About 7 years ago, I had a stupid accident, fell and tore the skin off my shin. As I was recovering, I started to become terrified about having a scar for life. Forget about skirts, shorts, dresses, or any outfit that would reveal my legs… After 2 or 3 summers, the idea of hiding my legs forever became too impractical so I gave it up… But I would still feel a massive discomfort whenever walking around with my scar showing.
Later on, I became more self-conscious about a skin condition called acanthosis nigricans affecting my underarms. I spend years and a lot of money trying to “fix it” with creams and skin peels. But it only made it worse leaving me with frustration, low self-esteem and the impression that I was not normal, not beautiful, not blessed…
My latest scar creation (the bumpy keloid scar on my forearm) made me realise that there was a real fight going on in my head: Me VS My body and that I was spending a big part of my time dreaming about being scar free and hating the fact that I wasn’t… I’m still working on it but from the day I started choosing my scars and the way they look, I’ve felt an immense sense of relief and peace. I can now understand that rejecting my body because of the way it looks at any given moment is killing my confidence, my beauty and personality. It stops me from being all the other amazing things that I can be and from rocking my uniqueness!
I’m still practicing it and I created I’M PERFECT Exhibition as a personal challenge to see if I could share my scars with the world. My goal is to raise awareness about body positivity, have more compassion for myself and inspire other people to do the same.
