Just Lynn

One woman. One name. One hell of an attitude!

rocking the grey

Written By: witchypo - Feb• 20•17

Last year, I turned 50 and, like many a so-called ‘milestone’, it wasn’t as traumatic as expected.

In fact, I had a great year! I got to snorkel in the Dominican Republic, take my grandkids to the beach, and party poolside like a rock star with my friends. By the end of the summer, though, I looked like a well tanned, escaped mental patient… my hair was ‘patchy’ from home dye kits, broken by hair ties, hats, and helmets, and sun-bleached after weeks of kayaking and swimming.

Naturally, I could simply have dyed, conditioned, and cut it… again… but a lot of people had been talking about ‘chemical exposure’ and, after almost 30 years of staining and mediocre results, that route didn’t thrill me. On the other hand, not dying meant risking that my BF might find me less attractive, it could weaken my chances in an already ‘brutal’ job market, and it meant giving up the frequent ego boosts I got as people’s jaws hit the floor when they found out how old I, really, was. Since all I need do in a ‘worst case’ scenario, however, was to buy another box of ‘artificial youth’, it wasn’t that big a deal. Besides which, I’d gotten all freaked out by becoming a grandmother, only to find that it was one of the biggest joys of my life. So, I’d rock the grey!

Of course, by February, I had 2 or 3 inches of salt and pepper root showing and the rest of my hair was oddly colored from trying ‘DIY’ lightening tips. So, when I found myself in a meeting with a well coiffed, 30-something, professional woman, I couldn’t help commenting on my roots. To my great surprise, though, rather than offer some false, but polite, encouragement, she laughed and said, ‘Are you kidding me?! Everybody’s doing it. It’s totally ‘in’ this year!’

Then, it was my jaw that dropped as she listed a handful of celebs that were going grey… including one of my heros, Pink… and told me that, even with their money and the pressure they were under, some weren’t simply dying it grey, but allowing people to see their roots growing in. ‘You should look it up on ‘Google Images,’ she suggested and, grateful for the encouragement, I thanked her and got back to the topic of our meeting.

A week or so later while waiting for my BF to do some shopping I, finally, got around to looking it up and was shocked to see how others… including some very young models and stars… have been dying their hair grey, and stunned by the variety of styles and colors they were mixing and matching. Suddenly, going grey took on new possibilities. I’ve also been surprised and pleased to find that friends, neighbors, and even strangers have been commenting on my grey… I mean, I expected ‘teasing’, but not ‘encouragement’…which is helping to reduce the stress that comes with this choice.

Perhaps the best surprise came the other night, though, when my BF and I went to a bar to support a friend’s brother who was playing in the band. During a break between sets, the band-friend interrupted our conversation to tell me he loved my hair, and said that he finds it ‘so sexy when women embrace their age, and the power and wisdom that comes with it.’

‘Well said!’ I thought, and secretly hoped I won’t forget it, because it was exactly what I needed to hear at exactly the right time.

You see, now, I’m not only more determined to stick to my more natural path with my appearance, but to do as this fellow suggested and to embrace the full wisdom and power that comes with my age and experience. After a lifetime of self-exploration and struggling to know myself, it’d be nice to, finally, bring it all together and see what I’m truly capable of.

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