October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and many individuals and businesses see it as an opportunity to introduce pink throughout the month. Profile pictures and logos turn pink, and merchandise in varying shades of pink is specifically created for limited-edition release. For many individuals impacted by breast cancer, it can be uplifting to see so much emphasis placed on breast cancer awareness, especially when percentages of sales are donated to fund research that will one day find a cure. For others, however, a sea of pink can be a trigger and serve as a painful reminder of something they would much rather forget.
Having friends and family members who have battled breast cancer, I have learned that not everyone wants to see pink everywhere they turn. It’s best to talk with your loved ones directly to understand their perspective, rather than making assumptions. The key is to learn whether a pink October helps or hinders them, then proceed accordingly.
For those who are uplifted by ways to “Think Pink”, I offer the following ideas to raise awareness for breast cancer as well as to bring your local community together.
One of my favorite ways to keep breast cancer awareness at the forefront of my mind is to sprinkle touches of pink into my seasonal (and year-round) home decor. See my Think Pink post for a few simple decor ideas as well as to learn what pink symbolizes for me. This year, I adopted the mantra “pink is the new orange” as I approached my autumnal and Halloween decor. I normally decorate with items in shades of creams and browns, with a touch of orange (in the form of a hand-blown orange glass pumpkin), to create a simple Halloween table centerpiece. I replaced the orange glass pumpkin I normally display with a ceramic craft pumpkin I recently painted a pale pink with a glittery gold topcoat. Paired with a few natural elements, a glittery champagne gold pumpkin from a few years ago, and a couple of other elements I selected while ‘shopping my home’ (such a fun thing to do!), the result is simple yet sophisticated, and it fits in beautifully with the rest of my decor.
At my day job where I work full-time, I sit on the leadership board for our women’s employee resource group (ERG) and am the Breast Cancer Awareness Chair. As part of my role, I am responsible for planning all the breast cancer awareness activities for our campus throughout the month of October. For one of our activities, we are hosting a Pink Pumpkin Contest. Since we are still working from home, the Pink Pumpkin Contest is virtual, and we encouraged participants to invite their children, spouses, partners, friends, or neighbors to join in and help them decorate their pumpkins of (virtually) any kind – real, plastic, ceramic, paper, fabric, yarn, etc. Participants will post pictures of their completed pumpkins to our designated webpage, and the photos with the most “likes” will win gift cards as prizes.
Intended to be both educational and fun, we hope this contest will encourage participants to spread awareness for breast cancer while also re-building a sense of community – something that is so important after being apart for more than a year because of the global pandemic. I’m looking forward to seeing all the pink pumpkins and hearing stories of why people participated in the contest and what “thinking pink” means to them.