Embracing the Silver

Sometimes, something just clicks to help you make a decision that you have been grappling with for a long time. After almost 2 decades of dying my hair, I just recently made the decision to stop and let nature take it's course to reveal my silver and/ or gray hair. Time will tell if it will be more silver or gray, I guess it depends on your perspective.  Yet, the epiphany for me was a random video about a woman who was encouraged and "liberated" by the simple act of embracing gray hair and living an "authentic life".  That spoke to me and just like that CLICK, I was ready.

This may not seem like a big deal to some, but I bet many women can relate to the quandary of such a decision. For some it's a specific age that would factor into the decision. I used to say, "I won't stop coloring my hair until I'm 60." Well 60 has come and gone and these past few years I've been on the fence with the topic. This week it felt good to make the decision.  Embracing the silver is so much more than simplifying your beauty routine, it also brings with it a certain self-acceptance. It reaffirms aging as a process to be celebrated, not a flaw to be corrected.  

I talked to several women about this and many said that felt very satisfied with the decision to embrace their natural hair color. I friend of mine stated that she was so happy with the end result that: " I should have done it sooner". Some women also say that it provides a realization of inner beauty and embracing who you are in the "here and now", not some manufactured version of what beauty is supposed to be. 

Of course I just got started, so it may be anywhere from 6 to 8 months to return to my natural color. I know genetics play a huge factor into when one goes grey and by how much.  My Mother, who had beautiful wisps of silver in her dark brown hair, lived to 94 and never did go completely gray.  My original hair color is a darker brown like hers, so I imagine I won't get all over gray, but time will tell.  Mom never dyed her hair and I remember her saying the common colloquial expression: "I earned those gray hairs!"  (On a side note, I was probably the wild child that gave her many of those grays) So instead of covering them up I will proudly display the gray hairs that I have earned.

Which leads me to another thought about silver and gray hair as a badge of honor. Sometimes this society celebrates youth, which is fine, but the older members of society have a voice too.  A voice that is crafted by lessons learned in life.  Wisdom achieved that can be carried on to the younger.  As our world changes it best to remember that it works BOTH ways: the young can learn from the older and the older and learn from the young.  It's  also touched upon in the Bible in several places.  Proverbs 16:31 states: Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is attained along the path of righteousness.

I'm not sure how righteous I am, but it does help me remember that  I have been blessed to live this long to have gray hair. Every passing year is a gift.   Julie Etta Smith