My Unexpected Move to Make Nice With the Mirror

I was a Houston holdout. I'd resisted for more than a few reasons: Not old enough, not vain enough, not desperate enough. Throw in my frugality and concerns for safety, and there was no way I could imagine having a procedure done for vanity's sake - for cosmesis. The mirrorwoman I greet each morning was beginning to argue with me. She was scowling, making sure I noticed the deep groove between my eyebrows. She was staring at me as I applied creams and potions. Her eye contact was intense. She was intense. She knew everything I knew but didn't want to admit: I'm not all that fond of my aging appearance. For all my talk of self-acceptance, it's a bitter pill to swallow. I am a woman of a certain age. That being...Middle. I'm starting to look it. I have a new friend. She's a bright, happy, enthusiastic woman who is also in her 50's. She manages a Dermatology Clinic. She happened to send me a text last week and asked if I'd like to participate in a demonstration of Dysport® for an Open House tonight. Dysport® is an injectable, similar to Botox®, used to treat moderate to severe frown lines. It took me all of 2 minutes to agree to her invitation. So I've dipped my toe in the waters of cosmetic procedures. I reclined on a table and allowed a Physician to inject a foreign substance into my forehead. It was virtually painless and I'm looking forward to seeing the results in a few days. I'm "this much" surprised at myself because if you'd have asked me a year ago, I would have told you there was no way I would do it. (Honestly, I think I wanted to do something, I just didn't want to admit it.) I'm pretty happy that I had it done for free. I'm still can't imagine having surgery. I've assisted at so many surgeries that I can't envision allowing someone to cut me. I'm also fortunate enough to live in a place that has so many weird facial surgery results that if I want motivation NOT to have surgery, all I have to do is take a look around. What I'm looking forward to is waking up and not having that woman in the mirror scowl quite so hard at me. It's not like we were really angry at each other. Well, maybe she was angry...for making her wait so long. ©Michelle Scofield, April 26, 2012 All Rights Reserved