"I'm Fine"

“I don’t look like what I’ve been through, and neither do you.” I heard a pastor say those words many years ago and they struck me so deeply that I can still remember where I was sitting in the room when I heard them.

We put so much work into projecting that everything is fine. I am fine, you are fine, we are all just… fine. Except sometimes we aren’t.

Alopecia may seem like a surface issue, a simple cosmetic problem. But anyone who has gone through the pains to cover up any kind of “abnormality” in life can attest to the emotional ride that it is to manage, to grieve, to accept, to conceal or to reveal, to just… live with it. I know that this roller coaster is experienced by people on a host of issues, health-related or otherwise.

Alopecia is the topic of this blog but I don’t think it’s actually the point. Too often we go through such effort to hide our hurts and project a sense of normalcy that we don’t actually heal from them. I believe that one way to process and heal is through sharing our lived experience, whether with one trusted person or with thousands.

I want you to know that as I write about and process my own struggle with accepting alopecia, I am thinking of you. I know that you, reading this right now, have also experienced heartaches and joys, setbacks and victories. You may not look like what you’ve been through. I pray that you will have encouragement to work through whatever is on your heart, and that your efforts will be met with grace, compassion, and support. I am cheering for you, and for all of us as we grow, change, heal, and thrive.