Going gray – 20 weeks – time for a salon appointment

Howdy going gray partners!  Here I am at 20 weeks.  Oh yeah..it is definitely time for a salon appointment.

I promise I will abstain from coloring the gray hairs.  Just going in for a trim or a cut.  Not quite sure yet how much of a trim or cut I’d like to go for at this stage?  I have a couple of days to make up my mind.

First, let me tell you, going gray at this stage takes perseverance.

This past week I put my perseverance muscles to the test.

With a good 6 inches of gray hair splashing across the top of my head, no hairstyle really covers it well.  Seriously…

One day, I just pulled it back into a bun and went to a meeting.  Might as well get it all out there right?

“Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.”  – H Jackson Brown, Jr.

Before the meeting, thankfully I ran into someone who encouraged me just when I was feeling a bit apprehensive about the full exposure look.

She said, “When did you go gray, did you color it, or not color it?  Oh, my gosh, I’m so jealous, I love gray hair, you’re so lucky.”

No lying, it was nice to receive a compliment during this crazy 20-week phase.

Shortly after though, while sitting quietly waiting for a meeting to start, I overheard a couple of women talking about their upcoming salon appointments.  They said, “We’re going in to get beautiful.”

No sh*t, yeah, my heart skipped a beat.  I just sat there looking at papers in front of me trying to focus on something else instead of participating in the conversation going on around me.  What would I say anyhow, “Oh, I don’t go in to get beautiful anymore…?”  Nope, not an easy conversation to jump into.

I also think they are already beautiful.  So what does it mean, “we’re going in to get beautiful?”  Does it mean a woman who doesn’t go into a salon isn’t beautiful?

Sigh…

“If you are going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

As I reflect on that moment, it is hard not to be saddened by their words about getting beautiful.  Not because I think they were talking about me.   If they had, I would’ve gladly shared my quest for the gray look and why I was doing so.  Instead, I just sat there passively and didn’t stick up for them, myself or any other person who isn’t going to the salon to get beautiful.  I chose not to partake in the conversation.

I’m a woman and I get it.

We, women, have these weird “rules” about what we should or shouldn’t do to get beautiful.  Beautiful to whom?  Ourselves?  Others?   Why do we do that to ourselves?

If we don’t go to the salon to change our hair in some way, are we not beautiful?  If we don’t get a “like” or “thumbs up” or a “you’re beautiful” from someone else, are we not beautiful?  I don’t think so.

But…wait…I have an appointment to go to the salon this week.  Why?  Am I not feeling beautiful?  In a way, I guess so.  I’m really feeling it is time to part with some of the old looks.  The old colored hair is dry, yucky and well…not beautiful to my liking.  It sucks in a way because it is finally the length I’d love to eventually have.

Oh good graycious, hair grows…it will get back to this length again some day, let some of it go I say!

I do know though, at 20 weeks, I’ve put in way too much time and effort to give in and go back to my past beauty coloring rules.  It is time to cut away some of the old colored hair.  Doing so will help reveal the new, all natural, salt and pepper, silver, gray, white, and natural brunette hairs hiding under the old hair.

Enough of adversity from the old hair.  The new hairs want to be…need to be…free to be seen.  They will love being all out there.  They just need a bit of reshaping that’s all.  And…I’ve really missed talking with my hairdresser, she is a trusted friend.  Salon chats are some of the most beautiful moments.

“Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you.  They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.” – Scott Hamilton

If you’re at the 20-week stage, or perhaps still thinking about going gray and are fearful of this stage of crowning white glory, remember, it’s just a stepping stone stage.   Be unstoppable about what you want!

“She was unstoppable, not because she did not have failures or doubts, but because she continued on despite them.” – Beau Taplin

And…remember, you don’t need to get beautiful, you are beautiful just the way you are!  Hope to see you again soon.

“Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and, above all, love.” – Swami Vivekananda