It's All Coming Together....Naturally.

It should be clear by now that I've decided to take the "no Botox or cosmetic enhancement" route to approaching my fifties up ahead. I'm always talking the talk about natural food as medicine and stuff, so in order to be more true to myself and my personal beliefs, I wanted to expand this concept a little. One thing I've decided to do is to let my natural hair color grow out, and to stop using any kind of dyes, natural or not, on my hair. That's it. I'm done with the fuss.

I'm only about a month into the process and I can't wait to get enough growth to cut my hair short like this and then go from there. It's going to be interesting to have such a drastic change in hair length at first, since my hair has been on the long side for most of my adult life. But I can always grow it long again. Gray and long. Cool.

I'm a little nervous about the whole slow process, although I'm also totally up to it this time. You see, I tried to do this once before, but many people around me were very discouraging and not for the idea, especially because I have such a young son, some said. But this time I'm much more mentally strong and inspired because my 72-year-old mother is doing this, too, after a lifetime of coloring. And on that rare occasion when I have my mother on my side of an issue, it's like a home run!

Some of the greatest women I know and admire, personally and by celebrity, have never touched dye to their hair and they are all unique and BEAUTIFUL. They also inspired me.

I was also inspired by this TV anchor woman, who bravely chose to go gray before the eyes of her viewers on her daily newscast, in spite of the fact that in her profession of studio studs,  they do all kind of things to hold on to their faces' youth, or seriously risk losing their careers. Men and women do this, but you simply won't find any female white tops like CNNs Wolf Blitzer or Anderson Cooper on your TV screens. It would be career suicide for most TV women.

So as my natural hair starts to creep out, I'm more curious about the color distribution underneath. Yes, it's like watching grass grow, but in a fun way. I simply can't wait for it to come out more. I want to see the gray shade that nature intended just for me. There must be more than just 50 shades out there! I also wonder how this hair revelation might change me on the inside, or affect the way people respond to me on the outside, if at all.

This new change I seek is in good timing because as I mentioned, my son is now enrolled in a Waldorf school, and I tell you, these people are all about letting nature take the lead, and I mean in everything. In health, living, clothing, food, and education.  Most teachers and parents in that school wear a lot of natural fiber and hand-made clothing. Many mothers are seen in modest long skirts and flat-heeled footwear. On many days, I'm the only person in jeans and maybe some makeup when dropping off or picking up my son. Still, that whole environment is fitting for me in many other ways, though. I like the old-fashioned style of community education and parent connectedness, craft and handwork activities for young and old, and other things that can be right up my alley.

I know I won't be wearing long skirts any time soon, nor will I give up nail polish and pedicures, but driving back from dropping my son off at school this morning, I got to thinking, why not stop wearing makeup daily? Just keep my face clean, healthy, and moisturized. What if I got to know my real face a little bit better, too?

So in my ongoing quest for freedom and liberty, I'm also going to try to embrace make-up freedom for a while to see how that feels.

Stay tuned...and I'll let you know.