"The self is the friend of a man who masters himself through the self, but for a man without self-mastery, the self is like an enemy at war."

The Bhagavad Giga, India, Circa A.D. First Century



"We mean the ability to keep one's head at times of exceptional stress and violent emotion...But it might be closer to the truth to assume that the faculty known as self-control-the gift of keeping calm even under the greatest stress-is rooted in temperament. It is itself an emotion…

i get up for school. late. awesome. instead of trying anything fancy, i throw on yogas and a hoodie. put on my makeup real fast. and give myself one braid down my back. eat. out the door. great.



in the car i realize that you can see two bald spots with my hair braided. i can't do anything about it either. i just take out my hair and put it in a bun. again. like i have the past month and a half now. i'm really upset this morning, i've got a million things to do and all i can think…

So, I first applied for Locks of Love towards the end of fourth grade. And it literally was the best decision I have ever made. It saved my life. Everyone was like, "Wow, nice hair Jackie." I mean, a few girls gave me snotty looks. It was probably because my hairpiece looks awesome and they were just jealous. That's how I like to look at it. lol c: Anyway, I love Locks of Love. They are the nicest people ever. Super sweet and down to earth. This month, I need to apply for a new one because…

i play tennis, forgot to mention. its the only time when i don't feel like a slob for wearing my hair up and having a thick headband in. no school today, so i didn't have to paint my face on at six am. instead i got to wait until before my tennis match at three. but that's barely anything, i still have eight million more things to do tonight. and when i get back to school tomorrow there's still nine million more things waiting. yippee... i used to dress up, business casual i'd even say. high…

has become extremely difficult. i'm stressed out over everything. i have a lot of pull in my school. as the national honor society president, yearbook editor, and lead & seed (anti drug and alcohol group) president, i always have a lot on my mind. and you know what, dealing with stress and the pressure of being perfect is what i'm best at. i can pull off every single deadline and meet every single requirement for any task. plus more. the only thing that can't handle it... is my hair.…

I have had sence just out of elementary what looks like a males natural balding pattern. Just a three inch diameter circle, spotty around the edge and now my receding hair line cutting into it a lil. Pretty much got a comb forward. It's only embarrassing in a strong wind. I assume people Think I am a very youthful Old Man; especially in a suit Haha. but I Think maybe it is like a temperature control to release heat to optimize brain function. Its what I like to think anyway. I never paid…

Tomorrow it will be a week since I shaved my head. The honeymoon is over and the reality of being bald is sinking in. Today was a rough day. Having second thoughts about shaving my head. I felt very self conscious. It took me forever to work up the nerve to go out for a walk. I don’t own any caps and my bandanas I usually wear to the gym now slip off. I finally got the bandana to work. Later I went to the store and that was total agony. After spending some time praying and meditating about…

I have to say these words..."I really want my hair back!" Now that I got that out I can be candid. I had to be honest with myself and I did. I said those words and I believe those words to be the desire of my heart. That is my faith...to believe that which I do not have... to possess in my future which I can not see, but I see. I know sounds crazy but isn't this whole situation crazy? I have lamented over my hair loss and it's true I stayed in that place for a while. Now, I am on the other…

I lost my hair at 4 and was diagnosed with Alopecia around the same time. You'd think I'd have this down to a science by now (yeah I wish). I am now about to be 24 years old and have pretty much gotten over the shock and the jitters about the disease although I still do struggle with not accepting, but embracing it. Mind you, I've never had problems dating...just been really careful with who I dealt with. Yet recently, I've been with my boyfriend for 2 years and he has seen the highs and…

I have Alopecia Universalis. I got my eyebrows permanently tattooed in December. Finally, a complete face when I wake up in the morning. Now guess what??? My damn eyebrows have decided to start growing back! What the hell??? Really???? Now I have to pluck because of course, they are not growing back where the tattoos are. Lol, am I being punked? Why couldn't the hair grow back on my head or at least my eyelashes? I would even be happy with a nose hair! Has this happened to anyone else? If…

I was getting a haircut today which makes me very uncomfortable cause of my spots. So i was feeling self conscious in the first place when a lady made a comment that had nothing to do with me cause she didn't see me. She said something along the lines of how she thought her was thinning so she got so scared that she was going to get a bald spot. It's insane how people don't even think twice when stating these things. There are people surrounding them who might get hurt at such comments. I…

I am sad to say that I've had another relapse, after so many months of not pulling, unfortunately I'm suffering from combination of two different types of hair loss, Trichotillomania, and then Alopecia areata, The parts I don't pull, fall out on their own, the doctor thinks its from so many years of damaging hair follicles and now they just can't handle the weight of my own hair once it grows to a certain point.

I think I've just given up, I'm going to be like this forever, because…

Thing is though...I don't know where to start. I wanna tell my stories of my own struggles but I would like to know from others..Who've also been there.

Watching some documentaries about anti-bullying has inspired me to write this essay and basically spam it where I can get it onto. I want people to be aware.

So...Please if it's not too much trouble share your stories and how you stopped it if you were able to...You will be credited.

Please and thank you.

So, like a few months ago, I went to a dermatalogist and the doctor lady was pretty cool. She told me like a summary about alopecia (which I already knew, but I didn't tell her otherwise), and she also said that there wasn't any magical cures yet. I really admired her for telling it like it is and not buttering it up. I liked that. What I really thought was awesome is that she prescribed me some lotion type thing. Like, I'm supposed to rub or massage some onto my head then like a rash type…

Three years ago (wow, time flies!) I posted a blog about Michael J. Fox, his Parkinson's disease, and how his words are great inspiration for us Alopecians:

http://www.alopeciaworld.com/profiles/blogs/inspirational-words-from

In today's Parade Magazine (which comes with our local paper, and also around the country), there's an interview with him. I have to share a couple of his…

Okay, leaving soon to meet some friends. It was okay running in and out of a few stores. Now, I'll be sitting in one place for a while. Feeling kind of anxious. What if people start staring at me? For a brief moment I thought about cancelling. Then I thought, screw it! Let them stare!…

I was talking to my boyfriend about not being able to find a wig yesterday in the store that I liked. He came out with some things he may have been brave enough to say, yet he is the only one I know who would dare say it to me...

He said not to go for styles too short as often you can see at the back of the wig the strips where it is all attached. It took my bit by surprise and made me relook at different wigs I had seen on line.

I was always worried about the tops of wigs, I…

Yesterday was a long, emotional meeting. I woke up with a bad headache which was good because I had to speak at a meeting. I debating whether or not to just shave my head before the meeting but decided to wait.

Later I had lunch with a friend, rushed home, and headed straight to the bathroom -- I stood there in silence and just starting chopping off my locs watching them fall to the floor. After the deed was done, I was so relieved. I had the biggest smile on my face. I was so…

So I was spacing the other day, and I was really depressed. I was just thinking about my past, when I was younger, when I lost my hair, all the drama I've been through, etc. Then I came to think, "Why am I constantly always thinking about the past?" Well, the past never goes away, it's always in the back of our minds somewhere. Lurking, waiting, haunting, for a right moment to come forward and remind us the things we want to forget. It sucks sometimes. Then I thought, "There is no way to…