For this task, "The Callouses On Your Hands", I would like to discuss the actual callouses on my hands.



In those pictures it looks like I just kind of have dry skin. I traced the callouses and emphasized the thicker parts of them to really show what they are. It's similar on both hands.



These callouses mark the spots on my hands where a trapeze bar goes. I started taking trapeze lessons (along with another member of Team FOEcakes!) a couple of years ago. (Actually... it was shortly after the end of Insatiability.) It didn't take long for the callouses to develop, fortunately. And it didn't take long for them to start to feel so right. It is strange to have such an easy to notice, everyday reminder of what I am training myself to do. It's not the same as building up muscles, or learning new physical skills, or having a callous on my foot (I have a big, good one from roller derby). The growing of muscles is a little more subtle and the changes come more gradually. Knowing I can now jump over obstacles on roller skates or do a heel hang from a trapeze doesn't really *feel* like anything when I'm not actually doing it. Feet are always in socks and shoes and the callous isn't out there all the time. But I notice the ones on my hands all the time. Sometimes they are rough and scrape against things that I pick up. Sometimes I just absentmindedly touch them for no reason. In the shower, the water makes them peel. I have to pay attention to them and make sure they don't get too thick, and that no blister forms under them, and that my skin doesn't rip while training.



These are some of the moments that have assisted in their formation. These are not moments of performance, or of polished technique... these are rough moments of the process, training, trying and kinda getting it right but not as good as I want it, and doing things over and over. It's the repetition that makes these callouses and sharpens them each time. They are solid now and they feel like they protect me.