Do all parents have trouble letting go?

[Nate Hunter]

Sorry I didn't answer your question Nate.

Well I think that when one gets piercings they are showing their body that they are in control. It may sound weird, but when you think about it, our bodies rule a lot about our lives, and any modifications of any type will show that the modified are proving that they can take care of those bodily burdens. Besides, I see the human body as a canvas, and as an artist, I hate to see any canvas medium to go to waste.

Note: small spelling errors corrected above.

Here's a point where we seem to conflict again. I now see a bit of why you feel this way, but this leads us to a fundamental difference in our thoughts.

When one does anything that is contrary to their bodily desires they show the body that they are the one in control. Refusing to masturbate, cutting back on food intake, exercising. Overcoming any of our primal urges clearly shows our body, and others, that we are in control. While I won't deny that piercings can illustrate control of the body, I still feel that it's a display of poor caretaking. After all, abuse is a form of control. Some people starve themselves to show control, or force themselves to vomit, or gorge on food. So many people attempt to show that they control their body by doing abusive things to it that we seem to forget that the body is a part of the self that should still be treated with love and respect.

Do our bodies rule much of what we do? Of course they do -- our primal instincts to survive and copulate are the driving force through most of our life, particularly our adult life. But our society seems to have more control over what we really do by the imposed images of how we should behave. It's not our body telling us that skinny, bean-pole women are attractive, but society. In fact, our body tells us otherwise -- our body gives us attraction to larger bodied women who demonstrate a more ready supply of food. I've given numerous examples above of other ways to overcome bodily desires and show the body who's in control, though, and though they can be taken to an extreme and abusive degree (ignoring a consuming appettite can lead to starving oneself, for one), they all strike me as better ways to respectfully show your body you are taking control and responsibility. In my mind, what you are saying is akin to saying "I'll take care of this house that I've just inherited" but you do so by tearing out rooms you dislike to show that this is YOUR house now.

I've already addressed your "any type of modifications" segment as well, in the block above, but let me say that causing or risking more burdens does not show that you can take care of them.

Lastly, you say you see the body as a canvas. Well, graffiti artists see every building as a canvas. What they do is still a crime, no matter how artistic it may be. Artistic right or wrong does not absolve you of the blame for abusing your body to show it you have control, just as it does not absolve a graffiti artist of the blame for defacing someone else's property. The difference between these examples is that while the graffiti artist is working on another's property, you are working on your own -- but there are still laws about keeping one's own home in good repair, and you can be prosecuted for failing to repair broken windows and having a house that has been damaged to the point it is unhealthy to live in.

Lastly, I feel that we ought to be taking advantage of the canvas of our life over that of our body. To my mind, the canvas of our body is already a perfectly beautiful piece of art that requires no tampering, even if our shape is not ideal. If you want to show control and change that canvas, do it through non-destructive means such as diet, exercise, meditative practices, martial arts. But destructive methods, such as starving or binging on food or crink, causing damage to the body because you can, and risking your physical health are stupid ways to show that you are in control. And don't quote me any IQ numbers here: Stupidity shows in what you do, not in how you think. So too does being a dumbass. Neither has to do with intelligence, only with actions.

I hate to see a perfect piece of art being desecrated simply because the owner doesn't like it. The artist knew what they were doing when they made it, whether that artist (in the case of the body) is divine, otherwise supernatural, or the sheer chance of natural generation. Whatever you believe shaped your body as it is, if there's an imperfection, it's not something I feel abusive behaviour is necessary to fix. After all, we don't try to fix Van Gogh's paintings, do we?