Hair. Hair has always been the focal point of my life. Illness made it even more important. People say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. See for the chronically ill, that’s even more true. What we see in the mirror matches what we feel in the inside. My solution to this has always been my funky hair colors red, teal, magenta, purple or unique pastels. At least when the attention is on my hair, nobody focuses on my eyes to see the suffering.
This time I have a more “normal” hair color. I still had the insert ME in there, so I cut all my hair off. Anybody who has been in my life for a long time knows I’ve always had very, very long hair (except when I cut it all off in high school – that’s a story for another day). Red and long hair was my signature look. Not anymore. As I took this journey towards minimalism I decided to let go of my comfort zone. It is funny for many comfort zone means going towards funky, bold hair. For me becoming ordinary is just that out of ordinary. As much as admitting this fact publicly makes me feel vulnerable, I humbly present my short hair. Who knows I might come back with a completely blonde hair. Still warming up to general hair colors.
PS: You hear “but you don’t look sick” often when you have an invisible illness. Having a great hair style doesn’t mean I am healthy. It just means I’m trying to feel good when I look in the mirror.