Elephants and Tea - Walgreens Special Edition - Cover3

Survivor Stories
FEELING CONFIDENT
feeling of being pampered, cherished,
and truly seen with love was indelibly
imprinted on my heart that day. Cancer
is riddled with shame. We hide our scars
and our sensitive scalps. Hell, we even
hide our diagnosis-oftentimes feeling
branded with a scarlet letter. I hid my
own breast cancer diagnosis from my
extended family until after my treatment
was over.
However, inside that room in Houston
I was not hidden. I was seen. I was heard.
The bevy of attentive doctors, beauty
technicians, pharmacists, and product
experts formed a harmonious symphony
of care. Our questions were answered
with thoughtful precision. Our timidness
was gently encouraged and soothed. If
our skin is indeed a sentient, porous,
and intelligent system, then being able
to relax allowed us to literally absorb
our healing.
We've all heard that phrase, " Beauty is
only skin deep. " This idea that physical
beauty is superficial and is not as important
as a person's intellectual, emotional,
and spiritual qualities misses the mark
when it comes to realizing the powerful
role of our skin. Remember when
I said that your skin shares the same
neural markers as your brain? What
if in helping you repair and replenish
your skin, you also repair and replenish
your self-concept? Your skin is your
superhighway to your beauty. Beauty is
your birthright. And feeling beautiful
has a profound impact on your recovery.
When I was going through cancer
treatment, I realized that grounding into
my own beauty was the most powerful
way to get through it. I began to help
other cancer survivors connect with
their own healing power of beauty using
my design wisdom from two decades
as a fashion and interior designer. I led
workshops at hospitals and published
a bestselling book called Purgatory to
Paradise: How Cancer Helped Me Design
an Authentic Life. I became so inspired
by seeing the light in a fellow patient's
eye become brighter that I designed
a program for patients and providers
called Claim Your Paradise to help you
design your own healing through your
environment and rituals of beauty.
Healing doesn't mean that you go back
to how you used to look. Why not make
lemonade out of lemons and redefine
your beauty with the patina that life's
challenges provide you? What if feeling
more like you is paved with every
stroke of self-care, the kindness you
show yourself, and the time you give
yourself to repair and recover? Healing
doesn't happen overnight. And neither
does a quality renovation. Your body as
your home takes the best team of professionals,
like the lovely folks I had the
privilege of meeting at that workshop-
with the expertise and care to help you
gild yourself into that beautiful goddess.
I wish I would have known about the
Walgreens Feel More Like You® workshop
sooner! I discovered it after my own
cancer treatment was over. Everyone deserves
access to their beauty-especially
while going through cancer treatment!
What they don't tell you is that it often
takes years to recover from cancer treatment.
Whatever stage you find yourself
in your own cancer journey, please take
advantage of this fabulous workshop. I
learned a lot that day and continue to use
the products on my skin as it continues
to heal. And most of all, I consider the
Feel More Like You beauty guides as my
friends and as an honorary part of my
own interior renovation team.
Remember, your scars and your
st ruggles are also what make you
beautiful. The gold highlighting those
cracks in your life is what I believe is
your self-acceptance. When you accept
yourself and embrace your lessons instead
of resisting them, you not only heal but
also align with your beautiful divinity.
A WINDOW TO BEAUTY
BY NILE SYED
C
ancer is not a villain, but an
opportunity to learn. It was my
teacher. Watching my mom go
through cancer taught me many things,
such as the real meaning of determination,
tenacity, and perseverance. It
revealed to me the bigger picture of life,
where life and death were like yin and
yang, existing in a harmonious balance
where one can't exist without the other.
As I watched all the countless emotions
running through my mom's face, I observed
her approach her treatment with
a sense of hope and grace. Throughout
her treatment, my mom's energy
became a little duller, considering she
was in a weaker state. To ease her mind
during moments of weakness, I tried my
best to take care of chores around the
house. I helped her with her pain, like
helping her walk up the stairs. I always
kept a positive mindset, knowing that
my mom will be OK. Even though the
process was hard to see, I showed up
anyway, even when I was scared to
face reality head-on.
Watching my mom go from weak to
strong was enlightening. She had a pure
sense of inner strength. She taught me
how to see something like cancer not as
a villain, but as a window to her authentic
beauty. She taught me how to keep
myself healthy, eat better, and take care
of my body. I learned that her beauty
grew like a flower when you water it
and give it sunlight.
In conclusion, I've learned many things,
not just lessons but plenty of wisdom.
I've not only learned how to think but
how to feel, sense, and deal with reality,
even if it's uncomfortable, even if I don't
want to. I've learned that cancer is not
a villain unless you treat it like one. It
can help you reset yourself and create a
new way to live. l
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Elephants and Tea - Walgreens Special Edition

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