The Curve in the Wave: Revisiting Culture & Accepting Oneself

Hello Our Wave readers!

Thank you for your continued support of our Curve in the Wave series. For November, our focus turns to the role that culture can play in conversations around abuse. In a previous blog from this month, Devi Jags shared her personal relationship with her culture as a means of familiarity when experiencing feelings of pain. 

Understanding and recognizing unhealthy relationships in unfamiliar cultural contexts can be difficult, so it is important to realize that various factors can influence how unhealthy relationships can look. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the specific cultural setting may be determined by your race, gender, sexuality, class, education, or any number of factors. 

We hope that November’s collection of picks can help with expressing your thoughts and feelings into written form. Recognizing and reconnecting with important parts of yourself, such as culture, can aid on your path to self acceptance, just as it did for Kuhu Joshi.

November Collection

Book Pick

This month, our book pick is My Body Didn’t Come Before Me, a collection of poems by Kuhu Joshi. This collection addresses the journey of author Kuhu Joshi and her struggle to feel at home in her own body. Her diagnosis of severe scoliosis led to her losing an internal sense of agency and control, as well as depression and shame with her physical looks. My Body Didn’t Come Before Me is Joshi’s collection of questions to the readers about who a woman is in relationship to her body, as well as recounts small but defining moments in her past that have shaped her sense of self. 

Media Pick

Healing Through Words is a guided journaling experience created by Rupi Kaur. This guided poetry book helps the user explore themes of trauma, loss, heartache, love, family, healing, and self acceptance. Journaling is a great exercise that can help with processing emotions, reducing stress, utilizing creativity, and provides a sense of mental clarity. 

Writing Prompt

To reflect back on Joshi’s book, create a short poem about a pleasant experience you had in the past week. Think about how this experience made you feel, and the environment in which it took place when writing your piece.