Scars and callouses are hot.

I got this giant pop-up window one day that talked about finance packages for people interested in laser surgery to get rid of facial scar tissue. "Do you hate looking at yourself in the mirror? Do you wish that your scar, acne, or blemishes would just go away? Consider laser surgery and kiss those ugly blemishes away!" There was a before and after picture of a woman who had a small scar on her cheek removed.

My question is: why would anyone pay thousands of dollars for such procedures?? I can understand if someone got their face mutilated or something, but for things like small scars? I find scars hot. Scars tell a story. Scars say that the person has been through something. Scars should deserve kudos. People shouldn't be ashamed of them.

I have a couple scars myself. I have quite several on my legs and feet from roller blading, biking, hiking, bad insect bites, etc. I have a few small scars on my thumb from broken windshield glass. I have faded stretch marks from gaining the freshman 15 back in the days. Thank god those faded away. I have acne blemishes. I have scars on my scalp from accidents. I have calloused hands and feet. They come from playing basketball, catch football, taekwondo, and my enjoyment of doing manual labor. When I worked in a women's department store, I used to help the managers move furniture and boxes (we had the cutest dainty dining room sets). I enjoyed helping.

I used to be self conscious about my hands. I didn't have dainty little feminine hands that my roommates had. My hands were large and bony. They weren't soft nor feminine. Once I had a guy tell me that I had guy-hands. I just sort of looked at him. Although he didn't mean anything out of it, I didn't take it as a compliment either. I didn't know what he meant out of it.

I stopped being self conscious. I enjoy doing things with my hands. I like to play sports. I like to draw. I like to try to play piano. I like to work out. I like to be able to move large suitcases, boxes, furniture -- anything -- I like to feel like I can take care of myself. I would never hire someone to do something that I can do myself.

I like to flaunt my scars. I hate wearing pantyhose to hide the scars on my legs. I like to tell stories.

People shouldn't be ashamed of their imperfections. They shouldn't feel the need to hide who they are and what they have been through. My mom and dad has harder skin and more scars than me. They have been through so much more than me.

That deserves respect and admiration.

Kudos to scars and callouses. I hope I have more later on in life.