I’ve had a manicure/pedicure done exactly 2 times in my life. The first time I had one was in San Francisco when a friend who crossed all sorts of gender boundaries (dressed as one of the sexiest women on special occasions, and then was also one of the most beautiful men I knew in his daily life), treated me to one for for my birthday.
My hands are one of my favorite parts of myself. They have provided with me with the tools to do everything I love. I am also rough with my hands because I work with them daily, and I believe mine were built for strength, not for delicacy. So I never, until that 24th birthday, even considered embellishing my hands for any reason. I don’t even wear rings because I find myself gripping objects all day long and they have proven a deterrent to full grasp (also, I’ve accidentally hurt people when shaking their hands because of the rings).
Curious, I indulged (because in all senses of the act, manicures and pedicures are pure indulgence) in my first mani/pedi. I opted for no polish, because I remember applying nail polish as a kid and feeling like my fingernails were suffocating. Instead, I soaked my hands and feet, had them buffed and cleaned, shaped, rubbed. I almost kicked the woman handling my feet because I’m ticklish.
My second pedicure (I decided manicures were not for me after that first time because I trashed my hands the very same day being me, extremely physically active) was a few years ago when I was trying to research my feminine side (see yesterday’s entry). For the first time in my life, I owned heels and strangely enough, though I have loved heels on women for a long time, this was the first time I ever had to think about what toes look like in heels. Also strangely enough, a nice set of pedicured toes look awesome in heels. If anything, I have learned to appreciate women in heels even further. After that second pedicure I figured out how to apply the polish myself. Again, immense respect to women in heels.
I have several sets of manicure/pedicure sets, not because I went out and purchased them for myself, but because in Korea, mani/pedi sets are just what they give out as promotional items (whereas in the States, they give out pens with a logo on them, for example). They include an array of tools that have a purpose which is unknown to me, except for the nail cutter and file. I kept these several sets because frankly, I don’t really know what the tools are so I could never really determine if I even needed them. It’s like having a colander; you don’t necessarily need one to strain water from your pasta, but it makes life so much easier. In this case, perhaps it’s slightly different, because I’m not sure the tool with the weird divot thingy is going to make my life easier. I’m assuming it just makes my hands prettier. And as I’ve established, I don’t need pretty hands. I have strong hands.
So on day 337 of my 365 Release practice for non-attachment, letting go and change, I am giving away these mani/pedi sets. I don’t know, perhaps what I’ve been missing, but I don’t miss it, regardless.