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It’s a known fact that when a woman changes her haircut or color, something may be about to change in her life, and if you don't notice ... there’s a good chance that it will be you!
If fuchsia, candy pink, or shatush hair speak of a desire for novelty, rebellion, or pages about to be turned, our hair is also capable of telling silent stories even when it's not there.
This is the story of Aurora, the "scarf woman." A non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in her uterus forced her in 2014, at the age of 41, to undergo a hysterectomy, after refusing to give up in the face of an initial diagnosis of inoperability. She told the Ansa news service:
Discovering that we’re stronger than we think
She underwent eight rounds of chemotherapy, one two-day session every 14 days. She experienced total hair loss. She told Ansa:
No one gives too much weight to losing hair in such a situation: what’s urgent and important is to beat the monster.
Yet, I think that in a situation that’s already that difficult, looking in the mirror and having to abandon even that part of you that still made you feel "yourself" is a burden that adds to the rest with the weight of a boulder. You fight, of course, but it's harder to do it when the disease takes away everything, even what’s so unnecessary, a superficial aspect, but one that’s important for you to be able to say, “I'm still here, and I’m still me, despite everything!”
The "scarf woman”
Aurora refused to give in to it: that tumor would not take away her femininity.
She opted not to use a wig. "I didn't have to hide in the face of the disease, and it didn't matter if people looked at me," she explains. However, she always wore new colorful scarves, tied around her head in different ways to create “hairstyles.”
Today, Aurora has defeated the disease, but has not stopped creating with her beloved scarves: she joined the association of volunteers, who attended her cancer ward while she was there, to support other women in the same situation. As she shares in her interview with Ansa:
Helping to discover rather than just cover up
It's not just about "covering up" our bald head or the signs of cancer, but perhaps more about "discovering" a new us, even in the face of illness; discovering a strength we didn't think we had.
It's funny how a single syllable or piece of cloth can move us from a perspective of fear to one of hope.
What's more, every warrior has a battle helmet.
If it's colorful and made of silk, even better!
