Author Rupi Kaur’s latest book, Home Body, is complex, intense, and all about putting yourself out there

By Klaudia Wiacek

Vulnerability is a tough thing to come to terms with. It is complex and intense, the
feeling of putting yourself out there into the unknown, letting someone in or even granting
yourself the possibility of letting your own self in. Vulnerability exposes the wounds that reside
within your mind and body.

“Home Body” by Rupi Kaur came out on November 17th, 2020, and immediately
gave me that sensation of vulnerability when reading through it. Rupi Kaur does an impeccable
job at conveying her story with the use of a couple stanzas on each page, minimalistic and
simply put but her words deeply pierce the readers mind whether it’s with a connection, a
thought or simply an analyzation of her poetry. Her words sting the reader’s mind with
realization of her personal story and of the topics that she speaks about. Pain, loss, love,
healing, resting and so on, her story translates through all of these topics that show up in
everyone’s daily lives at one point which is what makes her poetry incredibly relatable.
Relatability is the beauty within literature, the art of connecting with a stranger’s words and
finding your own meaning within is incredible.

Within the book, topics such as abuse, depression, loneliness and pain are conveyed throughout the first two chapters of “Mind” and “Heart”. Rupi Kaur speaks about her experiences with immense pain and confusion due to
traumatic events within her life that arose in childhood through adulthood. The detained
trauma that resides within her soul that had traveled through time with her, showing up in
various thought forms and behaviors. This marks a yearning for an understanding of others and
herself which evokes a pathway to becoming vulnerable through her poetry while she begins to
show the deeper self. Within the next and final two chapters that go by the names “Rest” and
“Awake” the themes of growth, healing, confidence and change are portrayed throughout the
next few sets of poetry. Coping with the immense hurt and trauma that had occurred in Rupi
Kaur’s life was a significantly important step towards her healing journey later on.

Healing is a process of numerous slow and sometimes even excruciating small steps eventually leading to a feeling of lightness and a feeling of confidence as Rupi describes in her poems throughout these
two chapters. Confidence within her mind, body and soul to take her to a place of warmth and
understanding. Healing the pain stored inside of her. Power to take charge and steer her life in
the way that she desires without letting anyone or anything get in her way. Growth within her
mindset and growth within her understanding of her life and the world itself she starts to
realize that she is not alone, there are tons of people living through the pain that she so
constantly feels and pain towards the issues that the world has brought upon humanity.
Corruption and mistreatment of humanity are some of the many.

The fact that her poems are so relatable and understood by millions of people throughout the world speaks volumes. That
alone created an intimate community might I say, of people who share so many of the same stories, thoughts and emotions including a deep understanding of them. The intimacy of this book is what makes it a real and so raw, you really feel like these words are speaking directly to you while your mind intertwines your own experiences with these words of the poems. I immediately fell in love with this book once I began reading it, I personally loved analyzing everything that resided within it, and it hit home. I fell through my surface making my way down towards my deeper self and even discovered gaps that needed healing, Rupi Kaur’s powerful words have affected millions and have most importantly helped millions of people
feel comfortable, safe and not alone in this labyrinthine thing we call life.