Guest Post: I Have Cancer and I Am Beautiful

I’m still in the mood ‘fight-against-cancer’ so I requested Jackie Clark (I talked about her in my World Cancer Day post) to write a guest post on cancer and beauty, which she did marvellously well on my makeup blog. By the way, it’s going to be the very first guest post of this blog! Yay!

If ever you wish to be a guest blogger here, you just have to email me on magic.daphy@gmail.com (yeah I know it’s childish but I created it when I was 11 and I don’t want to change it! :P)

So here’s what she wrote for An Evil Nymph’s blog for us today 🙂

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I Have Cancer and I Am Beautiful

by Jackie Clark

You have mesothelioma cancer. You have breast cancer. You have uterine cancer.

It’s a fact.

Now comes treatment, doctors, and more prognosis than you could’ve ever imagined in one person’s life.

None of it has anything to do with the fact that you are beautiful. You are a beautiful person and you can’t forget that despite cancer your life is precious. Life is wonderful and you can make the best of every situation—cancer diagnosis or not.

You’ll need to remind yourself of this every day.  You have your loved ones-they’ll support you.  They will give you something to smile about every day, as they always have.

At the end of the day, the only person that can hold you up is you.  You need to maintain your strength, your self-respect and the positivity that will not only carry you, but those that need you.

You’re beautiful and I’ll prove it.

Go look in the mirror.

There is nothing more powerful than looking in the mirror and liking — no, loving — what you see.

Don’t like what’s looking back at you?

Let’s do something about it.

The most important thing you can do right now is pay attention to yourself.  That leads to a sense of empowerment and being happy in your own skin.

There’s a great website called GetMakeOvers.com.  It’s a fun little site that lets you see how you’d look with different hair, blush, lipstick, eye shadows, even hats and sunglasses or colored contacts.  You can use one of the pictures supplied or your own.  Go see what a different look would do for you.  Give yourself a chance to see the potential that’s lying right there on the surface.

If you see something you like, I say, go for it.  Make yourself as beautiful as you want to be.

Now, get a stunning new pair of shoes.  Be daring now.  This is you taking a leap of confidence.  Do the same for clothes.  Doesn’t matter if it’s sexy, or practical; be a little different in your choices.  Go online or to a store you’ve never been to before.  Challenge yourself.  Fashion is expressive and an incredible creative outlet for anyone.  Clothes, regardless of judging a book by its cover, are appealing and attention grabbing.

You deserve to be treated right.  And nothing will interfere with that.  Take a moment out of every day, look in the mirror and make sure you like what you see.  Need a wig?  Go get one.  Or find a wonderful hat or scarf, but never, ever, ever assume there’s nothing you can do about it.

A cancer like mesothelioma — or any other kind — cannot stop you.

More important, look in the mirror and see that, as a person, there’s far more to you than cancer, and remind yourself, by God, I am beautiful!

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Jackie joined the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance in 2009 as research assistant after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in fitness and nutrition. Jackie’s interest in health and wellness spawned into fashion for an overall better outer appearance from her desire to treat her body well. Jackie saw the power in fashion and how it can enhance a woman’s overall self-confidence levels. From there, Jackie’s experience in technical and medical research has allowed her to assist in the development of medical content and outreach efforts, with specializations in alternative care, cancer support programs, and social media campaigns.