I found my first gray hair at 16 and was utterly horrified.
I had beautiful dark brown hair, and my brunette identity was important to me since I was growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan where brunettes were practically a minority.
At the young age of 16, I couldn’t contemplate giving up that identity.
I just pluckedout that gray hair and continued to do so whenever a new one would pop up.
When I went to college, in the mid-1980s, my friends and I took turns applying henna to each other’s hair, and I eventually graduated from that to dyeing my hair magenta and other fun colors.
And then one day I just said “SCREW IT!”
I couldn’t stand one more minute of wasted time, and one more wasted dollar.
I just couldn’t bring myself to waste one more minute on trying to conceal what we all know – I’m getting older.
Deciding that I no longer cared to conceal that fact was life-changing.
In the months since I decided to forego the dye and embrace my true age (and true hair color), I have felt more energized, creative and self-confident than I have in a long while.