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The Power of Pimples
explosive new evidence
Has any one of you NOT had a stressful week? Mine included going out four out of seven nights (and entertaining in for two others), writing a grant that (no pressure) is the main way that I get paid, being told that my son is in a different country than I thought he was in, not hearing from my daughter who is teaching circus to children at a far-away camp, discovering a lack of funding where I thought there was more, getting a notice from my co-op that the monthly maintenance fees were going steeply up, learning that the “relaxing” week that I was planning for myself at Lithuanian camp (that’s another post) will actually entail not only being in charge of planning and executing the evening activities but also devising an activity for the singing club that allows the 2 choir kids to feel challenged and the 3 never-sung-befores to participate.
That’s just the immediately stressful stuff — there’s also the usual medical stuff, my mom’s medical stuff, my uncle’s medical stuff, aging in general, the usual “house is a mess,” and the usual “what do I eat for dinner that is low on budget, calories, effort, and still offers nutrition and flavor.” And travel is in my near future, so packing, scheduling, etc.
Are you tired just reading through this list? Yes, it’s a little stressful.
I woke up with a pimple.
A monster, a white-headed mountain alongside a crease in my face that adorned that deep crevice like an Oregon mountain enhances its rivers (how on earth did I ever get a crease on my face? Live long enough and you will find out). This monster pimple was a throwback to prom, to my wedding day, to my first day at graduate school. To every stress-filled, anxiety-ridden, joyful or disastrous moment that I ever feared for more than an hour of my life. It looked like a prop from a John Waters movie.
My instant reaction to seeing this pimple was shame and dismay. Horror. Fear that it would never go away.
I am a “grown-ass woman” and those were my honest-to-god emotions.
But why?
This is a very real question that I am posing to the medical and psychological industry of the world, right now at this moment. Why on earth would a small physical occurrence that is so ubiquitous…
