August 2, 2012

Dear <<First Name>>:

Welcome to another edition of the life [simplified] letter.

News

Home again

Today I am flying home from Pender Island, BC. I had three weeks on the island but it felt like a whole lot less.

Saturday morning was spent at the Pender Island Farmer's Market. If you ever have the chance to visit Pender Island make sure you allow a Saturday to go check out this community event. There are vegetable, jewelry, pottery, pies, baked goods, books, and art work. There is usually some live music as well. The place just vibrates with activity.

This week we bought tomatoes, zucchini, radishes, a home made cherry pie, pickled beans, home made donut holes, fresh blueberries, and rustic bread. I also bought a key chain from one of my favourite artisans, John Bagshaw. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a web link to share. The key chain is made from fallen arbutus wood which is native to the west coast. The trees are protected which means they can't be pruned or cut down unless they are diseased. The delicate design of a wind-blown tree is cut into the small piece of wood using a fine wire. The delicate carving technique produces a soft silhouette in the wood.

I also bought a couple of books by a local writer by the name of Barry Mathias. He had written a series of books called the Ancient Bloodlines Trilogy that are an interesting read if you like historical fiction. He was selling this trilogy along with his other books at the market. We had a chance to hear about his latest writing project; another historical novel set in Wales.

Going Au Naturel

Discovering what's beneath

I had been thinking about doing it for a few months now. It took me a while to get up the courage to make the decision though. I wasn't sure what people would think of me. Would it age me? I was afraid to try it.

While I could be talking about sky diving, I am actually thinking about not colouring my hair any more.

As I think back, I've been colouring my hair for almost 30 years! It started out innocently enough. I started to go gray young. Little strands of silver in my black hair. My hair stylist at the time suggested that I could try some streaks in my hair. It was fun initially. However, it became a slippery slope towards full blown maintenance. A few years went by and then my stylist was suggesting a permanent colour. No one mentions to you that is relatively easy to start colouring your hair but it is a whole different ball game when you want to quit.

I was getting so tired of the time and money it was taking to maintain the colour in my hair.The colour was beautiful but If I was honest, it only looked good for about a week or so. By that time, the roots start to show. I was never brave enough to colour my own hair. I always paid someone to do it for me. As with most services, costs have gone up and it was getting expensive.

This tiresome maintenance process was starting to feel contrary to my efforts to simplify my life. I didn't want to be a slave to my hair colour any more. I didn't want to be defined by my hair.

For women, the struggle is made even more fierce by the emphasis that society and advertising puts on being young; or at least young-looking. I would rather value what's on the inside versus what's on the outside. Colouring my hair seems like a vain attempt to hide a fact of my life: I have gray hair.

The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women, a book by Naomi Wolf points out something that I have sensed for a long time. Women are sensitized to fit into a particular beauty model perpetuated by commercial interests. When I did my MBA. I learned a few tricks of the trade in marketing. I was horrified by the deliberate and subtle nature of the warped beauty messages in advertising. Yet, despite my intellectual understanding, the pressure to fit into society's beauty model is still there: be thin, be young, be "made up," colour your hair and hide that "ugly" gray.

Donna Brazile in an article for the Oprah Magazine had these encouraging words to say about going au naturel:

"When I started going gray relatively young, everyone from business associates to restaurant servers started taking me more seriously. That's one reason I was never tempted to dye my hair. The other is that dyes are expensive, time-consuming, and temporary—and who needs all those chemicals?"

I'm not buying into the beauty myth anymore. Once I stop colouring my hair, I'll be salt and pepper but I will look more natural and a lot more like me. I wonder if I'll get more respect?

Your life [simplified]

Is there some beauty maintenance routine in your life that is time consuming or costly that you could stop? For example, what about beauty routines like gel nails, hair colouring, or waxing?

If you do make a change, I'd love to hear what you think about your experience.

Let me know how what you try.

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Catherine

P.S. Check out my letter archives if you are interested in reading back issues.