What Happened When I Took Pride in My Appearance

Ok, I’ll admit it.  When it comes to my appearance, I’m pretty lazy.  Most weekdays I toss my sopping wet hair up into a bun and head out the door to my job.  In my defense, the alarm on my phone usually starts its obnoxious blaring at 4:30 in the morning so I can go…

An Open Letter to the Mother of a Newborn with Treacher Collins Syndrome

Last night, my cousin tagged me in a Facebook post about a newborn baby with Treacher Collins Syndrome.  When first finding out she was pregnant, the biological mother planned on giving her up for adoption.  A facial anomaly was unknown during the pregnancy and the mother simply couldn’t handle a child at the time.  Adoptive…

Confronting My Reality – Part 2

If you haven’t already, read Part 1 of this essay for a little bit of background.   A few months ago, I found myself in another predicament of choosing whether to confront my reality or to ignore it. A friend suggested I read a best-selling book about a boy with an extreme craniofacial abnormality. She had…

Confronting My Reality – Part 1

I’ve never been one to confront my uneasiness with a head-on crash; I’d rather cautiously navigate around my feelings without leaving an emotional wreck in my wake. Believe me when I say my stoicism runs deeper than just the mask you see. With a heavy dose of irony I tell you that as vocal as…

‘Cause it makes me that much stronger, makes me work a little bit harder

I finally understand the anxiety behind releasing a second album or a movie sequel. Expectations soar and you’re left wondering how you’re going to compete with your initial success, not that my last blog post was “initial.” I posted 57 essays prior to that one game-changing post. The others were meaningless compared to the brutal…