We’ve all driven past a Ford, Chevrolet, or Volvo car dealership at least once in our lives, and laughed at those massive blowup things that spazz in whatever direction the air pushes them in. Well, turns out they have a name – air dancers – and turns out a lot of people think I look just like one.

(Image via Giphy)

Air dancer or Madison? (Image via Karyn Porter)

“Why”, you ask? The answer is simple. I’m sure you all remember one of my earlier posts, where I wrote elaborately about my extremely long legs. Luckily, I didn’t just get blessed with one pair of long limbs, I got blessed with two! #LongLiveLongLimbs! My legs may be long, but my arms are most definitely more impressive.

I was in middle school when I first realized that my arms were NOT the right size for my body. A couple of my friends and I were mesmerized by the fact that our feet were the same length as our forearms and our arms were the same height as us… until I realized that my arms were about 8 inches taller than me. Suddenly, it all clicked. I realized that the reason that I got dress coded on twin day when I wore the same exact jean skirt as my best friend, was because the “fingertip length” rule for me was at my knees, whereas for her it was midthigh.

After this realization, I began to notice my excessively long arms in every picture I took and every time I looked in the mirror. It became one of my biggest insecurities throughout middle school,  but I figured I would grow out of it eventually. Unfortunately, I didn’t grow out of it, and to this day my wingspan is still 6’6, 5 inches taller than me, and “fingertip length” is still at my knees.

However, during my sophomore year in high school when I began playing volleyball, I grew increasingly thankful for my lanky arms. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t jump to save my life, I just had to stand there and put my arms up and I ended up being successful most of the time. Here are some pictures of the blessings of long arms:

A shot of me blocking in the local newspaper (Image via Fredericksburg Free Lance Star)

A shot of me hitting at National Qualifiers in Atlanta, Georgia (Image via Karyn Porter)

Now, I am a college freshman, and I have grown to love and accept my long limbs. But, like my jeans, it is difficult to find clothing to properly fit my abnormally long friends. Generally, I have to invest in extra large sweaters or long sleeved shirts, which usually result in the shirt being too big in the body, but the perfect length for my arms. As evident in some of the above pictures, the jerseys that fit my body, end up being arm highwaters (is that a thing?). I think it’s a given at this point that life isn’t fair, especially for us taller people, and we have to learn at one point or another that sometimes we have to sacrifice size for length.

Thanks for reading! #LongLiveLongLimbs

Madison