BREAST CANCER MONTH ~ THE PINK RIBBON

BREAST CANCER MONTH
THE PINK RIBBON

Breast cancer is always filed in the back of my mind, for I was diagnosed in 2010. When October comes around it is rather personal to me, for I like all women see pink everywhere.  Now they have the Empire State Building in New York lit up with pink. Considering this I wanted to do some research on how the pink got started.

The first known use of a pink ribbon in connection with breast cancer awareness was in the fall of 1991, when the Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors.

The pink ribbon was adopted as the official symbol of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month the next year, in 1992. The pink ribbon was derived from the popular red ribbon for AIDS awareness. Alexandra Penney, the editor-in-chief of the women's health magazine Self, and breast cancer survivor Evelyn Lauder, the senior corporate vice president at the cosmetics company Estée Lauder created a ribbon for the cosmetics giant to distribute in stores in New York City.

Estée Lauder and Self initially approached Charlotte Haley, who had begun a peach-colored ribbon campaign to press the National Cancer Institute to increase its budget for cancer prevention research. Haley refused to be part of what she felt was a commercial effort, so Estée Lauder and Self changed the color of their ribbon to light pink in 2005, to circumvent Haley's efforts to stop them.
A pink and blue ribbon is sometimes used to symbolize breast cancer in men, which is relatively rare. The pink and blue ribbon was designed in 1996 by Nancy Nick, president and founder of the John W. Nick Foundation to bring awareness that "Men Get Breast Cancer Too.

As an art lover, I take color very seriously and adopt it in my book   http://outskirtspress.com/myjourneyofcompletion/ which shows FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE and not the CONVENTIONAL WAY while enjoying life while managing cancer without side effects.
I feel that the color should not just be pink, but a mixture of pink and green.  For this represents two sides of cancer.  Pink to represent the compassion, and love.  This relates to unconditional love and understanding. The deeper the pink, the more passion and energy it exhibits.  Green represents the balance of harmony.  It’s the greatest balancer of the heart and the emotions, creating equilibrium between the head and heart. 

I stand up and hope someday they will change the pink ribbon to not just pink but to stripe it with green for a balance of choice!!!!! Also to educate people on the knowledge of other methods to manage cancer and have insurance cover whatever we choose.  It should be our choice and not up to the doctors or insurance companies to dictate what we should have.  It should not be one method for all!!!! 

Please stand up with me and make the first step for the future of our children.  E-mail me with your input and comments at   mycolorfuljourney@gmail.com  or just put on my timeline your thoughts.