So this isn't really just a story of my new wonderful dimples or sparkles as I call them, it's also about finding my freedom.
At A Glance Author PrincessCamelia Contact PrincessCamelia@bme.anon IAM PrincessCamelia When A month ago Artist Chris Studio Zebra Location Berkeley, CA Way back in high school one way or another I got labeled weird and strange and this was in the Bay Area, home to San Francisco and Berkeley where being different is embraced. My hair was a different color every week and I was one of the first students to get her tongue pierced. At the time, it was all about me being me with maybe a dash of rebellion thrown in. By the time college came around I had "moved" pass that phase, I was just another college student trying to fit into a new and exciting world with trying being the key word.
I spent the next three years feeling uncomfortable with myself in the California Blond world that I grew up in, but had never noticed until now. And through those years I was employed by the most famous mouse of all in a world of dreams. Strangely enough, I loved what I did and the Magic I created each and every day. I loved it so much that I decided to move to Florida so I can truly "work for the Mouse".
I created Magic by bringing dreams to life, helping each boy and girl I meet live their fantasy, and helping the adults become young at heart once again. My job was all about making dreams a reality, that nothing is impossible . . . if you were a guest. As an employee I had to follow strict appearance guidelines, the color of my hair was limited to within three shades of my natural color, my make up palatte narrowed to the neutral shades, and that set of second holes in my ears had to go. I had to fit a "story" and looking different will "take our guest out of that story". For awhile I complied, then bit by bit I slid - my hair turned a little redder or a small tiny earring would sneak itself into that second hole. The next several years passed by with weekly coaching sessions on my appearance, and while my actual work performance earned top scores my appearance coachings would bring down the total overall performance score. I don't know why I stayed so long, I was making other people happy, but that initial spark within me was gone. Once again, I wasn't fitting in - I was a butterfly in a world of caterpillars trying to fit in. And so after almost six years of trying to blend in I gave up and moved back home.
Once I was back I decided to give in to those urges, to really go crazy and look the way I want to look and not the way others think I should. And I will declare that to the world by getting what I have always wanted - dimples! I was tired of pressing my finger into my cheeks as I smile, hoping against hope dimples will form. Now the decision didn't come easily as I have been brain washed for so many years. It took weeks of nightly browsing through the BME Galleries and feeling that want, the desire grow in me. Finally my mind was made as I realize there is nothing stopping me except for me.
The next day I drove into Berkeley with my heart pounding against my chest. To be honest I don't remember the drive (I rarely do), but I do remember walking into Zebra and scanning the menu of services and feeling my heart drop. I didn't see cheek piercings offered so I asked the assistant behind the counter if it was offered and he answered that they did! I definitely wanted them done so I filled out the paperwork, picked out the jewelery with matching multi colored stones that goes with my other piercings and sat down to wait with my number clutched tightly in my fist. Being ADHD sitting still for long was not an option, but luckily my number was soon called in a chorus of voices.
I walked into the back room and explained what I wanted, but asked that my cheeks be numbed prior to the actual piercing. Believe it or not, I have an intense fear of needles and the thought of pain associated with them was enough to make me sick. The piercer, Chris, applied the cream then covered them with clear blue wrap and sent me back outside. For the next fifteen minutes I sat down, got up and sat back down again, paced around a bit and even made a trip out to my car to put more coins into the meter. When I got back my number was called again and I slowly dragged my feet into the back room with my heart jumping out of my chest (this was NOT my first piercing, in fact it's closer to being number 17 and 18!)
In the back room, Chris wiped off the cream and proceeded to mark my cheeks. Being a perfectionist, I had poor Chris mark and remark the spots for a good 20 minutes. I smiled and laughed and sucked in my cheeks just to judge the location only to have him start over. I even asked him if he had a ruler that I could use! Finally I was satisfied and he could move on. I can't remember if he used clamps or not which I actually enjoy, but I did remember him asking me to open wide and for some reason that made me giggle. I reached behind me and grabbed the back of the chair as I always do to calm myself and tried to breathe slowly. The right cheek was done before I realized it and Chris was moving onto the left cheek. Now, I remember thinking "Wow I don't feel a thing that was quick!" thinking falsely that he was done with the left cheek as well. Right after that thought, I felt a sharp pain in my cheek then pressure followed by a POP!. In my head I heard the pop, but I'm pretty sure there was no actual noise and it was just the pressure. Once the jewelery was inserted and I could talk again I kept exclaiming "My cheek POP! I heard it POP!" I don't even want to know what was going through Chris's mind at the time. I checked my cheeks in the mirror and laughed because I look like Frankenstein with the bars protruding from my cheeks. I thanked Chris and left the room and right into several girls who oohed and aahed over my cheeks.
I love the way my dimples look and can't stop looking at them in the mirror. I love it when I'm talking to someone in a semi dark room and they don't notice my dimples until the light hits the gems. Their jaws drop while their brains are registering then I bask in the compliments. I have so many people coming up to me telling me how adorable they are and how brave I was to get them. Getting them was the right thing to do because when I look in the mirror they look RIGHT, like they were missing and I found them again. And the best part is with my new sparkles I can't go back to my old job because I have broken pretty much every rule in the book and it feels great!