Sunday, July 22, 2012

Lightening...

I cut my hair very short.  I just didn't want to be bothered with it anymore.  I've gradually been going a bit shorter for a while, but I got to the point where I could really understand why some women, and men, shave their heads.  The feeling of freedom and lightness...of projecting a different image of yourself that is less based on how you look.  I've never been one to fuss with my hair, but it was definitely a part of my personal image.  I'm getting older, and I want to find a new image that suits this stage of my life.

Yeah, it's different, but I like it for now.  Just for fun, I bought a box of hair colour from the health food store.  My hair goes darker during the winter and I don't really like that.  So the colour I bought was supposed to turn my hair "golden blonde"...instead, it went kind of orange.  Oh well, it will grow out.  I have a bunch of grey hair and the new colour covered them up.  Surprisingly, I missed the grey.  I didn't miss the darker colour though.
The letting go had a ripple effect.  I pulled out a couple of boxes of files.  Some of which I'd been carting around with me since I was a teenager.  A lot of notes from books I'd read, insights I'd had, goals at different times in my life, poems, old receipts, old brochures from companies I had wanted to support.  I over-filled a shopping bag with bits of these papers that I no longer needed or wanted.  We also have a lot more scrap paper now, using the other side of some of the papers I was getting rid of. It felt good to get rid of them. 

It is as though we slough off layers....and then things settle for a bit...and then it's time for another layer to go. 

It is so nice to live with just the things we use, or really like.  To get rid of excess.  In some ways, I kind of miss having a bit more home space.  I don't miss extra housework, I don't miss extra "stuff", but every now and then, just a little more space, another table, or shelf, or cupboard, would be really nice.  Mainly because of the kids and their projects.  It's all good though.  I have so much to be grateful for right now.