We’ve all heard the adage “Beauty is more than skin deep,” but do you believe it?

It doesn’t take more than five minutes scrolling Instagram or wandering the magazine newsstands to realize that the media—and, by extension, our culture—is saturated with images depicting luscious hair, dewy skin and trim figures. We live in a society that clamors for beauty, and because of that, it’s hard to escape our own concerns over our self-image.

In this episode, Darlene Brock and Julie Bender sit down with Grit and Grace Life‘s Managing Editor, Ashley Johnson, to talk about real beauty. Over a decade ago, Ashley was diagnosed with alopecia areata, a disease resulting in hair loss. She discusses how she discovered she had alopecia, her emotional response, the treatments she’s pursued and how she’s ultimately come to terms with living with a disease that doesn’t offer many answers.

Despite feeling vulnerable and at one point grappling with the loss of her identity, Ashley shares how her faith helped restore her perception of herself, and how we can avoid disrupting the balance between caring about aesthetics to being obsessed with our image. Hint: It has to a lot to do with searching for the real beauty below the surface—both in ourselves and in others.

Don’t be fooled by Ashley Johnson’s quiet presence. She’s an internal processor who just might overthink from time to time. When she’s not caught up in her thoughts, she’s usually writing them or enjoying the thoughts of others. She’s a wife, new mom, and lover of all things pretty.

“If you look at our world, God created it with beauty. Obviously he cares about aesthetics. I think it’s only natural for people who are made like him to care about beauty. But I think, like anything, we can become obsessed with it.” —Ashley Johnson

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