Self Portrait
I am so close to being 52 it is already a done deal. The day
after tomorrow is my birthday. I don’t mind ageing, although I would prefer
more control over my physical body. I am tall, 172cms, or 5’8” in the old language
which, by the way, is far easier for me to think in. I had to Google “height
conversion” to find my height in centimetres. I’ve done it many times before.
I am average weight at 73kg. I just fit into the healthy BMI range.
But average weight doesn’t tell you that I’m unhappy about my weight. It
doesn’t tell you that I wish I was the same weight as in my teens and early
twenties. Average weight doesn’t explain how, even though I watch what I eat
and exercise furiously every day; I still remain the same – average. I explain
my obsession with weight by using the example of my mother’s diabetes as
motivation to stay slim. She had late onset diabetes brought on mainly by
weight gain in middle age and I am determined not to go down the same path. But
my obsession is more than that. I am not happy with this ring of fat around my
belly. It hampers my movements. I feel it when I’m sitting down. It is
uncomfortable.
My hair falls just below my shoulders and is naturally wavy.
When wet it becomes curly. I am growing it longer. I like the feel of long
hair. At the moment it is dark brown with caramel highlights. But over the
years it has been many different lengths and various colours.
I like my eyes. They are hazel. Now and again they look more
green than brown. If I didn’t already wear contact lenses for sight I would
think about getting coloured lenses to enhance the green. I don’t like my nose.
It is too big. But it is the family nose. It is my father’s nose and it is the
nose my three boys have.
I tan naturally and I love the sun and its warmth. I don’t
like being cold and grey days make me feel sad. Knowing this I wonder why I
live in Melbourne .
But I love Melbourne
with all of its greys and blacks and colours and quirks. I love the pace of the
city, the energy of the people and the liveliness of the events. Melbourne is culture and
multiculture, tradition and innovation, fashion and independence, sport and food,
nightlife and family life.
I am addicted to my computer. I love Googling information
and I Facebook regularly. I read as much online as I do books in bed at night
or during lazy weekend mornings. I love AFL football. I love music and dancing,
conversations and debates. I like shoes. I like fashion. I wish I could win a
million dollars and spend thousands on a new wardrobe. I love the beach and the
ocean. I love the calmness of the bay and I love the crashing of an angry ocean
in the middle of the night. But more than anything I love my three sons, no
longer boys but adults in their own right. I love my life.