by Camela Thompson Nelson Mandela once said, "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it." Fear has played a pervasive role in my life. It has paralyzed me into inaction, corralled me into irrational behavior, and provided me with enough hurdles to last a lifetime. I have slowly been conquering many of those fears, or at least ignoring them in the interest of achieving goals, but silencing my inner critic is a constant struggle. The little voice on my shoulder spewing about my inadequacies drives me, but it comes with a high price. I have wanted to dye my hair purple for years. Fear held me back from making the change. How would it look? What would people think? Living in Seattle made me less concerned about what people would think. There are a few coworkers who are highly respected for their work and rock unconventional looks. One of our program managers has gorgeous black hair with a huge chunk of electric blue. Others have had neon highlights, mohawks, and rainbow hair. There are tattoos, piercings, body modifications, and more - and most of us don't bat an eyelash. There are still some ignorant people out there, but Seattle is a pretty progressive place to live. Another perk... most tech companies have a really relaxed dress code. After all of these years, I have finally dyed my hair. Other authors inspired me along with a drive to push past the fear. I still startle myself when I look in the mirror and am discovering how ignorant I was about the nuances of caring for it, but I love it. I'll be color coordinating my outfits for a while, but it's worth the effort. The only strange thing has been the question that keeps cropping up from people who aren't close enough to know my husband - Is your marriage okay? People assume that the drastic change is stemming from relationship issues. Fortunately, this isn't the case.
My purple hair is a reminder to move past the fear and enjoy life. Have you conquered any of your fears?
6 Comments
11/19/2014 01:35:46 am
Good for you!! I dyed streaks of pink in my hair a year ago. I'm in my 30s and questioned if I would look like an idiot. And then I decided, who the hell cares?! If I like it, that is what matters.
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11/20/2014 10:41:15 am
It is hard to get over that initial hesitation, but I agree - what matters is how we feel about it. The pink streaks came out very clearly! I'm a little jealous. I'm finding that "blue" comes out as a swampy green. The purple is holding up much better.
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11/19/2014 01:51:03 am
Love it. I was scared when my daughter did it that she would not be taken seriously as a student. I made her go "normal" for the first few weeks of high school and then let her get her wild side on. Bravo.
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11/20/2014 10:38:16 am
I hope her wild side went over well :) So far it has been a great conversation point. The purple is so dark that people rarely notice it if I have it pulled back. It's been a lot of fun.
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12/10/2014 05:57:33 am
Cami - looking good! I most definitely like it!!! You're far more bold than I am...
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12/10/2014 11:29:29 pm
Thank you!!! What I didn't know was that it would turn everything I came into contact with purple for the first week. It's a good thing we had some bleach for the tub.
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Camela ThompsonFreelance writer and Dark urban fantasy author featuring vampires with bite. My BooksCategories
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