the thing about bed bugs.

the thing about bed bugs is that they creep up on you. you can’t see them. i find that incredibly mysterious and creepy.

the thing about bed bugs is that their bites will make you look like you have acne, and make you take the day off because of the way you look (& feel).

no joke. i also took the day off to: furiously wash my sheets and clothes, vacuum my room, and decide what the hell i’m going to do next.

the thing about bed bugs is that they are bitches (excuse my French!). but they are. i woke up on Tuesday morning covered in bites. i looked, and still look, like i have chicken pox. i have never worn more make-up than i have in the past few days, trying to cover them up.

i have had two job interviews while bed bugged. the first, i mentioned it to my interviewer, and she gave me advice on how to get rid of them. the second, i let slide and let her think i just had terrible skin. but when i was walking around this afternoon, doing lovely London touristy things, i realised that i have been so self-conscious of this skin of mine, and the way i look, when it’s unnecessary.

i have always been lucky enough to have clear skin. but the fact that i have a few splotches and lumps on my face should not impact the way i feel about myself. it was like i suddenly had this epiphany, and i stood up straight, and looked ahead and around me with confidence.

the thing about bed bugs is that they teach me how to be confident with what i got.*

we should all be confident with what we got.

*but they also have taught me that they are harder to kill than cockroaches. thanks, bed bugs. thanks.