Bathing Together can be Beautiful
It's a big part of Icelandic culture to visit public swimming pools. Before you jump into the pool, it's expected that you bathe fully naked to ensure you're clean when you enter.
As we drove across the country living in our rental car, this was the only option we had when we needed to shower. It was initially a bit of a strange concept, but one that I grew to love.
There is something very beautiful about a bunch of women naked in a safe place. There is no judgement, no underlying pressure to be perfect. There are little girls and elderly women. Another aspect I respected - these girls will grow up with realistic images of what a "normal" body is.
And there are many, many "normal" bodies. We aren't often immersed in a situation where we see multiple naked people at once in every day life. Many of the bodies we see are online and in movies, and they aren't realistic. They aren't a proper representation of what women really look like.
It was wonderful to be surrounded by so many shapes and sizes, a reminder that every woman is different yet beautiful. Many of the women smile as they walk past each other.
It was lovely to feel so clean after living on the road, but what I enjoyed even more than that was the entire experience of feeling love for my body and safe surrounded by many other bodies.
They weren't perfect, they were real.