I have something to admit…. I’m a nail-biter. I’ve got a stack of nail files in my bathroom cabinet that never get used.
My nails will no sooner start growing… then I watch a scary movie, or sit through a boring talk, and all that’s left of them is a jagged mess.
I was reminded about my poor nails this week at work, when I got chatting with a lovely colleague while making a cup of tea. Looking down, I couldn’t help but notice her lovely long, shiny pink nails wrapped around her tea cup.
Before I could stop myself, I found myself commenting on her beautiful nails – and asking what it took to keep them looking so stunning.
She enlightened me on the world of acrylic nails… and then told me something that suprised me.
Apparently – underneath the shiny exterior of her perfectly shaped pink nails – her real nails were thin and brittle. Years of applying acrylics had left them in a shocking condition. So bad in fact that she now had no choice but to continue forking out money each month for the acrylics.
You may be wondering what nails have to do with bipolar. Well, hang in there – I promise I have a point.
My nail revelation taught me something. You see, there’s times in life when we as mums can be like shiny pink acrylic nails.
We present with a happy face at school pick-up or work… looking, for all the world, like we are perfect mums with perfect lives. But underneath this ‘perfect’ exterior, we can be hiding our true selves: our pain, our brittleness, our troubles.
My challenge – to myself and to you – is to acknowledge that life isn’t always shiny and perfect. To know that life is much more like my poor nails… irregularly shaped, jagged and prone to being decimated during periods of stress.
It’s when we can show our true selves to each other, that we realise that noone has a perfect life. Nobody has everything together all of the time. Nobody’s life is without its own troubles.
We all have things that we struggle with – whether that be a mental illness like bipolar – or something else. We should feel free to be honest about what we are going through.
Who knows what’s going on beneath the shiny exterior of those around you?
Mariska xx
bipolar mums 
Reblogged this on Adventures of the Traveller Em and commented:
Just found this wonderful blog on mental health! Though I am not yet a mother and don’t understand this particular perspective, I do understand how important managing our mental health is.
I also have a massive problem with stress nail biting. It’s actually the skin next to my nails and it’s gross, annoying painful. Perhaps if I stress less about perfection and having it all together, I won’t take such a savage attack on my nails.
I bite the skin next to my nails in times of anxiety and stress. I’ve even taken to using this disgusting alcohol like paint that tastes awful to stop me biting it. It’s a bad habit but I no the trigger is anxiety and stress, Maybe if I stop trying to have it all together I’ll stop taking it out on my nails.
Feel free to come and see me for some of my special nail serum though haha
Thanks so much Emma – great to hear from a fellow nail-biter!!!! My mum used to paint that stuff on my nails when I was young… It is revolting!! 🙂
My parents tried that on me. Didn’t work. I still bite my nails, and bite back the skin that grows over the top.
It’s not working great. 😦 band aids are my other option