Baldiness

Baldness Is Not a Disaster

by Bald Man on March 1st, 2007

“I request that during that month (March) our people rededicate themselves to the splendid aims and activities of the Red Cross.” –President Franklin D. Roosevelt, first Presidential Proclamation of March as Red Cross Month, 1943 (link)

March is Red Cross Month, and we all have a love-fear relationship with them. We love the Red Cross: they do so much for so many, and it’s a great avenue to volunteer and give back. But we also fear the Red Cross, because we might need the Red Cross; and if we need the Red Cross, then it means something has gone horribly wrong.

Say “Red Cross” in the United States, and most folks likely think of New Orleans or Mississippi flooding or an area tornado strike or a neighborhood house fire. We think of blood drives and sand bags and emergency shelters. The Red Cross warms our hearts as they administer charity, compassion and kindness. At the same time the Red Cross is a splash of cold water, waking us up to suffering and disaster.

Now Baldiness is ostensibly about baldness, and I was preparing to write something tongue-in-cheek as I am wont to do. Something about emergency preparedness for the bald (Use sunscreen - check!) or how Bald Men are the best heroes. Something silly. But I stopped. I reckon it was time to be serious for a moment, and here’s what I want to say:

Baldness is Not a Disaster.

People are bald for one of three reasons: Design, Disease, or Desire. In none of these instances is baldness a disaster.

Now, don’t think I’m trivializing things; regulars around here ought to know me well enough. I understand self-esteem and self-image, and the reality that our appearance has a substantial impact on them. While not having gone through chemotherapy or radiation therapy, I get the notion of “one more thing” on top of all the other things that have gone wrong. Hair loss can cause a personal crisis. Hair loss can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. But I’ll reiterate:

Baldness is not a disaster.

One of life’s secrets is perspective. If one can maintain a proper perspective on things, then one can live well. Such a person is able to concentrate on that which is truly important and more easily accept that which is not.

Change distorts our perspective, tending to make our world smaller. It’s like looking at the world through a telephoto lens. Disaster strikes, and our world gets out of focus. Desperate for the familiar, we grasp for the first detail we recognize engrossing ourselves in it until that becomes our new landscape. All the while we are unaware that we have lost track of the whole.

Instead of focusing, what we really need is to pan out. We need to re-enlarge our horizon, so that the details can take their proper place in the landscape.

Baldness is a detail; it is not a disaster.

Don’t let it fill up your lens.

(This post is part of the b5media Science & Health Topic du Jour. See the round up of other posts on Emergency Preparedness over at the Homely Scientist.)

Photo credits: red button, bald eagle, buildings, & photographer

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POSTED IN: Bald Thoughts, Topic du Jour