The strength and beauty of my body continues to amaze me. Real talk- it’s been interesting to see my perspective evolve-
being raised as a girl in our society and especially be involved in performance arts like dance, modeling and acting, I always felt this pressure to be as perfect as I could be, physically. I was so precious with my body. Realizing all the changes my body would be going through with cancer and chemotherapy was one of the parts that I struggled with most mentally when diagnosed. Crazy right?! Being confronted with my mortality, I was stuck on the “vain” parts- the scars from surgeries, the dullness of skin, of course hair loss including eyebrows & lashes, brittle nails, perhaps teeth damage / rotting if I were to need radiation to my neck / lower jaw area… being 31 this terrified me. Like all my beauty and consequently a significant source of my power was being sucked away, so prematurely. And realistically, it was not just vanity. The fear came from the true associations youth and beauty have with vitality, & being further away from death - which was suddenly a much bigger threat to me than expected. Phew, heavy, yes.
But now…I have learned to be less precious with my body. I DO have multiple scars, and I actually am okay with them now, maybe even a little proud. They are a testament to the brutality that I’ve endured, to the strength that I’ve gained, to a huge part of me that will stay with me permanently, long after medical treatments are behind me, and my hair has grown back. It’s like having a brand new car. You obsess over keeping it pristine, but once a few scratches are on it, heck why not use the thing and see what mileage you can get out of it? ;)
Our bodies are our vessels, they do incredible things for us everyday. They carry our souls around and enable us to interact with this dynamic world, to chase our dreams, to build our loves, to have adventures. (continued in comments)…
#cancerjourney #womenwithcancer #cancerfighter #bodyimage 
