Our AJL Member Grace reflected on what it means to embrace alopecia:
When you walk into a room full of people with hair, you step back and look at yourself and say, “I am different than these other people.” I used to think about that and sometimes looked at my friends and peers and wondered why I had to be so different. In this society, we have so many beauty standards of what we should look like and especially many standards of what women should look like. With alopecia, you lose some of your confidence, given your loss of hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, which make up most of your face. What I have experienced from alopecia is that having no hair is challenging, but here I am, still living life and embracing my positivity. I always look on the bright side that I can share my experience with others and my alopecia journey with others seeking help. Embracing alopecia can mean so many different things, but I embrace it by putting a smile on my face and showing that I am still a healthy woman but uniquely made. A piece of advice I would give is, don’t let alopecia define you. This is just a small fraction of who you are. You are still you; no matter what, you are beautiful inside and out! A quote that sticks with me is, “What sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden, and it’s not. A lot of the time, it’s what makes you great!”-Emma Stone