What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

A Gray Rebellion

For all my friends/family who are hiding their natural gray beauty: This is for you! My natural auburn hair is slowly fading into gray something or other...and I refuse to cover it up. People who knew me as a child knew me as a "redhead", but those who meet me now doubt the veracity of that description. 
Here is the link to the website/blog that got me started on this topic on facebook today.

http://goinggrayblog.com/2013/08/women-going-gray-blog-posts/  Read this before you move on to the rest of this discussion.

One of my "old" friends on facebook remembered me as a carrot top...which is true. I was. Here are a couple of pictures from my childhood. Sadly, too many of my pictures were black and white and did not show the true color of my hair.  This baby picture is pretty accurate:
Yes, that's me around 9 or 10 months old! See? My hair was really red!


Here I am, according to the inscription on the side:
"Me-6th grade, Age-11"

This was one of the few times I had a permanent. I can remember how curly it was. I didn't like it much.

So, back to the subject at hand...why do we cover up the natural aging process of turning gray? Is it because we don't want people to know we are getting older? Is it because we want to stay as young as we can for as long as we are able to fool ourselves or others?  Do we think that if we color our hair to cover up the gray that people won't think we are getting old?  I've got news for you!  Growing older is a natural event...and sooner or later it catches up with us.  We may hide the gray, but then the wrinkles give us away! Or the arthritis, or the age spots, or the forgetfulness. I'd rather have my naturally occurring hair color so people don't wonder why my mind or body is really old while my hair still looks young.  But then again, if I can keep them fooled for a while, I may even convince myself that I'm still young enough to do all the things I want to do before I really get old. (If my body would only let me...)

My maternal grandfather's hair turned white when he was still a very young man, and so did my Aunt Belle's hair (his daughter).  I always thought they had the most beautiful white hair. I never thought of them as being particularly old because of it. They would've looked funny to me with any other color!   My Grandma Mursch had beautiful white hair...I never saw it any other color. I guess it must have been something else when she was younger, but that is the way I will always remember her...and she was lovely. 

My mother tried to keep her graying hair covered with a dark brunette color for a while, but I remember her best with her lovely silvery gray hair. Her eyes still twinkled and her rosy cheeks still enhanced her beautiful smile. 

My Dad had red hair just like me, but his eventually turned a lovely white as well. Although I know he was a redhead and suffered all the usual torments as a redheaded little boy...("I'd rather be dead than red on the head!"  "Billy the redheaded billy goat!")...When I think of him now, I see him with his soft white hair and his big blue eyes.   Here is a picture of my Mom and Dad, the way I remember them now that they are both in heaven:

 
Here they are when they got married...Mom was a beautiful brunette, and Dad was a redhead! 

They say that our hair color helps to define our "character" or "personality".  Because I was a redhead, people expected me to have a fiery temper.  I guess you'd have to ask those who knew me best if that was true.  I never thought of myself that way.  (but I could be wrong...)

But, if hair color does define our temperament or personality, then what does that say about those who have gray hair?  Do we automatically tone down our thought processes when our hair color tones down? What about those who go bald? (naturally, not because of illness) What happens to their personalities? Do they change? Or do they simply learn to accept it and laugh it off?  Baldness is another whole subject, and one which I am not qualified to discuss. (Whew!)  

"The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is their gray head."  Proverbs 20:29

I guess that verse could be said of women as well as of men...Our glory has nothing to do with our hair color... Our glory is found in the strength of our character and spirit.  When we are finally gray headed, we may not think of that attainment as our "splendor"...but it should be a sign of wisdom and maturity...grace and charm. The choice is up to us...we can fight it, or we can embrace it and use our new found "splendor" to confound those who may think gray is bad.  I like that idea...gray = splendor! Yes!

What a splendid idea!

To all my artificially colored hair friends:

Start a Gray Rebellion!

Set yourself free!!!

Go find your "splendor" today!!!

(Now please don't throw something at me)


8 comments:

  1. I don't color my hair either, it is naturally changing and may be gray one day.

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  2. I completely get this, Pamela. But a word on behalf of coloring (at least my own): I have the most baby-fine hair you can imagine (like you, mine is just like my dad's!). Back in the perm days, I ALWAYS had a perm, as did my sisters, aunts and all of us blessed with so little and so fine a crown. As I aged, I stopped wanting perms, so tried cutting it short (and was propositioned by women! Yikes.) Then I found out that coloring it means adding weight to each hair follicle. So I started coloring it, to as close to my natural color as possible. Oddly, I would really like to gray. And at one temple am graying beautifully. I've been hoping that my gray hair will be stronger, so the need to color will be gone. Both of my sisters are gray and they look great. All this to say, sometimes the reason to color isn't merely wanting to look younger. I feel splendidly my age and glad for the years God's given me.
    Wow, that was a long explanation. You looked cute as a red-head and beautiful as you are now.

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    1. Thank you. Yes, I do realize that coloring is an option that may be for different reasons...and there is no condemnation intended for those who choose to do so. I guess my thought is that the natural process is there for a reason...and we may find there is great beauty and freedom in allowing that to take place. I know I've seen where gray hair (mine in particular that are appearing) tend to be coarser and curlier...so you may be surprised some day when it finally all appears! The main thing is to feel good about yourself and enjoy whatever stage of life you are currently in!

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  3. My hair started turning salt and pepper in my late 20's, as it turned more in my 30's my husband wanted me to color it so for a while I did but soon grew tired of all the trips to have it colored. I told him that I was not ashamed of turning gray, God blessed me with white hair. I agree Pamela, there is NO shame in having gray hair.

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    1. And you are beautiful, inside AND out! Thank you for sharing in our "gray rebellion"!
      You are proof that gray/white hair is truly splendid!

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  4. Pamela: I have gone on both sides of this 'issue.' I have a cousin who grayed in her 30's. Her mother also grayed prematurely and that mother encouraged the daughter to color her hair if she chose to. One of my closest friends found out that her husband didn't care if she did or didn't color; She chose not to. Four years ago, my hubby encouraged me to color my hair again. I could go either way on this question. Sometimes I feel the texture of my hair has changed because of the chemicals. I have gone through phases of life as a blonde, a red head, a frosted blonde,and now a brunette with read highlights.

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    1. Wow! You've certainly had 'more fun' with your hair than I have! I've never been a blonde, unless strawberry blonde counts...when I was about 2 or 3 my hair was a little lighter and my mother said I was a strawberry blonde, but it kept getting darker red, auburn from there on. Certainly hair color is a personal choice, and whatever makes a person feel better about how they look is okay. I guess I just want us to feel the freedom to be carefree and enjoy our lives no matter what our age or hair color! Thanks for chiming in today!!!

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