Walking into my best friend’s house to find her sitting next to two very attractive looking guys, was the start to a brilliant night. Suddenly I find myself getting swept off my feet in a break-your-ribs bear hug by Niklas, “Jenna! Dude, your hair looks rad wavy like that.” Wavy? Funny thing is, I have not washed my hair in about four or five days, maybe six, I lost track. I did not even mean to make my hair wavy; the waves were from a braid I slept in last night. Making our way over towards Blake and Wiley, Blake shakes her head, “Niklas, I don’t think she’s washed it in about two weeks.” Yes, she was exaggerating. Yes, they knew she was. Yes, they knew I have not washed it recently.
Embarrassing? Some people might think so. However, for the lifestyle that I currently have, and will hopefully have forever, it works. Skiing at least four times a week for the past nineteen and a half years, starting when I was eighteen months old, tends to do that to you. I choose not to wash my hair every day. Why you might ask? My answer to you is simple. I do not think there is a valid reason I should wash my hair everyday if it will just be covered by a beanie the next day. I suppose this is my analysis for a lot of the choices of why my appearance is the way it is. Why should I shave my legs during the winter if I am just going to be wearing pants every day? Absurd.
Wiley punches my leg as Niklas and I get comfortable on the couch, “You weren’t lyin’ Jenn, you really did get more tan while we were shreddin’ today.” Let’s be real here, the world markets the ‘perfect flawless face’ with all the high-tech mineral make up. If only I could see the celebrity critics faces if a picture of me showed up in a magazine for the ‘work or doesn’t work’ section, they would brand me with a bolded red ‘doesn’t work’ stamp in under two seconds. Let me explain, me and the word tan should not ever be used in the same sentence, unless you are only talking about the bottom half of my face, the only exposed part of my face while skiing. Hence the name goggle tan.
To the world, my style may seem a bit imperfect. Yes, I am tall, have long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Yes, my teeth are straight and sparkling white. Yes, I am considered skinny.
I dare you to look closer.
Currently standing at five feet nine inches tall, I am roughly five inches taller than the average actress in Hollywood. My long blonde hair does not blow perfectly in the wind, it often attempts to blind or choke me. Do not get me started on my eyes, being legally blind without contacts, is not ideal, though very entertaining at times. As for my amazingly straight teeth, I will not go into to detail on how torturous three years of braces and eight teeth being pulled at once feels.
Skinny? Yes I admit I am skinny. But if you look closer you will notice the many scars on my legs from years of sprinting for four hours every day on a brutal soccer field, and numerous accidents from jumps and cliffs on the ski slopes. I have muscles in my legs some people would not even know were there, let alone how to use them. I was not born this way, I worked for my body and enjoyed every minute of doing so. What do the people in magazines have to show for more than five plastic surgeries? I will tell you, a fake face and body. What do I have? A hardworking, healthy, and athletic body.
Moving on, anti-wrinkle lotion? No thank you, I love the smile wrinkles I already have forming on my eyes. Also, if you enjoy playing connect the dots, I would advise that my freckles can make an abundant amount of shapes and pictures that make Picasso’s work seem insignificant.
Niklas takes my hand in his, draws a heart with his finger, then comments, “Did you change your nail color babe?” Rolling my eyes, I look at my scraped up, bitten, and chipped fingernail polished nails, “Seriously Niklas, how many times have you asked me that in the last week? I haven’t done them in about three month’s man.” I would rather spend my money on a deliscious dessert or a size 2XL Tall Tee, than on a manicure. Satisfying my taste buds and stomach is a lot, and I mean a lot, more important than having perfect nails. Which brings up my last point, you can eat food. Breaking news. It is true, you can eat food, plenty of it in fact, and I will even allow you to add desserts and snacks to your feast. When you are healthy, work out, and burn as many calories as I do every day, you do not even think twice about it. No one should for that matter.
Enjoy that five dollar pizza, or that five dollar subway sandwich, or the five dollar loaded fruit mix from the store. Soak up the goodness of it. See how often you are smiling when you not only accept the way your body is, but love it. Guess what, nobody is perfect. Those people in the magazines, they were edited in Photoshop. Image obsessed people and critics might call my body and style imperfect. I have news for you, I am perfect. My family, friends, and those I meet can identify I am confident in who I am. I am imperfectly perfect.
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