Lay Bare The Questions

I still feel a twinge of self-consciousness in spring when I shed my tights and start going bare-legged again. I suppose it's still the fading bruise of high school memories and how painfully shy and weird about my body I was. I went years wearing only jeans to school because I was self-conscious over my legs. Even now I know it's only a matter of time before some family member teasingly calls me Casper or someone asks me how I got that weird blue-grey dot on my leg from accidentally stabbing myself with a pencil and the lead stained my skin. But I'm really comfortable in dresses and skirts now and much better at brushing off the odd comment that isn't even meant maliciously but still draws attention to a part of myself that adds to my shyness. I got much better about my legs as I started wearing clothes that I enjoyed and focused on the fact that my legs have always gotten me where I need to go--they climb trees and endure hikes and even just the every-day walks around town. So, it's really nice to be free from tights and some of the weird body-image issues that plagued my teen years.