To my beautiful daughters (an attempt to explain the Human Body Project to my children)

I do the Human Body Project because of you. It feels like a funny thing to do, for sure. 

Some people think that you should only do things that aren't embarrassing. And some people think that you should only do things that are for your job. And some people think that people should never show their bodies, especially their boobs or vaginas or penises! 

Lots of people don't think about what they are doing very much. They think that they should just keep doing normal stuff and just because it's normal it's okay. They might not realize that the way they live or the way they think is part of a whole big group of people doing things that make big messes and problems.  

It's hard to explain but maybe you could imagine that we had a room in our house that we kind of forgot about because maybe we were just too busy with other things. But we liked to put all our junk in that room. You know, kind of like our downstairs room! What would happen if we kept forgetting about that room but kept putting junk and garbage down there? Eventually it would start to overflow and stink up the rest of our house.

Or what would happen if we had another kid who we kind of forgot about and didn't look after? It would be so sad if we remembered that we had this kid and that kid was so scared and sick and hungry!

I think people who are really busy doing normal stuff have kind of forgotten about cleaning up messes and looking after all the kids. That actually makes me really sad and mad.

Okay, I know this might not make a lot of sense but it really makes a lot of sense to me, I decided to do the Human Body Project because I realized I should do something instead of just being sad and mad! One thing I thought was that I should do it without my clothes on because I want to remind everybody what it's like to feel scared like that kid we forgot about. I figure if people remember that scary feeling maybe they might remember that everybody needs to be looked after. 

But you know what else? It's weird, but sometimes it feels pretty good to feel air on your skin doesn't it? (Except when it's really cold!) Another reason I do the Human Body Project is to remind people that our bodies are really special and the great thing is everybody has one! It's kind of amazing! We all have bodies that can run and play and sing and dance and hug! 

This is hard to explain too, but I'll say that almost all the grown-ups in the world think strange thoughts about their bodies and their feelings. They're not very comfortable. Kids are actually way better at being comfortable with their bodies and feelings! But when they get older I think they start to act like all those other grown-ups. 

I do the Human Body Project especially for grown-ups because I really hope they'll remember a feeling that little kids have. It's kind of scary and kind of lovey-dovey at the same time.

It's really important for me to try to feel that feeling and to try to help other people feel it because I think we need that feeling to look after all the kids. But it's really hard because grown-ups are doing so many normal, busy things and they think that's a better, more comfortable thing to do. And even the ones who want to look after all the kids still have to do lots of those normal, busy things because that's the only way they can look after their own kids.

I am embarrassed and scared when I go out naked in front of people, and I know it must be embarrassing for you guys, but I keep doing it because I think it's probably okay to be embarrassed if you're doing something that makes sense. I keep doing it because I really hope us grown-ups figure out a new way to be normal where we remember all the kids.

I do it for you guys because I love you so much and I don't want you to live in a world where we don't look after everyone.