I didn’t grow out my silver locks to be on trend, but there I am, at the hair color cutting edge. I say this in jest. The last thing I am is cutting edge.
I’m fascinated by responses to silver hair–that of models and actresses, as well as my own. Among my friends (including most of you, dear readers), I hear admiration for silver locks. C’mon, tell me Emmylou’s hair isn’t amazing. Yet, as I’ve mentioned in other Silver Locks Project posts, I’ve had people question my transition to silver (only a few, and it bothers me not one whit). “Don’t you feel old?” “Why would you do that?” This idea is reasonable. Most silver-locked folks are older. But the reason silver and age are often equated, I suspect, lies elsewhere.
Here’s the thing. As a girl, I knew not one woman who had longer silver hair. For decades, the trend, at least in my world, seemed to be to short, permed hair once the color changed. And a lot of times, those styles looked less like styles, and more like giving up.
My stylist and I figured out some goals when I started the transition to silver: to keep my hair healthy and to cut as little as necessary. I refused to take the easier route of cutting it all off. I’d spent years growing out my last pixie, and I didn’t want to do that again. I didn’t want to risk resembling the old silver haired ladies I remembered. But cutting to a short bob was necessary.
Now that all the hair is silver, my focus has been on growing it out. I like to braid my hair, and at last I can manage two little pig-tail braids.
Despite my intentions, though, on most days, I’ve been just like the silver-locked women of my youth, taking the easy route as I scramble to hike dogs and leave for work on time. Most days, my styling is limited to running a comb through it and pulling it into a pony tail. Not the height of style. Not cutting edge at all. More like the edge of giving up.
This week I came back from the edge, at least a wee bit. My stylist coiffed me for a fancy gala evening on Friday. I asked for beehive height. She persuaded me to curls and a side sweep, a style that looked elegant and fun. And she assured me that I could learn to curl my hair in a snap.
I realized it isn’t so much about the style of my silver. There are loads of women rocking silver pixies. This entire musing over edges and giving up is a reminder to myself to stay curious, to keep playing.
Guess what I picked up today? Curlers.
Tell me: what do you do to keep yourself from giving up?
Thinking of going all cutting edge and silver yourself? Check out my Silver Locks Project posts.
