I decided to let my hair grow. My hair is usually anywhere between a buzz cut and a classic crew cut, but now I want to grow it longer — slick style, like Alexander Skarsgard or more of a tousled side parting like David Beckham, or something in between. Not sure yet and I am just letting it grow at this point until it is long enough to be handled by a proper hair stylist.
What I noticed though is that my hair line is starting to recede. In my case it is two horse shoes or the M shape receding hair line. This is one of the things that men are kind of nervous and insecure about: thinning hair or going bald. I don't like it either, but there is not a lot you can do about it.
At first I thought I could hide it by combing my hair in such a way that it would cover the horse shoe inlets, but it only seemed to make it worse. I realized that by trying to hide it, I actually drew more attention to it! That was kind of an interesting revelation to me.
So now I slick it all back proudly displaying my horse shoes! By the way, horse shoes bring good luck. It gives me kind of a smooth and mature look and I actually like it. I get mixed responses. Some like it a lot, others preferred the more preppy crew cut look.
Made me think about other "flaws" in bodily functions or appearance. I write flaws in quotation marks on purpose, because I'm not so sure whether we should refer to them as flaws in all cases. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a flaw is defined as: "a defect in physical structure or form; an imperfection or weakness and especially one that detracts from the whole or hinders effectiveness." With this definition, I do not feel flawed with my receding hair line.
Let me look at some other bodily "deficiencies" I am struggling with:
Body and weight: I'm not overweight, but sooner underweight. However, my body is definitely not toned like the guys I see in the gym. Great to look at, but I like imperfections in someone's figure. Makes a person more human.
The other day I saw this lady climbing the subway stairs in front of me. She had some serious junk in her trunk, about 3 feet wide. And she was wearing stretch jeans. She was struggling a bit to get up those stairs and some weight loss would probably improve her condition, but I truly admired her for wearing those jeans. In no way was she trying to hide her voluptuous forms. Well done! Be proud of your body no matter what.
Being overweight can be unhealthy, but the other day I learned that weight and heart condition are not as closely correlated as was believed. For example the Atkins diet prescribes eating a lot of red meat, but I heard on CBS This Morning that eating a lot of red meat clogs up your arteries. So you can loose weight and at the same time increase the risk of a heart attack.
I also saw this video about this guy who lost some serious weight and now has to deal with excessive skin. He preaches body positivity, but was ashamed of his excessive skin and in order to address that, he decided to record his body on video and post it online. I have amazing respect for that and by doing so he shows that he is the beautiful person that he already was.
Sight: I wear glasses. Or actually I don't, but I should. I have a pair of glasses, but I hardly ever wear them. They just feel uncomfortable. When I first bought them I thought to get glasses that are as inconspicuous as possible. Simple gray and frameless. But now after I have had them for a while, they seem so mundane and I see people with the most amazing glasses with expressive frames. I need to get new ones and wear them with pride!
Age: Yes, I'm getting older as well. I used to have a problem with that, especially when I turned 30. I suddenly felt ancient and out of grace. Now that I am 43, I feel mature and sexy :) Not always though. Sometimes on a bad day, I look in the mirror and I look tired and worn out. But bad days are part of life and nothing to worry about. A good night sleep, a good workout, or a hair cut will take care of that and that brings me back to my hair.
In conclusion, be proud of who you are and accept your "flaws," even show them off and beat those judging assholes to the punch so no one can use them against you!
Yako
