Everyone has a comment about my legs. Or, rather, the pictures I had taken of said legs. There have been mixed reviews, for sure. Funny how the boys have good things to say (thank you, gentlemen) while the girls…well, they don’t say anything negative, per se. Just stuff like “what made you do that?” voices trailing off, implying judgment just under the skin. The tone is not condescending…yet not very complimentary either. Umm…thanks.
Here’s why I did what I did. Maybe there are women out there who do not have a single complaint about any part of their body whatsoever. Maybe there are women out there who think they are perfect in every single way and wouldn’t change a thing. Good for them. I, on the other hand, (unfortunately), am not one of those women. I could find fault with a fingernail (they don’t grow straight). The recent weeks of trying on clothes that did not flatter, finding new gray hairs and realizing gravity works in mysteriously bad ways has really taken a toll on my otherwise happy-to-be-me personality. Turning another year old hasn’t help matters. As my mother says, I’m 39 and “holding.” Middle aged, if I think about it, and consider the odds of living to 78 and beyond.
To put it bluntly, I needed something. Me & myself, we needed compliments from moi. In a nutshell, I wanted to stand in front of a mirror and proclaim myself happy to see me in that WhereHaveYouBeenAllMyLife? enthusiasm. I just wanted to be happy to be me. So, yes, it took fishnet stockings. It took high heeled boots and it took a schoolgirl skirt to put me in that frame of mind. The bigger compliment to myself was the ability to stand (or sit on a kitchen counter provocatively) in front of a camera and capture the moment. The biggest compliment was for me to post myself for all the world to see. Truly proving that while I have changed dress sizes and acquired more gray hair, I have reclaimed my sense of self. I heart me once again. So, that’s why I did what I did. Thank you very much.
