Beauty in Imperfection

I'm one of those people who could sit in a mall and people watch for hours-partly because I love looking at clothing and what people are wearing, but also because it amazes me how just two people can have thousands of physical differences. What I really find interesting to look at are people's "imperfections". Tyra Banks says it best on America's Next Top Model every season, it's those imperfections that make someone different and beautiful. Taking this into consideration, I realized that those are also the things I most like people complimenting me on as well. Any guy can give me a compliment and I'll brush it off as either-

A) He just picked something random to compliment because he knows it's the right thing to do.

B) He's looking for a compliment back to give him a little ego boost (the worst kind)

or

C) He's just looking to get in my pants (Okay I lied, that's the worst kind of compliment)

But when a guy compliments something subtle like the freckles on the back of my shoulders, or comments on an interesting birthmark I have, that's when I know that-

A) This guy's really been paying attention to every little bit of me

B) He's not superficial

and/or

C) He wants to get to know me even better, enough to know more quirks and little facts that no one else knows.

So in honor of accepting that differences make people beautiful, I decided to make a list of things that make me different and may someday make someone else people watching, look twice.

1) My hair is always a mess, no matter what I do to it. Luckily, I've learned to just go with it.

2) I have a long nose with a big 'ol British bump, but it is the same as my mother's which makes me feel fortunate.

3) I use purple eyeliner instead of black, because I don't like my eyes looking too dark.

4) I pretty much always wear either skirts or dresses. I hate the feeling of pants and I especially hate the feeling of jeans on my body.

5) I may not have a ton of upper body strength but I have some strong legs thanks to 16 years of ballet.

6) Lifeguarding every day of summer gives me a deep tan, but I lose it in about two days if I'm not in the sun.

7) I don't have too many freckles but I am covered in moles, moles that scare the crap out of me thanks to all the safe sun movements I read about in magazines

8)I have four birthmarks: one that looks like the Redwing Shoe Co. logo, one shaped like Hawaii, one that looks just like a bruise, and a normal spotted one

9) My nails are always short, I cannot stand having long nails!

10) I have pretty long eyelashes but I will never touch a lash-curler, they look like torture devices to me!

11) I have a booty, nuff said.

Even though I have not always appreciated the things I listed, I am starting too. Maybe that's just a part of growing up, learning to live with your imperfections, but I think it's more than that. I'm not just learning to live with them, but starting to like them. Gone are the days when I wanted to be just like everyone else.