Take Me For What I Am ...

To post my noseless face or not to post, that is the question.

Paul and I spent last weekend up in Portland with bro and sis-in-law, Joe and Liz.  We spent much of the rainy weekend relaxing around the house, and our hosts were gracious enough to make me feel extraordinarily comfortable hangin' without a nose.

But herein lies the rub ... there were moments when we might have snapped photos of the four of us to commemorate our time together and share with family members and friends.   But who wants to see a cute family photo that includes someone with a big honking hole in their face? Why, it's just not done!

Well, maybe it should be.

I have often longed to share impromptu pics of me and animals around the house, but have stopped myself for that same reason.  The temporary solution was to cover the hole with my fingers, but when I see those pictures, it just looks weird and sad to have my hand in front of my face.

So, here's the deal.  No more hiding.  If you are my friend on Facebook, a follower on Twitter, a reader of this blog, then you already know my story, plain and simple.  I will do my squeamish friends the courtesy of posting a warning on Facebook.  If they want to unfriend me or "hide" me, they can.  But I will not hide me.  Not any more.  I won't go out of my way to be provocative and post just to shock people.  But if I have a glorious moment I want captured in a photo (like when both cats and the dog all climbed into my lap at the same time), and I happen not to have a nose on at that moment, well, that's okay.

After all, does it serve anyone to hide who we really are?  The world is filled with people who are disfigured in some way or another.  What's wrong with just accepting people with their flaws?  Of course, first we have to accept ourselves before we can ask others to do the same.

I often boast that if I didn't "have to" wear my prosthetic nose out in public, I wouldn't.  Yet, there are moments I get very self-conscious being around people without my nose.  But it's usually only just the first few minutes with someone who's never seen me like that before.  Then we all get used to it and it's no big deal.  Exposure Therapy is a real thing to help people get over phobias.  Isn't that what I'm proposing here?

Just imagine, all you "normal" people out there:  If it was acceptable to walk around with holes in your face, or horrible scars or whatever ... how much less anxiety would you have over a stupid zit!

I have nothing against enhancing ourselves and striving for beauty.  I wear make-up, I pay the big bucks for good highlights and haircuts.  But for the flaws we cannot change, isn't acceptance the best answer?

Is this a controversial stance?  I honestly don't know and would welcome comments/discussion on the subject right here on the blog site.

In the meantime, I offer up the apropos words sung by Mimi and Joanne in Rent, "Take me for what I am, who I was meant to be.  And if you give a damn, take me Baby ... or leave me ... "