I got my nostril pierced.

Up here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s not such a big deal…so whether or not one has a facial piercing is irrelevant. It’s just something that some people do.

Over time I have known a few lovely ladies who have nostril “studs,” jeweled or steel, and in that time I have grown to release my rigid opinions and narrow thinking about how “wrong” it is to pierce one’s body.

I once believed it was about rebellion against God. Or following the crowd. Or self-mutilation. Or being low-class. It isn’t necessarily any of those, and I need to express that. Someone reading this post needs to hear that.

I did it for me. Just me.

Which brings me to my honker.

I hated it, hated it, hated it all my life, especially in my school years when it was the one trait that most people used to describe me: when some did not know who “Aletra” was, others would say, “You know, that girl with the nose.”

Well, a nose job was simply too costly for me. My mom and one of my sisters had nose jobs. Their noses are really cute now. But I couldn’t afford one and I wasn’t willing to go into debt to fix it. So I have this nose that has suffered numerous “face plants” over the years yet without breaking — ask my older sister Jole’, who has never seen a nose bleed as much as mine after I tried jumping over a tennis net in 9th grade — and I have grown to actually like it.

It only took me over three-and-a-half decades to get there.

As of last Saturday, it is now adorned with a beautiful clear-jewel stud. It’s mine. I claim it and wear it proudly. It is my nose!

Have questions about my piercing experience? Just ask. I promise I won’t tell you horror stories (there aren’t any). I simply don’t recommend doing it on a whim. I considered it for a good year before I did it…after all, it’s mine forever, now!

© Alexa Lopez 2008