Talkin' bout a Revolution

Wow, its been awhile since I've been here and a lot has happened in my journey to going gray.  Too much has happened to mention here.

One thing I want to share is the YouTube video I finally got around to completing which photo-documents my journey from dyed to all natural hair.  The only thing that seemed longer than the actual transition was the compilation of this slide show.

For those of you just entering this journey:  You can definitely do this!

For those of you at the mid-way point:  Hang in there, girl!  It seems like an eternity at this point but trust me when I say its worth the wait and the effort.

For those of you who, like me, have graduated:  You are the women who got me through this and I commend your beautiful souls and beautiful hair.  Let it shine!

Call Me Chicken

They say we eventually look like our pets or is it the other way around? 

Will our pets look like us?

Either way

I have a month old baby Wyandotte chick who is in the process of losing her "fluff" 

and 

sprouting what appears to be some lovely silver outgrowth.  

There are clearly similarities between little silver and copper Alma

and my silver and coppery oxidized ends.

Do I look like my chicken?

or

Does she look like me?

MORE Magazine 2013 Beauty Search

So I did it.

I got brave

As I come closer to heading into my 50's I realize life is just too short not to "go for it".

I went for it.  I entered the MORE Magazine 2013 Beauty Search Contest.  Its time the Silver Sisters got some Representation. I only wish there were more of us represented here.

If you would, please click on the link below and vote.  While I would love to have you vote for me, I'm also just trying to get the word out.

MORE Magazine Beauty Contest

Thank you,

Sarah Hiers

Silver Sister

The Long and the Short of It

In the three years my husband and I have been together as a couple (dating, engagement and marriage) I have heard the same phrase pop up when ever the discussion turns to a potential trip to the salon for a trim:  I married you with long hair, I'll bury you with long hair.  Keep in mind, this has always been said in jest (as the phrase popped up early in the relationship, long before marriage was even on the table).  If I'm not mistaken, it was a phrase from his youth he repeatedly heard his grandfather say to grandma.

While I know he would never stand in the way of my own personal style choices and this was just his silly way of saying he loved my long hair, I keep the thought in mind.  If he really likes my hair long and I like it, it was worth it for me to keep it long and keep him happy.

That said, I am now 17 months into my transition to all natural silver locks.  While my hair has gotten a bit shorter with each trim I still consider it long. (Just not as long as I thought he likes)  I'm so close to the finish line.  So easily "done" if I would only lop off those last few inches.  But there it is in my head....I married you with long hair....

While I want the transition over (patience has never been my strong suit) I also want my long hair.  I want it for my husband.  I want it for me.  I'm more comfortable with long hair.  I know how to style my long hair. I don't know what to do with short.  And, did I mention I want the transition over?

The other night, out of no where, my adorable husband says to me:  "You look really cute with shorter hair.  Its sophisticated.  Very sexy.  I like it."

Huh?  What happened to burying me with long hair?

The psychological trick I was using to get me through my transition vanished!!!  Knowing my husband loved my long hair gave me the patience to wait out the transition and now I felt dropped on my head!

What to do?  What to do?  Start 2013 out with a new, sassy short do?  

Or hang in there for the long haul?

Stay tuned and see where I land....

The Stars Align...when you really need it. AKA Jesus Moment

For the last few months (I hate to admit) that I had felt lost.

Something had been missing and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  I didn't know what I needed.  I didn't know what would help.  All I knew was that something wasn't sitting right.

A trip home for the holiday had been planned months in advance and I was excited.  A holiday gathering of cousins was in the making at my planning and I was excited. Some much needed time off was around the corner and I was excited.  A workshop with me at the helm was on the table and I was excited.  And yet, I still felt lost. Something was missing

My ability to blog had gone out the window.  Who cares about my hair?  I stopped checking in to my favorite Silver Sister Forum.  They are all fabulous women with stories and I had nothing.  I was lost.

A boost of some sort was clearly needed but one that couldn't be asked for.

