One summer evening I was out with friends to party and was walking though the crowd. I just let my hair grow out for the second time. A very handsome man in his late 40’s came up to me. He said I love your hair and many women could not pull this off but you look beautiful. I was taken back and it made me smile. I knew how hard it was to just let my natural color come out and what it meant for me.

For years I was getting my hair highlighted with blonde and I decided enough. So I let the gray grow out after all women like Jamie Lee Curtis, Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep looked fabulous in their gray hair why not me? I wanted to see if I could really except my real hair color and how it would impact my life.

The first time I let my hair grow out was a few years ago. I was dating someone younger then myself and one night while out we walked pass a bar and there were lots of young cute girls standing in front. He was 6’4” built and good looking and the girls all smiled at him as we walked by. I felt like I looked like his mother with my gray hair and let go of his hand. I was embarrassed and I was more worried about others thought than what was really going on with me. I asked him if he was OK being out with me in such a public place. He told me not worry about such things. He such a gentle soul and made me feel beautiful. But did I feel beautiful ?

That week I put my hair back blonde to look younger and I have regretted it every since. I let myself feel ashamed of getting older. I did this to myself because I was unhappy about growing older and I had to deal with the fact that all of us will age. Our body, skin and looks will change and I needed to start to love myself and not about others. This was about trying to hang onto to the thought of being young. I better deal with this before I run out and get a facelift or do something to keep young and perky.

The process of letting your hair grow is grueling as so many are embracing the idea of just letting the gray come in. What happens is that you end up with two tone hair and it looks really bad. I have always had long hair that hit the middle of my back and I’m not about to cut it short and start all over again. People would say to me you need to color your hair as your roots are showing and I would just smile and say thanks. Like, I did not know but I had a plan and the plan was to let my real self come out. The plan was when the gray hit my shoulders I would then cut off the blonde. It took months to let my gray grow in and there was about 8 inches of blonde hair at the ends .I have about 2 inches of blonde still there. I can’t see myself in short hair so I did the waiting game of my hair growing.

What I have done is bought shimming lights and put it on my ends and put a plastic bag over my hair and let it set in for 30 minutes. Then washed it out and it toned down the blonde to more of a ash color so it would blend in with my gray plus it made my gray hair sparkle.

What is amazing is when I just shampoo my hair and blow dry it and walk down the street and heads still turn as my hair blows in the wind. Feeling good about you self comes from within and is not about your hair color or age. I have always been a woman that thought out of the box and gone against what the norm was. Looking at where I have been in my life and where I’m going I’m encouraged that I’m getting better with age.

When I look in the mirror I don’t see an older woman I see me a woman that has worked hard on loving oneself and she is sexy, beautiful and desirability. Letting your hair go gray is a statement to world that we are proud of who we are and that is a symbol of real beauty and grace. I don’t feel the pressure of society telling me that I need to conform to what others think. Really look at yourself and see your true beauty from within is the right path for me to take as I move graceful into my golden age.

This last time of letting my hair grow out and after I cut off most of the blonde I walked into my living room. My daughter looked at me and said Mom why don’t you put your hair back blonde as it makes you look younger. I just smiled back and said I like my hair color and it’s going to stay. Letting your hair go gray does not mean that your letting yourself go it means that you don’t have to impress others and you can be yourself. Your free of trying to blend in and be what you are not. More and more women are letting their natural color come out and we are now a fad in fashion thanks to some really strong women that excepted themselves for who they are.

We are a symbol of strength and beauty and we own who we are. No longer do we have be a shamed of growing older and hide in our shame. We are beautiful at any age it is our inner beauty shines and lights up the world. I can only speak for myself and going gray was the right move for me. It was my choice to free up the past image of what society said we were suppose to be. This is my cry for freedom and the right to express my thoughts on growing older and better. When I look at myself I see a gray hair lady looking back and I’m more then OK with this it is who I am.