Raw: adj. 2. a) being in or nearly in the natural state*

I have had a recent fascination with the word “raw.”

It’s a beautiful word, but certainly not in the traditional sense. It brings to mind imperfect produce, biting cold, emotions laid bare, and scrapes and wounds opened to pain. Even the word spelled backwards is “war.” Often, none of these things are immediately associated with beauty.

But it’s full of meaning.

Raw is an adjective, and if you start to find the places within yourself that this adjective applies, you are forced confront where you pasteurized your emotions and edited your story.

I have decided my greatest goal is to live a raw life. I am chasing the chance to be in each moment so wholly, that I cannot be buried beneath the worries, thoughts, and expectations that seek to reduce my experiences to manageable packages.

Raw is dangerously beautiful, but at the end of a raw life, you can say naught but that you truly lived.

 

*A Merriam-Webster definition