I am super excited to be taking part in the Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge which is being hosted by WEGO Health! The entire month of April will be dedicated to sharing our stories as well as educating and raising awareness!
Day 1 #HAWMC Why I Write
Initially, I had a blog relative to natural hair. I LOVED talking about natural hair, and offering advice & tips as to how to care for natural hair. Au Naturale by Mz. Sixx was my baby. I had gained followers, was getting offers from companies to host giveaways, & meetups – I was on to something. In 2011 Lupus creped his ugly head into my life. I could no longer keep up with blogging, attending social events and was lost as to what was happening to my body. After being diagnosed, I was stumped as to how I would tell my friends and family I finally had a reason for the scarring on my face and the extreme exhaustion. I took to my blog and posted Hello-I’m A Lupie Chick.
That was the first time I had actually said the words “I have Lupus”. Wow, the response was overwhelming as most of my friends and family was not educated or aware about Lupus. The inbox messages, text, emails began to be too much. First, blogging about Lupus was a “relief” and a way that I could provide my friends and family with updates. There were moments when I felt like I was complaining or no one was reading. Months had gone by without any posts, because I didn’t want to burden my followers with my Lupie Chick issues. I started to receive tweets stating that they were about Lupus because of my blogging and interactions on social media. There were a few people in my life who suffered in silence and they were speaking through me and the blog. WHAT A BURDEN THAT WAS FOR ME TO CARRY. Additionally, I was still posting on the natural hair blog. It was too much, What if I said the wrong thing? What if I felt like saying F*uck it-would I offend someone? Would I receive hatful messages because someone didn’t like my post? How can I keep up the pace with informative content on two blogs? I came to realize that I’m human; I’m not a robot that you can switch off and on. I don’t have to blog daily or weekly. I have feelings, emotions and a voice that I refuse to silence to spare anyone else’s feelings.
In March of 2013, I combined both blogs- Au’Naturale by Mz. Sixx and The Lupie Chick = Naturally Lupie. I write to be a voice and a face to a little known invisible disease. I write in a conversational way….my grammar isn’t always correct, I occasionally use slang and or profanity-not to get attention, but because that how I speak to my friends or that’s how I’m feeling at the time. I didn’t want my blog to be a text book encyclopedia type of blog. I didn’t want my blog to be a repeat of every other natural hair blog. I wanted my blog to tell the struggle and be a pillar of strength for the weak and weary. My blog is the little thing in your head saying “yes you can and YOU WILL”. I’ve always been loud and in your face type of person (some say obnoxious)-I’m not the whispering type…so why start now? Mister (my Lupus) is loud and obxinous too- when he wants attention he show up on my face and my hair. He has tried his best to take my beauty and silence me. Most recently, I’ve had to cut all my hair off aka Big Chop the day before a huge event I was hosting to celebrate women, as a result of a Lupus flare (talk about loud and obnoxious). The hair loss has left me bald around the edges and nape of my head. I posted about it on Instagram w/ pictures, and guess what- I received 36 comments where other Lupies have or had experienced the same thing.
THAT’S WHY I WRITE; to speak up and not suffer in silence or alone. I have had moments where I had no idea what to write and felt like I had no meaningful content left to offer. I have had moments where I’ve felt completely inadequate to try to offer hope to readers when I felt so helpless myself. I have had moments as recently as this weekend when I’ve felt like I physically didn’t have anything left to give. But I do- I have LOTS more to give and I will continue to write- not only for you but for ME!
The Lupie Chick Project 