The Stuart Smalley Meme

I read the wonderful Blog Antagonist's post with this meme, and thought, "What a great idea. But name ten things about me that I like?" My mind started swirling, and characteristically, as is the characteristic of even the most amazing women I know, I thought of a couple of things, but then when I got to about number two on my list, I was quickly bombarded with, "yes, but your inner thighs, yes, but your arms are so undefined...."

Great idea, Blog Antagonist. Thank goodness it wasn't me creating the list.

Then, boom, guess what? I got tagged. And I state right here, I've not been good keeping up with my tags. I'm sort of meme'd out, it's absolutely nothing personal, except that personally, I can't think of anything new to add about me that I hadn't already written in my previous meme's.

But, it was Slouching Mom that tagged me, and she's amazing and awesome on so many levels, and she wrote these words that stopped me in my tracks at once and have seared themselves into my being: "Jack often looks stunned in photographs. This is no accident; the sensitive among us are frequently stunned." And I fell in love with her that very second. And we all know that sometimes love is giving instead of taking, so without much further ado, here is my Stuart Smalley Meme, with Blog Antagonist's wise lead intro:

I am going to name ten things about myself that I like. I'm going to focus mostly on the physical, because that's what tends to undermine my self-confidence the most. But you can name anything you want.

1.) My eyes. They are an odd color that changes like a mood ring; nearly green, somewhere in-between blue and hazel. When I'm tan or have been crying, they are actually almost emerald.

2.) My smile. It's nice and white and my teeth are great; except the one I cracked playing soccer.

3.) Seriously, why is it this hard? My legs. I'm beginning to love them again. Last night when I was running, I looked down and saw muscles, a lean line that ran clear down the length of me and I thought, "Wow. Those are mine."

4.) The birthmark on my left thigh.


The one that I used to try to hide with concealer. The one that I used to look at and think, "OK, I'm going to get super-tan and then it won't even be visible." The one that a couple of years ago my doctor recommended I have removed for "safety precautions" and, mouth agape, I found myself quickly protesting that I'd been born with this. And I realized then how awesome it was that I actually had come to love something about myself, even if it was just a mole.

5.) My hair. It's thick and long and shiny.

(OK people, done with the physical stuff. Sorry. But I did get to FIVE!)

6.) I'm compassionate, empathetic, and I try to be kinder than necessary, even when it's killing me to do so.

The person stopping traffic to let ducks cross the road? Me.

The person stopping traffic on an on-ramp to an expressway during the busy morning commute to get an injured fawn off the road while a horrified friend/co-worker sat in my car wishing she had driven herself? Me.

The person reaching out a hand to help up the obviously mentally impaired person that twenty others just walked by? Me.

The person frequently brought to tears, just over life in general, feeling so many things for so many others? The person that is so often told, "Then just don't think about it" "Don't watch the news". Me.

7.) I was blessed with the gift of being able to write well.

8.) My forgiveness factor. I don't hold grudges and try to forgive almost instantly when I've been hurt. I can think of only one person that I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive, and I've tried and I've prayed, but it isn't going to happen for me. And guess what? I'm OK with that, too.

9.) My laugh. It's "unique". (As in, probably louder than it should be in most cases, one of the parts of me that if a friend were trying to fix me up on a blind date might say, is "quirky" or "endearing".) And it is almost the exact laugh of my little sister, and when we laugh, people are quick to say, "You sound just like your sister". And I love that; that when I'm laughing really, really hard, I see her face and hear her smile. It's a beautiful bridge across the miles.

10.) My athleticism.

OK, that's it.

AND, the really, really great thing about this meme is that you can tag as many people as you like! Or you don't have to tag anyone at all! (Which means there is no excuse like, "Sorry, I don't know anyone to tag" if you happen to be tagged)

With that in mind, I am tagging:

Jenn, because she is the first blogger that I read faithfully and her writing inspired me to dust off of my own writing, and that kind of inspiration is very hard to come by.

Just Me, because now there is no excuse for her not to post this meme, and she's amazing me on a daily basis by how much she's changing and becoming remarkable on extremely high levels. You'd think someone you shared a bed and socks and first heartbreaks with would be someone that you know inside and out, but she's blooming in ways that make me love her more.

PDX Mama, because I miss her posts, so basically I've gone from trying to coax her out to just pretty much grabbing her arm to drag her along. Cause I'm nice like that.

And you. Yes, if you'd like to do this meme, let me know and I'll link you as well.

Now repeat after me, "And gosh darn it, I like me".


****Updates:

Tara volunteered!!