Day 108/366 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: challenged, I've spent an hour on FB this morning!
It doesn't take long to move from waking feeling great to feeling completely depressed with the current stream of posts on FB. That's it for today. I won't be checking back in.
Today's inspiration from Sarah is about making peace with your hair. And what better time to do that than when you can't get to the hairdresser.
How we treat our hair is another external sign of how we think of ourselves and treat ourselves. It's all connected, it's all a reflection.
Take this opportunity to get to know the true personality of your hair. It has a mind of its own and now might just be the time to lean into it and find acceptance.
The permitted time in the hairdresser is 30 minutes. Such an interesting timeframe. I wonder about the motivation behind that rule? If it wasn't such a ridiculous notion it would be hilarious. Seriously, how does 30 minutes in a hairdresser contribute to reducing the risk of spreading a virus, or for that matter, prop up the economy.
So what will you do with your hair moving forward in the weeks and months of social distancing?
I feel for you. If you've relied on perms and colours and what not, then life is going to be quite a challenge as you get your head around what to do with your hair.
My hairdresser has decided to close up shop. She's not doing 30 min hair cuts at all which in fact is all I need. So that means my hair is going to have to grow for as long as it wants until I can get back into the hairdresser.
In previous posts I've mentioned that simplifying my life was one of the best decisions I ever made. At the time of the GFC I realised just how important it was to reduce my dependency on debt and the world of consumerism, and live simply. One of my decisions at that time was to go natural with my hair.
At the time I was spending about 2 hours every 6 weeks in the hairdresser getting a colour to cover my greys. I'd long since given up on turning my straight hair into curly locks, and settled for a deep rich colour and a bob that always worked well for me.
The next few months of growing out the colour that of course turned orange, were painful to endure that's for sure, but one thing you can always rely on, hair will grow out.
It wasn't long before I discovered that my hair was beautifully and naturally streaked with silver grey. For the first time I began to receive complements about the colour. People actually thought it was out of a bottle.
Since then I have enjoyed shoulder length hair that has retained its black background with increasing silver threads. I've fallen in love with it for all sorts of reasons. It feels authentically me. It looks great. It costs little to care for it.
We have been brainwashed into accepting anything but our authentic selves. Our real deal is where our beauty lies. Our unique looks, our authentic self-expression.
Use this time to lean into your concerns about your hair and learn something about yourself. Lean into your authenticity.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.