deserves their own love song!
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
I come to you through inner vision,
I come to you through a waking dream
You see me in the mirror
when there was nothing you were expecting to see
Every time you take a breath,
you feel my words inside of you yeah
Put ‘em down with a paper and pen,
it’s all true
Chorus:
My love, did you hear me call
My love, high above it all
My love, do you feel me right
I never been in love before,
this would be the first time
Follow me into the forest
to a circle of pines trees and
Sit you down on solid ground,
feel the power in your knees
Let it rise into your hips,
through your heart, out your mouth
Sing a little song to the heavens, show us what you’re all about
Chorus
Pick a branch up off the ground,
dance with it without a sound
Move your body through all time,
feel the pieces fall in line yeah
Let the circle take you in,
bathe your wounds, kiss your skin
Dress you in the morning dew and
bring the old into the new
I see you for all that you are and
you didn’t have to go that far yeah
Enter now into the sun
where fear and joy will become one
Chorus
Track Two: DARK NIGHT
STORY: Courage to explore inner landscapes, and to transform
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
To much emotion running through my body and my mind
I can’t seem to separate the past from the daily grind
I’m a newborn baby and a dying woman all at the same time
The in-between is the only comfort I can find
I go to the forest and I dig my hands into the dirt
I call to Father Sky and I feel the heat of Mother Earth
There is no moon tonight, she disappears before every rebirth
I put my hands into the soil, and I begin the search
Chorus:
I travel through the dark night
Travel through my dark night
Too many monsters in the velvet void of all I fear
So I turn to face them and they gracefully disappear
I’m finding tunnels and treasure piles in hidden caves
I follow blindly with no light to show the way
I hear, “I don’t know, I don’t know” calling out again, again
I put my hands into the soil, sink deeper in
Chorus
Too much division between holy earth and holy light
I greet the day with open arms, but then I fear the night
I’m digging deeper through the bedrock to this molten core
I’m mining the diamond in the dark, so she can tell me more
Chorus
Track Three: UNDERGROUND
STORY: Stuffing down unpleasant emotions poisons your system.
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
Doctor, doctor, can you help me please
I am feeling low, I’m feeling ill at ease
I am ugly with my pride, I am burning up inside
And no matter how I try, I’m seeing green
I try to keep the demon down
I am wrestling myself down to the ground
I am lonely I am scared, but admit I don’t dare
I keep it to myself, this is how
I go underground
When you’re down here, you get dirty, you get mean
You get wanting to destroy other people’s dreams
You get bitter, you get proud, you try to use that to get out
But the harder that you climb, the deeper you dig down
When you’re underground
This has always been about pride
Keep it quiet, keep it inside
But that’s over now, as I make my vow
No matter what the sacrifice, I’lll let it out
Well that doctor, doctor got me well again
And she took the power from this medicine
We keep so much hidden down, it’s a poison, it gets around
It’s the bad blood in your bones
If you’re gonna let it go, do it now
No more underground.
Track Four: BREATHING SPACE
STORY: On the flip side of your deepest fears and self-hatreds are your greatest strengths and gifts.
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
Little wind was a runner,
running all over town
Falling into the reflective pool
of the pain she was trying to keep down
And that pool was a deep one,
full of hatred and shame
Keeping little wind down in the darkness,
afraid of her very own name
Chorus:
Breathing space into my life
Little wind was a rebel,
dedicated and fierce
Oppositioned to deepest surrender,
the kind that brings joy from your tears
And she fought back uncertainty,
painted over despair
Hoping that if she looked away long enough,
her shadow wouldn’t be there
Chorus
Little wind became tired,
and then had to slow down
Keeping quiet, she stood in her shadow
and heard an incredible sound
For on the flip side of all that she hated,
on the flip side of all she would change
On the flip side of all she had run from
was little wind’s voice, was little wind’s choice
Was everything little wind has ever ever been
Is now and will always be til eternity
Giving it all to the earth and the sky and the sea
But most of all, giving it to me
Chorus
Track Five: SPIN
STORY: I have “small” breasts and have always hated that they weren’t bigger. This song helped me put that, and other body image woes, into perspective.
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
Bedroom, boardroom, birthday cake,
the tv sells a recipe for life
Now you are pondering a new car
or whether Always maxi pads will get you through the night
But I don’t care what soap you use
or if your toilet paper has quilts in it
Just wanna feel you with me,
we have so little time, let’s really live it
Chorus
If you see your life
and you see something’s not right
You’ve got to throw it to the wind
before you take it back in
Give it a spin, spin
Monday morning mailwoman
with a pile of junk catalogs and a couple of bills
I see a model in a bra and panties
looking hot and bothered at somebody’s window sill
But we’ve got little girls in second grade
puking up their lunches just to look like that
And I think, “what has all this come to,
the air brush boob, the tummy tuck, is that where it’s really at?”
Chorus
Everything in motion, so ask yourself
what happens if you try to stay the same
If you don’t want to question,
then stop and take a look at what you’re afraid to change
Because I was watching a cheesy soap opera
when I felt something inside me shift
It was a deeper longing, a primal scream,
defy the screen, and just really live
Chorus
Track Six: FREE (THE BODY IMAGE SONG)
STORY: Confirming and affirming sound clips from interviews with women and girls about magazines and body image.
