Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Beautiful Armor







Oh John Green, how I adore you, and this made me think of my own relationship with makeup. Confession: I love it. Not lots of it, not over the top Baywatch babe makeup, but I think it is wonderful stuff. 

My mom has severe rheumatoid arthritis, and she feels pain most of the time. She has had nearly 40 surgeries, countless hospital stays and had to endure things no one should have to. My mom puts on makeup everyday. Every day. She has put it on while in a wheelchair, while both hands are bandaged from surgery, she never goes without it. She doesn't do this to satiate some vain standard of beauty, she does it because it makes HER feel good. In a life with many things out of her control, she has made this a ritual to remember and bring forward the woman without arthritis, the woman who simply is her, standing strong and fully in herself.

After an accident left me recovering in many ways over the last year, I have found myself doing the same thing. I feel terrible, I'm not going anywhere, but I need to remember that there is still a me in there that is more than all that, the me that wants to feel well and whole and happy. Makeup doesn't cure disease of body or pain in our mind or hearts, but sometimes doing something that makes you feel even a little better, something you can choose and do for yourself is worth everything. Feeling happier IS everything. 

Never forget to do the even small things you do to lighten your load, and never be ashamed to wear your beautiful armor, no matter what it is.


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