self portrait tuesday - part of history

this is the last day of self-portrait tuesday's history theme, but i just looked into the theme for february and it's called all of me, about the ugly bits of ourselves. i don't know if i think my scars are ugly, though, just always thought they showed (and sometimes showed off) my experiences.

the first scar of this little collage is the happy face one (bottom left). i must have been about seven when was riding on a bike sitting behind my father and i stuck my foot into the spokes. i couldn't walk for a month and kept getting really painful shots for the infection. i remember snippets of feeling scared and sad and sometimes angry. i remember the bike was an aqua color. i remember that at the end my scars looked like a happy face, with two eyes, a nose and a mouth. my happy face is now deformed, one eye and the nose are completely gone, the mouth and the remaining eye are so faded that you can barely see them. i remember exactly what he looked like though. and it sounds silly but sometimes i miss him.

the second scar was the light bulb scar. this one was quick, where i accidently put my wrist on an exposed lightbulb. i didn't realize i did it and don't remember feeling pain, just looking down and feeling the hot bulb on my wrist. it didn't look burnt in the end though, for some reason, i always think it looks like a hickey when i see it.

the third group of scars are also from a bike, but they all happened in college. i proudly tell everyone that i was in a total of 5 bike accidents my entire college career and that only two of them were with other people. i've cracked a tooth, i've scraped several parts of my body and this knee has been hurt in each and every accident. again sounding silly, when i look at this knee, it is always with nostalgia and affection, as if it has been with me through everything. and it has.