Be the Beauty You Choose to Be
It’s no secret that we live in a society where women are bombarded with mixed messages on how we should look, feel, and behave. All of those external voices can be really tough to tune out. But, none of it compares to our harshest critic, which also happens to be the loudest voice of all: our own. Even then, the external voices butt in with “sage” wisdom like, “just be yourself,” puppeted from an image so photoshopped, it could be an actual photo of a Dillard’s floor model mannequin. If that irony isn’t enough to send us spiraling, we can flip the channel or the page, only to find admonishments to “just listen to your body.” As if the media beauty blitz wasn’t enough, we also, often lovingly, get these same muddled messages from our fellow ladies. And, those that mention plastic surgery? The cacophony of opinions and contradictions can become deafening.
Time out.
New plan.
Let’s evolve. Let’s empower every woman (and man) to define their own beauty. If that means throwing air kisses to your image in the mirror everyday and embracing the you that you already are, then great! However, if it means making some changes to achieve the look that makes you feel confident, then that’s awesome, too!
With that thought in mind, we will be sharing a series of blogs focused on some individuals who chose to forge their own beauty path by transforming their self-doubt into self-confidence.
Choosing a Transformation
Dr. Venessa Beckman looked in the mirror one morning and discovered the unfamiliar in her own image: a 2-3mm flat mole, just left of the mid-line, slightly purple in appearance, painless and perfectly round.
“I remembered enjoying a blue raspberry Blow-Pop the night before, and so I thought it was just a stain,” Dr. Beckman said. “I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and then I realized that it was not just a stain, but something that was there to stay.”
Dr. Beckman invested in dark lipstick in an effort to hide this new addition. It might have worked, but because she works in gastroenterology, her mole still drew attention. According to Dr. Beckman, there is a disease called Peutz-Jeghers syndrome in which people have brownish or bluish-gray spots on the lips, gums, inner lining of the mouth, and skin. The spots often clue a physician in to the possibility of the syndrome and the need for endoscopy to evaluate for colon polyps. Patients affected by the syndrome also have a higher risk of developing certain types of cancers.
“My well-meaning colleagues were always staring at my little freckle and encouraging me to ‘get checked out.’” She said.
Dr. Beckman decided it was time to part ways with her lip’s confidence siphoning, uninvited guest. So, in the summer of 2017, she had Dr. Saxon remove it.
“I couldn’t believe how amazingly quick and painless the procedure would be.,” Dr. Beckman said. “Dr. Saxon numbed the area and within seconds had excised the mole and placed three stitches. I think the entire process took about 5-7 minutes.”
After the anesthetic wore off, she experienced a little soreness in her lip for a day or two, but within a week, the area was completely healed with no scar tissue at all. Ultimately, Dr. Beckman said that her only regret was that she did not get the procedure done years earlier.
“I feel so much more confident now.” Dr. Beckman said. “I don’t feel as if I need to hide the area with dark lipstick color, and I find that I really enjoy lighter colors that are more natural in appearance. Some days I just go with some lip gloss.”
So, for all of those people out there doing daily battle in the mirror with their own “little freckle” equivalent, Dr. Beckman has some advice:
“What are you waiting for? A quick consultation with Dr. Saxon will surely put you at ease.”
