Tattoos
None- yet!! Less than a year till I'm old enough, and I cannot wait. I have many plans!
Scars
I am very bad at shaving my legs- so I have several scars on the backs of my shins from accidentally catching my skin. I also have one on each knee- the left is from a razor that took all the skin off and very little hair; the one on my right is from my sister deciding to scare me whilst I was shaving my legs.On my fourth finger of my left hand, I've got a scar from when I was little and a fire grate fell on my finger; the nail on that finger also grows differently. Small scar on my left elbow from messing around on poolside one time and ending up falling into the pool and hitting the steps.
Finally, there are three small burn scars near my left thumb, and my left arm/shoulder has too many to count, because in the past I have self-harmed. They're really obvious, and I often sense people looking at them, and sometimes I can practically hear them making assumptions and generalisations. Though I'm definitely not proud of them, I refuse to be ashamed of them, either- they're just scars, and they're in the past. I've got to learn with them whether I like it or not, and I'm doing just that. The scars I have do not affect my self-worth, or define me in any way. In addition, there are people who feel I shouldn't blog about things; but at the end of the day, anyone who knows me in person sees them, and anyone who sees pictures of me can often make them out. They're there, end of.
Birthmarks
One on my head, in the shape of a heart- honest!
Piercings
Haha! This is where it gets complicated... There's many, and they all have literary-themed names...Nose: piercing in the right side, which I wanted for years and years and got done the second I could, last summer. I read My Sister's Keeper just after, and fell in love with Julia, so the name was an easy choice. I used to wear a stud in it, but I prefer my silver ring.
Right ear:
-Rook. I had this one done after seeing someone else with it at a university fair, and I blogged about it at the time. I expected it to hurt a lot as it's pretty thick cartilage; however, in the weeks before I had it done I'd had pretty severe toothache, as well as two dentist trips, so I think I'd got to the point of being pretty numb! I named this piercing Cassandra, because rooks make me think of castles (I'm not sure why, chess perhaps?!), and Cassandra is one of my favourite characters, from I Capture The Castle (funnily enough, one of my favourite books!). Also, it is currently slightly infected, so I apologise for that in the picture!
Left ear:
-Second lobe. I did this one myself, a few years ago. My mum pierced her ears herself when she was my age, and I knew that, so I knew she couldn't be angry about it. I hinted pretty heavily that I was planning on it, but didn't actually tell her exactly when I was going to do it till after. I've called this one Arrietty, after the character from The Borrowers, which I loved when I was younger- I even had imaginary 'borrower' friends!
-Third lobe. This is another one I did myself, and I've actually done it three times. The first time, I was told to take it out for school, so it ended up growing over. I waited till I left, and did it again- however, I didn't like the position, and when I did my fourth (which was a tricksy beast) it made most sense to let it grow over and try again another time. I redid it a few weeks ago, and it's been a lot better since! When choosing my names, I decided that I had to honour Ballet Shoes in some way (I was such a huge Noel Streatfield fan for ages and ages, and Ballet Shoes is still up there on my list of favourite books!)- however, I didn't want to single out any of the three main characters, and I didn't want to 'use up' three spaces on one book either. Therefore, this one, currently on it's third piercing, seemed to suit the name of Pauline-Petrova-Posy!
-Fourth lobe. As mentioned above, this one was hard work! I did it last October (myself...), and it wouldn't settle for ages and ages, and I kept saying 'if it's not healed by (insert date) then I'll take it out and let it grow over', but each time I couldn't let myself give in. Funnily enough, the day after exams it stopped hurting and was absolutely fine! Since then it's still been irritating at times, but it's mostly okay.It's called Tink (after Tinker Bell, in Peter Pan)- in the book, she's really feisty and sweary, which I love. I really don't like how Disney have made her into a cute kids character!
-First helix. I had this done just under two weeks ago, at the same time as my second cartilage piercing. I've wanted a helix piercing for ages and ages, and was planning on getting it much earlier, but had my rook done first instead. In the end, I waited until I had birthday money! I knew I wanted a ring in it at some point, and as cartilage piercings can't be changed for quite a while, I got it done with the ring in the first place. This one's a bit of a reward as well- a 'well done' to myself for getting through my first year of sixth form! Though I was reluctant to use the same book twice, I called this one Wendy- I have a huge, huge love for J.M.Barrie, and Peter Pan is one of my absolute favourite books just for the beauty and magic it captures.
-Second helix. My original plan was to get one piercing in my helix, and get another when I get back from Gambia next year. However, I decided that as I had the money I might as well get it done at the same time as the other! This one serves as a 'well done' for my recovery journey this year (the date I had it done was the same date that I got to 150 days clean) and a reminder to keep going. When I was younger, I absolutely loved the Wizard of Oz, so it seemed fitting to name this one Dorothy.
Plans:
Due to my mum's fears about infections etc., I'm not getting any more piercings until I get back from Gambia. Then, I'm getting my tragus done in my left (at the same time as my friend), one in the auricle of my right ear and possibly another in the helix of my left!