While home for my world wind trip through the holiday over and over I hear about the infamous Jesus Moment.  My sister has had them.  My cousins have had them.  I'm sure I have had them but just didn't know what to call it.

Then, out of no where it happens.  The thing I've long since given up hearing.  The thing that only happens to my other silver sister.  Acknowledgement.  Unadulterated, un-provoked acknowdelgement.  My own Jesus Moment

A cherished cousin approaches me well into a gathering of family and is in awe of my decision to go gray.   After a big, warm hug, I am applauded for being brave, for embracing the real me.  I'm told I have a new sex appeal.  I'm told I'm more real and approachable.  And best yet, they have been waiting to meet the real me.  I've been hidden and shy for too long.  They have met the real me and they love it.

The stars and cousins align when you need them most....

.

Happy Anniversary to Me

At the end of August I arrived at the anniversary date of the last time I colored my hair.

Over the last few weeks I have tried to reflect on the past year.  What I have been through.  What this experience has meant to me and how it may have changed me.  All I keep thinking is...How do we define a year?  How do we measure it?

Technically its 12 months....52 weeks....365 days.  Wasn't this a leap year?  An extra day to transition.  Another day to measure.

Here are some of the ways I've measured my Year of Going Grayt

• A mirror.  Everyday, multiple times a day a mirror.  When a women begins her transition the mirror becomes like a drug and its not about vanity.  Its about curiosity, impatience, wonder and analysis.  A year equals really getting to SEEING yourself.   
• It is possible to measure a year with a ruler.  A ruler and, in my case, a patient, loving husband willing to measure my silvering roots.  A year equals six inches of silver.
• For some, this year can be measured in savings.  Less salon visits, no store bought dye.  For some, this year is measured in bonus money for NEW SHOES and MORE NEW SHOES.
• How about measuring it in time saved?  Two plus hours every month not hiding out in the bathroom chemically destroying our hair.  A dye free year equals gaining 24 hours.  In a leap year I actually gained two days.
• Can we measure a year in shampoo?  NoPoos, Blue Shampoos, Organic, Clarifying...A year equals 4 bottles of shampoo.
• Finally, photo documentation.  One year = 169 root shots.

For me I will measure this year in the confidence I have gained by being a more natural self.  I will measure it in the treasured friends and cohorts who have held my hand through the questions, the skunk stripe, the severe impatience.  And, I will measure it in those six inches of joyfully silver strands.

One year down and shooting for a pre-New Years completion...
And with that completion, a transitional slideshow.

Sneaky Silvers

It has been awhile since I've been out here touting the benefits of going Grayt.  Its been awhile since I've felt the benefits of going gray.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in LOVE with my new silver locks.  I wouldn't change one strand.

Here is the thing.  Its a long process.  Its much longer than I anticipated.  In my mind it would take a year.  In about 30 days I will reach the 365 days with out color mark.  I still harbor about 3 inches of dried out, old color that I'm not willing to sacrifice because I love my long hair.

Its a long process.

For the last several months I've only been able to focus on the chemically induced, faded, dyed remnants of my former self.  Its all I see.  Take a photo of me and ask me what I see.  My friends say great hair, great smile, you look so darn happy.  I see straw.  Dried out, faded straw ends that need to go.

I won't turn back.  I won't color again.  These are facts deeply ingrained.  I'm on a mission but the mission has hit a block I hadn't prepared to encounter.  I was bored.

I was bored.  Very, very bored.  Until tonight.

Without forethought I nabbed my husband this evening to help me video our adorable chickens.  "Honey, I'll hold the peach and you get it on video!  Catch them going nuts"

My husband caught the chickens eating a peach.  He also caught his wife's sparkly silver hair.  Suddenly I think I can wait another few months.  Suddenly I'm over the hump.  Suddenly I have these cool silver streaks that would cost a fortune in the salon.

Its a process.  Its a long process.  Thankfully its no longer a chemically induced process.