Our physical bodies are receptacles of ideas, most of which are not our own. We are literally shaped by the fears that we house in our flesh, behaving exactly as we have been told. We are the collective embodiment of words, thoughts, and cultural intentions, a clash between compassion for and dominion over the very ground of our experiences--our bodies. At some point along our journeys, we may become the writers of our own narratives. To do so, we must intensely examine how we think and how we cut off parts of ourselves and others so that we may belong or gain traction against the pain that gnaws us.