Being Bodacious: Chapter 1

Citizen Jane of Confessions of a Middle-Aged Suburban Diva has started a new weekly challenge in order to remind us all of how we are all full of awesome and win.  She calls it "Being Bodacious" (Isn't that an AWESOME title?  I haven't heard the word 'bodacious' used in forever.  I'd love to see it make a comeback).  What a great idea.  WHO, again I ask, WHO couldn't use a reminder that he or she is a wonderful, talented person?  Life is busy and sometimes you forget.  Maybe sometime you take a hit at your job.  Maybe a loved one dies.  Maybe you get sick.  Maybe you just have a shitty year and forget.  This is the challenge: to remember how awesome you are at Being Bodacious.  Each week Jane will post a new challenge.  

This week's challenge is to finish this sentence: “One thing I love about my body is…”

A few people have posted that they love their breasts.  I do too.  Just a year or so ago, I would have told you they were my favorite body parts.  They were the one source of confidence for me in high school.  They've done a lot of "heavy lifting" for me.  They've been touched, both consensually and without permission.  They've filled sweaters and cuddled babies.  They've held my iPod and they've nearly suffocated the cat.  They have MANY uses.  But as I get older, I realize breasts aren't the be-all, end-all of body parts.  They get in the way.  They knock stuff over.  They get tender for no apparent reason at all.  Breasts are great, but if I just define myself as just a great rack, I'll end up BEING a boob. (That's not to say that it's not a great thing to be proud of, just that when I focused solely on my boobs, I forgot about other things that were great about me.)

Some people mentioned their eyes.  I have great eyes--well, I have beautiful eyes--without contacts, I'm pretty blind.  I can't even wear glasses because the lenses aren't close enough to my eyes and it bothers me.  They are beautiful though.  A lot of people tell you that they have gray eyes when they're mad and green eyes when they're horny or whatever.  Not me.  Mine are blue.  Always blue.  The tint changes depending on how I feel, super pale when I'm sick, sometimes blue-green when I'm really excited, but always blue.  I like that.

Some people mentioned their hair.  I don't even know how to start talking about my hair.  Let's just say it isn't my favorite feature and move on.  

My hands can do many things and do them well, and for that they earn my respect but they aren't my favorite.  

My husband tells me I have cute feet, but they make me self-conscious in front of anyone but him.  I'm still trying to change that, but I don't think they'll be my favorite anytime soon.  

Out of my entire body, the thing I love the most, the thing that makes me feel the best, has to be my skin.  I have ridiculously soft skin.  I am addicted to body butter and lotion in ways I have found not many people understand, not even other girls.  I used to have really sensitive, dry, allergy-prone skin.  I once broke out from making natural paper in Art class bad enough that my hands and arms didn't heal for almost a month.  That year, I began (what I presume will be) a life-long love-affair with lotion. 

After each bath or shower, I put lotion everywhere.  Nothing makes me feel sexier than being fresh from the shower and then rubbing lotion all over.  I am like a sponge.  My college roommate used to make fun of me for my addiction until a guy friend pointed out that I had "the softest skin ever."

My husband has told me sometimes when he has a bad day, he just thinks about touching me.  That just the idea of my skin makes him feel better.  That makes me feel like I am pretty hot stuff.   I'll be the first to admit I am probably "over-moisturizing" (I say that in quotes cuz I'm not sure I actually believe that's even possible...) but even now, when I have a rash from my birth control on my arm, that "dry" skin is still softer and smoother than any (other person's) skin that I've ever touched. 

So there you have it.  I'm passionate about skin.  That was wordy and probably sounded boastful, but skin is *my thing*.  I've taken a lot of hits this year-- from my job, from my family, from life in general so I'm clinging to that, even if it sounds boastful.  My skin is my favorite thing about myself. 

**If you'd like to join Being Bodacious, head over to Jane's blog and add yourself to the Mr.Linky!**