If you found my blog from the article I wrote for the International Hyperhidrosis Society’s Sweat Solutions newsletter, thank you for visiting. I’ve received a great readership on my blog thanks to my relationship with the IHHS, and several of you have emailed me to say wonderful things about the work I am doing. I am humble and grateful that you have found something useful from my writing. Many of you have said you feel like I’ve been writing your life stories, and I have. Your story is my story, and we are more alike than we are unalike, friends. I hope that when you read this blog, you will find a safe haven. A place to feel normal, comfortable, and accepted for exactly who you are. Maybe we sweaters aren’t “normal” like other people define normal, but our reality is what’s “normal” for us. We no longer have to be ashamed of who we are. We were created this way for a reason, and that reason is not a mistake. We can make others educated, aware, and enlightened about what it’s like to feel different. It might even be easier for us to connect with others since we know what it’s like to feel like pariahs who wish we could change something about ourselves.
So, if you are one of those people who has commented on my blog or emailed me personally, I thank you so much for all of your kind words and for subscribing to my blog. I really appreciate your support. I’ve worried about what types of things to write about on my blog because a lot of my co-workers know about it. I’d like to be as open and honest as I can, but I’m afraid to write about certain aspects of my HH. I want to be as real as I can. The best part about launching this blog has been the emails from people like you! It is incredibly validating to know that I can make someone feel like they are not alone and that there is hope. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “If one person has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.” So thank you for taking the time to contact me, as it encourages me to keep writing. I was worried my blog might get boring and that people wouldn’t be interested in what I have to say. I’m glad to see that this is not the case.
If you are someone who suffers from hyperhidrosis and isolates yourself, I encourage you to do 1 tiny thing each day that will take you outside of your comfort zone and allow you to re-frame your life. This could be something as simple as running to the corner store, making a purchase, and having to stand in line holding your items and then exchanging money with the cashier in order to pay (Standing in line is a sure-fire trigger for me. During holiday shopping season you should see how soaked my long sleeves get from strategically placing my hands on them as I hold a pile of gifts to buy!). Or you could hang out with a friend or family member and hold their baby, or grasp their toddler’s hand to cross the street. If you want to go bigger, you can do what I did earlier this year. I had the privilege of being in the delivery room for the birth of my best friend’s second child. I held her shoulder and her foot in my sweaty hands in order to help her deliver, and then I got to cut the cord. Believe me, sweating was the least of our worries that day, and I never felt like it was an issue for her during her labor and delivery.
Please do not isolate yourself. As Mahatma Ghandi once said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” I encourage you to live your truth and pursue small things in daily life that will take you a bit outside of your comfort zone in order to make you feel stronger. I was very scared to start blogging about my life, but it has opened so many doors and friendships for me, even if some of them are online. In addition to blogging, I’ve started wearing skirts and dresses more often even though they are sometimes a trigger for me. If I can get through a few hours of dryness with them on, it’s worth it for me and I feel like I can give my HH the middle finger, at least for a little while. 😉
I think probably one of the hardest jobs on Earth is parenting, so if you have HH and have children, you’re already conquering that feat! Give yourself some credit for that. Has HH affected your parenting in any way? I always worry if I decide to have kids I might lose my grip on them if they happen to run in a parking lot or something. I also worry about passing on my condition to my children. But I must be strong for myself so that I can be strong for my children, as must you.
Again, thank you for welcoming me into the blogging world. It’s been a great ride thus far, and I am looking forward to what the future holds. The IHHS has asked me to write another article for their November/December Sweat Solutions newsletter, so stay tuned!
Maria
Holding my “niece” just a few days after she was born. Notice the kitchen towel I have on the pillow for drippage. 🙂
One of the many new skirts I wore this summer; the ladybug likes it, too!
I was cooler in my skirt, but my feet were still sweating in the July heat.
Copyright © 2011 My Life as a Puddle