Copyright 2003 Lisa Hunter
(Check back for these later)
Track Seven: OVERGROWN
STORY: Just so you know you’re not alone on challenging days like this
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
I’ve never really been in my body before
Sometimes I want to run away, but then I just want more
And I’m seeing my reflection in the mirror, in the bathroom
And I’m looking at that woman, I say, “are you in there, I wanna know you”
Chorus:
What have I done with me now?
I didn’t understand, I let myself feel so alone
I didn’t realize that such a rolling stone
Just wants to find a way back home
Just wanna find my way back home
How will I find my way back home
When the map is torn and the path is overgrown
I need a shower, yeah my hair is kinda greasy
And I feel a headache coming on, I feel the bed beneath me
These days the living is in eating food and getting sleep
And making sure I wash my clothes and remembering to write down my dreams
Chorus
The moon is full, I wanna howl like a coyote
But we don’t do that here in the big city
What if I took my clothes off and ran down the street naked?
I would look like some crazy chick, not some woman feeling sacred
Just wanna find my way back home
I’m gonna find my way back home
Track Eight: SHINE
STORY: A lullabye to soothe and support
Copyright 2003 Lisa Hunter
Go to sleep my little girl
In the ocean of your delicate world
I’ll be with you when you’re crying,
with you when you’re laughing too
Even in your darkest hour,
you come shining through
Yeah the sky is overcast and gray
Yeah you are hungry for salvation,
for the light of day
Why does the sun go hide and seeking
when you need it refuel?
If you float here in your ocean,
it will come shining through
And I know this ocean can seem huge
So much horizon and so many things to do
But what’s making you so sure that the ocean will obscure
The power of your truth?
The power of your truth
There is a valley near your ocean,
shaded from the sun
And when you get there you are quiet,
but then you want to run
The valley’s river takes you nowhere,
you don’t know what to do
But all rivers lead to oceans,
and you come shining through
Track Nine: GOLD
STORY: You have the power to choose how you see yourself
Copyright 2003 Lisa Hunter
I see you frowning at yourself
I see you wishing for acceptance
I see you falling into shame
I hear you calling for acceptance
Chorus:
Take this all into your heart
Take this all into your soul
Take what you’re calling your flaws
And turn them into gold
Turn them into gold
I see you feeling so alone
I see you wishing for connection
I see you falling into doubt
I hear you calling for connection
Chorus
It’s an alchemical release
A leaden ball and chain washed away by rain and tears
Of joy and of belief
Hidden treasure found
Chorus
Feel how this is in your blood
Feel how this is in your bones
Feel what you thought were your flaws
Turning into gold
Track Ten: JUST AS I AM
STORY: Self-acceptance, including all those “imperfections”
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
Even though my waist is thick,
even though my boobs are small
Even though I’m kind of shy
when I’m in a group that’s really loud
Even though I’m still in debt,
even though I’m not a rock star
Got a voice that’s less than perfect,
gotta learn to play more guitar but
Chorus:
I love myself just as I am
Though there are infinite ways to be better, I understand
I love myself just as I am
Just as I am
I am often perfectionistic
and afraid to take risk
‘Cause I’m really paranoid
that I don’t fit in
Probably too emotional,
and a little fashion-obsessed
Sometimes I push myself so hard,
I gotta learn to stop and rest
Chorus
So I accept my quirky voice,
And accept my body too
I accept what needs to change,
and I accept my point of view
And then a feeling from inside,
like a part of me has died
The part that was distrustful and quite restless
is now deeply satisfied
Full of joy and honest pride
Deeply satisfied
Chorus
Track Eleven: THE RING
STORY: Commitment to the journey that is your fullest life
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
Distant waters are not so distant now
Distant shores are not so far away
I look across the bay, and I see wonder
Maybe it’s the sun calling me to life
Maybe it’s my life calling me awake
And all it takes is one tiny ring of hope
Chorus
I have been to hell, and I have been to heaven
And everywhere that’s in between, all not what they seem
Looking for the answers, finding only questions
You know what I mean, you know what I mean
Just one tiny ring of hope on my finger now
The commitment to my living-ness without the knowing how
Except for breath and the fire from within
I can feel it
Chorus
So with this ring I go to the ocean’s edge
Looking out on all that space, feeling fear and dread
But I’m different now, I go anyway
Chorus
Track Twelve: INVITATION
STORY: “See” yourself for all that you are and allow yourself to blossom
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
Come along with me now, I can feel how you light up the room
Come along with me now, I can feel everything about you
The world is your oyster, you are the pearl
You can dance in the moonlight, you spin and you twirl
Come along with me now, I can feel all the softness of you
Come along with me now, I can feel how your beauty is true
You are perfectly loved, you are never alone
You’re the bravest of travelers, always coming back home
Come along with me now, you are visioning all you can be
Come along with me now, bring the vision into this reality
Unfolding your wings for the very first time
It’s okay to not know how, just make sure that you try
Let go of the foothold that held you so well
And ride on the wind of the story you tell
Come along with me now, come and feel how you light up the room
Come along with me now, come and feel everything about you
Everything about you
Track Thirteen: JUST AS I AM (CHANT)
STORY: An affirmation to anchor compassion and self-love
Copyright 2003, Lisa Hunter
Just as I can see myself with compassion
Just as I am, I feel real from inside
