A feel good day

[Abby Kae]

For the last couple weeks, I've been participating in a lot of negative self-talk, mostly related to body hair. I could feel myself spiraling further and further away from the happy, more feminine, person I want to be.

So last night, I broke into my wife's stash of nail polish (with permission, of course), and gave myself a hot pink with glitter sparkles manicure. This morning, I hopped in the shower for an hour and shaved off the body hair that was bothering me the most (legs and arms).

These two simple things, while not huge strides towards whatever my end goal is, helped my mood out tremendously. So much, in fact, that I went out to the garage to work on a table I've been building, which I feel like I've been avoiding. In my world, my woodworking has always made me feel hypermasculine, which I just haven't wanted to feel.

There's something about feeding wood through a tablesaw with bright pink nails and smooth arms that really brought back the sense of balance I was missing. (And it's suddenly REALLY easy to spot when your fingers are getting too close to the blade!)

So all in all, I've had a pretty good day. Thanks for reading. :)

[Teresa]

Abby,
Sometimes I think we were given body hair to deter us from CDing ! As you say an hour later and you feel so different for it, even doing your male jobs !

[Angie G]

Well that's how I like to cut my wood Abby. I've done a lot of work on the scroolsaw well I was wearing a skirt.:hugs:
Angie

[Sarah Doepner]

Abby, it's great that you found a way to get yourself out of that downward spiral. So many find themselves sinking lower and lower with no way out. It often ends in either doing something self-destructive or over the top stupid. Keep your success in mind and keep smiling.

[AmyVanessa]

Hot pink is such a cute nail color, love it.
Hope that table turned out nice.

[Marcelle]

Hi Abby,

I am glad to read you had a good day. Just don't get too distracted by that pink nail polish while feeding that wood through your table saw :)

Cheers

Isha

[Sarah-RT]

Getting the balance is the key I believe, when you push away from dressing to avoid feeling feminine it only seems to make things worse, but pushing away the male side has the same affect when you become annoyed such as being too hairy etc.
But when you get that balance just right it's wonderful

[kimdl93]

I had not thought about the safety advantages of brightly colored nails. I'm sold!

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Abby Kae, Just remember that table saws require 110% of your full concentration .:daydreaming:

[Abby Kae]

Thanks Sarah, for the reminder. I often have a hard time remembering to think about what other people go through. But this time, that's what prompted me to start this post.

Without trying to sound like I'm giving advice, I just wanted to share what helped me feel better, so maybe someone else can feel a little better too. I'm not at all a fan of saying things like, "you should do this, because it worked for me!" Being sensitive to the uniquity of each situation, it's impossible to give advice to such a broad spectrum, nor do I have the ego to think otherwise.

I would love to help the world, but I'm just not equipped to do so, so I'll settle for "this helped me", and let everyone else decide if they like it. :)

And BLUE ORCHID, even after nearly 20 years of experience with table saws (and having all ten fingers still), my saw still scares the crap out of me. That beastly machine gets my full respect and attention at all times, to the point where I've asked my family to not even open the door if they hear it running. Way, way too many horror stories about men blinking, then having to drop trou to count to ten, because suddenly there's a missing finger. No, I don't mess around with that saw, and only use it if there's no other suitable, safer piece of equipment.

[Krisi]

I wonder if there's a way to have brightly painted fingernails listed as an official safety suggestion for using power tools?

Guy: "Why are your fingernails painted bright pink"? You: "I've been using my power tools and it's a good way to keep track of where they are so I don't cut them off."

As for the table saw, You have to respect all power tools, but I think it's pretty safe when given respect and used according to established safety practices. I've been using table saws and power tools for over fifty years and still have all my extremities.