A little etymology for you, taken from Wikipedia on the word Venus. "Venus is cognate with the Latin venia ("favour, permission") through to common PIE root *wenh₁- ("to strive for, wish for, desire, love").[1][3] The Latin verb venerārī ("to honour, worship, pay homage") is a derivative of Venus." [1]
I give myself permission to love myself and to feel beautiful everyday with my bald head. It is so ironic that the thing that has caused me so much anguish and pain, has also been the catalyst for discovering the depths of my strength and confidence, I never knew existed within me.
As a child I was really oblivious to my hair loss. My mother took care of all things alopecia, from the dermatologist visits to finding ingenious ways to style my hair. I was in the third grade when my hair fell out the first time. The second occurrence was in tenth grade. I remember feeling not great about it, but my hair loss then was more like a challenge. Me against my follicles! Hair masks and scalp treatments, you name it I've tried it. Hair loss struck again in my thirties and and yet again in my forties. At forty something I decided to cut it really short. Before long the bald spots took over and so I relieved myself of further anxiety and shaved it all off.
What I have learned by having Alopecia, is to embrace every part of me! Alopecia is one part of who I am, but the whole of me is so much more than my hair loss. Acceptance of one's self is a gift that releases self doubt, self pity, and self hate. I would be lying if I said I didn't care if my hair never grew back. But the truth is the confidence that has come from self acceptance is a little intoxicating. It never fails, whenever I walk into a place, women who thought they were being unique by the way they styled their hair, literally stop and stare! Both women and men show so much love. Each day I pay homage to myself and sport fun, colorful tattoo designs and enjoy being all those parts that are me!
