Hi – this is me. I just heard on the radio a pet zebra is running loose in TN. 🦓 🤣 It’s also the perfect segue into something that’s been on my heart: hair…and our perception of beauty.
I’m regularly told I look younger than my age. I’m 48, closing in on 49. Call it good genes, drinking water, staying active, maybe all of the above.
But my hair started turning salt & pepper around age 30. And I couldn’t have it. I started covering up the gray, right away.
I wanted to look “my age”. And I didn’t want to look “old”. Those thoughts have been the driving forces for coloring my hair, ever since.
But as I’ve grown older, I’ve slowly learned to accept more of me, just as I am. My curls. My face without layers of makeup. There’s more I’ve accepted & more I’m still working on but…boundaries, people, boundaries. 😉
I’m not sure why it’s more socially acceptable for men to be gray but not women. A double-standard, IMHO. But when I see other women who have embraced their natural, graying, hair, I find it *so beautiful*. So why would it be any different for me?
Lately I’ve been asking myself when I was going to stop coloring my hair. It’s not something I enjoy doing. And it’s become something I “have” to do instead of “want” to.
Well, on June 1st, I realized it was the perfect day, halfway through the year, to stop trying so hard when it comes to my hair. This isn’t a “letting go” (because I’m all for taking care of yourself) but permission to stop fighting. To stop hiding. To just be…me.
I didn’t plan on making this declaration of change, here. But it’s a big deal, to me, and one that will soon become the elephant (or zebra) in the room as I show up in life & online. Because my hair is dark, it’s going to be interesting, for awhile, as the bottle-color grows out. 🤣
I’m a bit nervous because I don’t know what to expect. It will probably be a dramatic change, especially around my face.
But the *freedom* I’ll gain by embracing my natural hair color? I can’t even tell you how excited I am about that.
If you’ve been in my shoes, feel free to comment and tell me how wonderful it is on the other side.
Thanks for reading this novel. 💗
