Coming Home to My DNA - Unibrow Power

Let's FACE it...there's something different about my appearance. I grow hair smack in the middle of my face, between my eyes and above my nose. Unibrow, monobrow, Frida Kahlo, Hey Arnold, whatever you want to call it, it's a part of me. Inside of my recent transitions/chaos, I didn't spend as much time keeping up with my appearance, and one day I noticed dark hairs growing where I normally never allow them. As I sat down with tweezers and a mirror, I finally approached the thought of, "why do I alter this about myself?" At any other time, I wouldn't have asked myself this. Or, I wouldn't have addressed the question. This time, I asked the question inside of a million other questions I was asking about my life, so it had a place.

The story is simple - when I was in fourth or fifth grade, a girl in my class pointed out that I have a unibrow. I don't remember anything else about the situation, besides that we were in the hallway. Was she making fun of me? Was she being factual? Was she showing off knowledge she learned recently? Whatever the case, from that point on, I no longer had a unibrow. Since elementary school, I learned the magical art of tweezer wielding.

It doesn't sound like too much of a big deal upfront. In fact, people would compliment my hard-earned eyebrows (back when I had two...). When I began questioning how I felt about my face, however, I noticed a lot of things were packed into shaping my eyebrows - things I no longer wished to carry.  There's a joke about people with a monobrow - one of their fears is if they were ever in a coma, they'd wake up with one! My anxiety about my facial hair came with the thought that if I were ever to be trapped on an island (because everyone just imagines this kind of stuff right?) I would  be a hairy mess. Silly fear, but I was about ready to FACE it!

So what did I do?? First, as it was growing out, I told my closer companions. I wanted to avoid some awkwardness when they would see me for the first time. Next, I eventually built up courage to do an Instagram story on my unibrow. I asked people to tell me their honest opinions - and they did! What was the next logical step of action? A photoshoot of course! Here is what came of it:

 My friend Sarah was offering photoshoots to fundraise for her next big adventure, so I snagged to opportunity to be showered by her magical talent. I told her my only priority was to capture my eyebrow. (By the way, we took these photos at Mother Neff State Park! It was cold, rainy, and perfect. Be on the lookout for my next blog about the ambassador program I am a part of.)

TRUTHS ABOUT THE EYEBROW:

1. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It's definitely counter to our eyebrow-crazy society's expectations of what beauty is. A lot of times I feel incredibly beautiful. Other times, I feel foreign to myself. It changes the dynamic of my facial features, and I'm still adjusting to the way it looks.
2. I always wonder what people are thinking (if they are thinking about it) and I'm always curious to know other's opinions. Your opinion may not sway me, but it helps me fill in (lol, eyebrow puns) the surrounding experience of my eyebrow. Some people don't like it, and they recognize this is because of our society's expectations. Some people love how goofy it is! Some people tell me I should get rid of it. Some people have said absolutely nothing as well. What about you??
3. It's still growing! The hairs spent most of my life being "killed" before they had any chance to see the light. Now that I'm allowing them to be free, they just keep coming and I'm constantly amazed at how much hair is a part of my face!

Here is a quote I snagged from Wikipedia on the unibrow:

"In both Ancient Greek and Roman cultures, unibrows were prized as beautiful, desirable features worn by the most intelligent and lusted-after women."

Heck yes. I'm definitely boosting myself here. Regardless of what is true or not, the whole point of this story I'm sharing is that I'm learning how to come home to my body as it is.  How else has this coming-home-to-me shown up? Well, I have pretty hairy legs and hairy armpits (I always let people know, I have more armpit hair in one pit than all four of my brothers' armpit hairs put together - not to put them down or anything). I've let these grow out. Truthfully, most of my family is absolutely repulsed by my hairiness, so don't feel bad if you are too. My challenge for you is to ask yourself why. Why? Why is hair, such a natural and purposeful thing, so stigmatized on women? It's more than okay to love your clean-shaven legs, arms, armpits, and other areas. I'm starting to realize, it's more than okay to love the hairs as they grow, too. Here's to growth!!!

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She's beauty and she's grace. 

She Is

She is the comfort in the night

When all the day's tarrying toil melts into the sea of sheets 

She is the peace in the morning

When the soft sunlight nudges me into wakefulness 

She is the kiss on the forehead 

When I do something hard for the first time and make it through

She is the steady presence

That never once failed to meet me where I am 

She is the open door

When the rest of the world has shut me out for the night

Her welcoming light wraps me up

In the most nonjudgmental folds of sweet, sweet love 

She is the laughter that picks me up 

When I've fallen into puddles of embarrassment 

And she sheds her coat without hesitation 

To dry me off

And restore my beauty

She speaks to me in the pew

Surrounded by my fellow broken family

And she smiles as we stumble over old hymn lyrics

Peering into each of our aching hearts and joining our chorus of pain and ambition

Infusing our timid voices with harmonies of hope

She is the giver of the perfect song

To help me out of a depressed slump

She is the blanket in my closet

When the depression stays a while

I hide in her patterned arms

And she doesn't make me feel dirty

Or unwhole

Or pathetic 

Or low

When I can't find the strength

To meet the day 

She is grace from the trees

When the white petals of new spring blossoms float around

She is in the breeze 

As those petals take home on my eyelashes 

As they meet the ground beneath my feet 

She is the grace in the evening

The flame that takes the candle wick

And accompanies me through the loneliness 

She is all the controversial statements that the rest of the world runs from because she isn't afraid to challenge my small human perception of this one life I get to live

She will never fit into the box of any language

Yet here she is

With me

In me 

She is in the eaves of my soul

She is in the dancing 

The weeping 

The laughing

Of my being

She is in the soft paw of the fox

That roams in the night

She is in the rushing waterfall

That kissed my hair

She is in the soil

From which the flowers grow

And the worms make home

She is love

She is my God.