Pink

It isn't easy when your whole day is revolving around topical steroids and moisturizers. Waking up at the start of your day, and finding yourself looking at the mirror peeling off the dead skin on your face. The mere touch of water rejuvenates you, yet you still go on Instagram and stare at all those celebrities with 'perfect' and 'beautiful' skin. Trust me, it isn't easy.

Days and days, succumbing to the feeling of being moisturized yet you still are unhappy. Unhappy for your skin. Unhappy for others looking at your skin. Unhappy for life. The constant 'itchy' feeling enveloping your unhinged body and mind. This is not what you call easy.

They say it's alright. But it's not. Your success in hiding the worst helps you overcome the sorrow but they do not realise the tragedies underneath your clothes. They call you for swimming, they call you to go to the beach, but you simply can't. The grave fear of showing these atrocities to the world keeps you locked inside, hidden away from the sunlight, hidden away from the infinite beauty the world offers. Unable to let your inner self shine, restricted to the humid air inside your house yet you still are strong. Strong in creating a veil, strong in disguising yourself under the façade and strong in carrying the weight of all these problems. It's certainly not easy.

Red. Pink. All these colours smeared across your body like a painting. You call it unnatural. You call it strange. But it's not. It's anything but unnatural. It's your body's way of protecting you. Your body is the only person who can heal you, above all the doctors, the medicines, the creams, the ointments, and the steroids. He is the only one who can ultimately remove the veneer you hide behind and is the only one who will make you understand your true elegance.

Your body may be scarred, bruised, coloured, deprived but it will always be beautiful and will always be your friend. Living with atopic eczema isn't easy.

The worst yet best moment of your day is when you can finally rest your body- sleep. The time where you can finally ignore all the common and outside allergens. You suit up- wash your face and moisturize, heavily. The feeling of rejuvenation remains constant even until you snuggle inside your duvet. But then there is that nightly epiphany. The epiphany that you will wake up to skin anarchy and an uproar of skin disasters the next morning. Your body in utter destruction. Yes, that is the worst. Although your life is a total imbalance of the worst and the best, sometimes you must cope with it. This is because some day the world will repay it back to you, the world is merciful.

Waiting. The key component to dealing with chaos is just to let time be your leader. Once you allow time to lead your path, there is a guarantee that it will end in success. Time is ultimate.

Meeting people is another obstacle. You shy away from the people who are there to help you in the times of need. You even shy away from your lost friends: the sun, the air and the grass. There is no more Hope. Yet you still believe that this will stop. Eventually it will. Hope is always there for you, because even if you think you lose her, she will always be the person who will stay inside your pocket. That's because Hope is persistent. Your skin is the only thing that people can judge you from. To prevent others from judging you, you need to stop judging yourself. Judgement thrives on insecurities and targets your areas of low self-esteem and unfortunately is something that exists in the evil of humanity. It is not a punishment but perhaps something that allows humanity to develop and sinisterly satisfy it. Judgement is a psychological phenomenon. When you finally remove the labels, you realise that we are the same, and that is the same principle for skin. Your skin may look different, but essentially it is just a human organ which everyone has. "Dry", "oily", "coloured", "changed", "stretched" are just labels. Remove these labels and you will be able to remove judgement. Once judgement has been removed, you can walk, walk freely outside, smile at everyone, be close to your loved ones and finally be able to love those that will not judge you for the hidden beauties you have. This is what you call ultimate.

The feeling of self-hate and fear is the next battle. Why does the world host these worthless emotions? In fact, without these emotions we would be worthless. Fear defines who we are and defines how we live our life. It is the sand paper we use to refine our insecurities but also the tool we use to break our joys. Something that creates but also destroys. Something that gives birth but also causes death. Fear is something. Not an object, not a feeling but something which needs to be controlled to ensure you realise your beauty. Skin is beautiful. But fear manipulates you to think that it is a monster rather than a flower. Skin is important. But fear manipulates you to think that it should be disregarded. Skin is meaningful. But fear manipulates you to think it's pointless. Eliminating fear is a way to endure the myriad of skin problems. The moments you see the dark side of your body, enlighten it with your belief that 'it will get better'. Commenting on your failures will indeed oppress your chance of satisfaction. Instead, create a situation where the skin problems are non-existent and have disappeared. No peeling, redness, streaks- nothing. It would be heaven. Creating a world so heavenly, makes you realise how your skin constructs you. The way you move the way you see yourself, the way you think is somehow determined by your skin. Therefore, you should appreciate what you get. It's almost like your personality. Living with eczema destroys your sense of beauty but in fact also enhances your view on your skin. You begin to realise that everything is beautiful in some way, regardless of what others think and regardless of what society illustrates. This is what you call elimination of fear. Success in eliminating, results in the ability to conquer this internal battle.

You are beautiful. Beauty is power, respect, loyalty and many things more. Yet with all these categories you are still beautiful. Because beauty is not defined by how you look, beauty is what's inside. In a world of 7 billion people, someone will enjoy your presence and someone will love how you look. From love sprung beauty. Like the story of Medusa, beauty is skin deep but true beauty comes from within one's self. No one ever considers what Medusa is like on the inside, perhaps she has succumbed to her mistakes and is suffering inside. Unfortunately, her fate had led her to becoming a monster on the outside, yet no one acknowledges if she had changed or not. Thus, it shows that we are truly not who we are on the outside. The eyes are deceiving. Hence, your skin is not the door to your mind, it is just the decoration. Decorations can be ripped or improved so in the end, it all comes down to you and your decisions. If you're the person that's staring at the mirror, worrying for your skin, just remember that one day it would all be over. One day, it would be easy.