Embracing My Bushy Eyebrows: A Journey of Healing, Acceptance, and Being Enough

Kommah and family.

There was a time when I obsessed over my eyebrows. I spent years filling, shaping, and trying to create the perfect arch, all in the hope of looking "normal" again. But this wasn’t just about beauty. It was about restoration. About healing. About learning to be comfortable in my own skin after cancer altered my appearance.

This is my story. And surprisingly, it starts with the hair that fell out, and the life lessons that grew in its place.

When Everything Fell Out, Including My Eyebrows

Nineteen years ago, I went through chemotherapy. Like many others, I lost all my hair. My head, my lashes, my brows, gone.

I expected the emotional toll of a cancer diagnosis, but I didn’t anticipate how much I’d miss my eyebrows. They frame our faces, they express emotion, they’re part of how we recognize ourselves in the mirror. Without them, I felt insecure.

When treatment ended, my hair began to return. But my eyebrows? They came back patchy, sparse, and uneven. I spent years trying to fix them. I wanted to feel like myself again. But here’s the truth: I was chasing something deeper than a perfect brow. I was chasing the woman I used to be before cancer. Before trauma. Before loss.

And in that constant chase, I was unknowingly telling myself that I wasn’t enough as I was.

Enough is Enough!

Eventually, I stopped. I gave my brows a break, and I gave myself one too. No more products. No more pressure. Just hope that, maybe one day, they’d fill in naturally.

And guess what? Over time, they did. Not quickly. Not evenly. But slowly and surely, my brows came back. Nineteen years later, now almost 50 years old, I look in the mirror and see something I never thought I’d appreciate so deeply, my bushy eyebrows.

They’re not perfect, but they’re mine!

You might think this is just about appearance, but it’s so much deeper than that. My bushy eyebrows remind me of how long healing can take, and how beautiful the journey can be when we let it.

They taught me lessons I didn’t expect to learn:

• Healing is not linear.

• Growth takes time, and patience.

• What we once saw as flaws can become our greatest reminders of resilience.

• Being enough doesn’t come from looking “perfect.” It comes from embracing what is.

Practical Ways to Embrace the “Imperfect”

If you’re struggling with any part of your appearance, or anything in your life that feels broken or incomplete, here are a few things I’ve learned:

• Pause the pressure. Sometimes the healthiest thing we can do is stop trying to “fix” ourselves.

• Appreciate what is. Look at what you do have with gratitude.

• Speak kindly to yourself. What you say internally matters more than any compliment from the outside.

• Stop comparing. Your journey is yours. Your growth won’t look like anyone else’s.

Bushy Eyebrows are My Trend

I’ve come to love my bushy eyebrows. Not because they’re trendy (though they are!), but because they’re living proof that even after something is lost, it can come back. And sometimes, what grows back isn’t just hair, it’s confidence, gratitude, and a deeper understanding of what it means to truly be comfortable in your skin.

If you’re in a season of regrowth, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, know this: you are not behind. You are becoming.

So, I leave you with this… You Are Enough!

I spent nearly two decades trying to fix something that wasn’t broken. Today, I’m learning to see the beauty in what is, not what was. And in doing so, I’ve found a new kind of freedom.

So, whether it's your eyebrows, your story, or your life’s current chapter, may you be reminded that you are whole, worthy, and absolutely enough.

Questions I have been asked about my bushy eyebrows:

What helped you finally stop trying to “fix” your eyebrows?

Honestly, exhaustion. I got tired of trying so hard. Letting go became an act of grace and self-acceptance. And over time, I started to love what I saw.

Did your eyebrows really grow back after so many years?

Yes, slowly, over nearly two decades. It wasn’t overnight, but they did come back, fuller and stronger than I ever expected.

What advice would you give someone going through a similar post-chemo recovery?

Be patient with yourself. Honor your body’s timeline. Don’t chase perfection, chase peace. Healing comes in layers, and that’s okay.

Let’s Stay Connected

If this post resonated with you and you’d like to hear more about my journey, or explore services, speaking engagements, or resources, I’d love to connect. Please reach out through my website.

Learn more about me, Kommah McDowell, MSLM, and explore my work at www.kommahmcdowell.com

You can also check out my books:Silver Lining: Cancer Was the Best Worst Thing That Ever Happened to MeString of Pearls: Seeking God’s Intentionality in Our Lives

Here’s to being bold, bushy, and beautifully enough.