I have to laugh when people come up to me asking to see my gray hair. Seriously? It’s only been 5 weeks since my last color! It won’t be a Charlton Heston, Ten Commandments transformation, it takes time. So, there’s no before and after shots yet.
I have to admit, there’s part of me that when I see the gray coming in I’m half proud and half in panic mode. The proud part of me likes the fact that I’ve dismissed societal pressure and I’m doing something that isn’t popular or trendy, or is it? The Libra in me likes things orderly and neat. That gray part of my hair coming in isn’t orderly and neat. It looks like I’m terribly overdue for a color appointment and I feel a bit discombobulated. I find myself explaining why I have this gray streak in my hair. “Just so you know, I’m fully aware of the gray strands, I’m working on an experiment.” Then I realize the lady at the grocery store couldn’t care less.
The other day as I was getting ready to go out, I looked in the mirror to find gray staring back at me. I was inches away from my mascara tube ready to dab that gray right out of my hair! I had to talk myself down from the ledge, “No fair touching up your hair, remember? Au natural!” I got over it, sort of, went out and completely forgot about it. That is until people started asking, “So where’s the gray?”
Interesting, women who ask me where the gray is say, “Oh, I can’t see anything, you don’t have any gray. The guys seem to be intrigued and being men say, “Oh yeah, I see it coming in.” As of today, I feel good about my decision. But today I have nowhere to go, it’s just me and my computer. My computer doesn’t care what color my hair is and as of this moment, I’m not that interested either.
Here’s to not wishing for more time, rather making the most of it!
4 responses to “Gray Expectations – Liberation or Panic? 8”
Isn’t it funny how we can be so sure other people are noticing things about us, when really, no one cares? I’ve gotten so much better at letting go of what other people think the older I get. I love that you’re embracing the natural look!
Laura, I agree. When I’m comfortable in my choice, other people’s opinions are irrelevant, but with a choice I’m not so sure about, that’s a whole different story. Not confidently wearing the gray right now. 🙂
I recently made the same decision. I’m about two months in and the bit of bling I’ve got is becoming more noticable – especially since a fair bit of it seems to have a wild side. So far I love the freedom from coloring, but I do fear occasionally that people will think me “frumpy”. I know I’ll miss the fun of changing things up, too. I do want to give this going gray thing a try, though!
I needed some encouragement and Googled “gray hair”; the article about you in the NapervilleSun came up. Woo hoo! It know we aren’t the only ones who’ve made the decision to try going gray, but it’s still good to have someone talking about it. Maybe we’ll start a trend. Thanks for sharing.
Kim, I love it! O.K. perhaps we can talk each other through this! It’s so hard to tell at the initial stages, but like you, I avoid frumpy at all costs. I’ve seen so many women wear gray so well, we’ll see if we can pull it off. It not, my stylist is a phone call away! Just getting my hair cut made a nice difference for me. To be continued…..