I read at Gray Hair Cure Available in 10 Years that acccording to L’Oreal, we could all be kissing our gray hairs adieu in a mere 10 years.  The beauty company is working on a breakthrough treatment geared towards ending gray hair for good. They expect it to consist of an oral element backed by a hair care range, and be available within 10 years, reported the Daily Mail. Hair gets its hue from melanocytes, pigment cells that give color to both the skin and the hair.  “When hair goes gray, there is a progressive disappearance of the melanocytes from the hair. While there are still melanocytes in the hair, there is still hope that it could be re-pigmented,” Patricia Pineau, L’Oreal Research Communications Director told the paper.  “Hair is an enigma,” she added. “It’s a fiber, a material with physical properties. It is also a living organ that grows, grays and falls out. How can we fight this? Do we need a physical approach or a biological approach?”  An oral program supplemented with a hair care program would do both, she said, targeting graying from both the inside and out.

“Fight this???”  I understand that we’ve been programmed to dread going gray, because we’re in a society that’s brainwashed to think getting old is undesirable and less-than, but fighting against something, as Abraham-Hicks tells us, is not the way to go.  I’m thrilled to be going gray because for me it just means Mother Nature is frosting my hair for me.  I haven’t colored my hair for years but the lighter it gets, the better I like it.

When they reach about the age of 50 is when my girlfriends all cutting their hair into that phys ed teacher haircut that Miss Young had at Filer Junior High School in Hialeah in 1967.  My mom did the same thing.  I was horrified.  She had long, at times waist-length hair all the time I was growing up.   So when mom cut her hair into the phys ed teacher haircut, I vowed I would not do that.  To me, it automatically made everyone look the same: like the stereotypical senior grandma.

Growing up I always had baby fine hair, straight, blonde, California girl hair.  As I got into my teens and 20’s, everyone told me to keep my hair short and layered because that was the best for my type of hair, so I wore a layered shag type cut into my 30’s. I was well into my 40’s before I grew it out and discovered I had great hair.  I’d let myself be programmed by what “the authorities” around me said should be.  I didn’t even notice that I wasn’t thinking for myself.  I just figured they must know better. I believed their hype.  I fell under their spell, and I didn’t learn the truth until many, many years later.

Now that I’ve had longer hair, I know how mom felt when she said she just got tired of hauling all that long heavy hair around year after year.  Shampooing and putting it up was a hassle since she had some arthritis in her shoulders.  I think she mostly did it as an act of defiance when she left my dad, although she never copped to that.  I have learned to roll my hair up in a sock bun by finding a sock the color of the inside underside of my hair, and cutting the toe off it.

My hair has always been several colors. I had a flu when I was 33 that turned my dog ears completely white overnight.  Yes, I hear that doesn’t happen, but it happened. It is pale brown and darkish golden brown underneath, but pure platinum in places, such as the dog ears. So I have to use a sock that blends in with the dark hair that goes into it.

I roll it up in the sock and leave it up in a bun for a few days at a time.  It keeps my hair out of my way, and when I take it down, it’s all wavy and full and fluffy.  Had I known this 30 years ago, I would have saved all those hours trying to get my hair to look right.  Indeed, with age comes wisdom.  I’m going to see how long I can grow it.  When it gets in my way, I’ll keep it up in the bun.

Another thing I notice getting older, my nails are longer and stronger than ever before.  I think it has to do with the fact that I used to be constantly painting them and using polish remover and sometimes false nails and they were just a nuisance until I let them go natural.  Also, I know that in 2005 I began eating a more natural, less processed diet, taking vitamins and nutrients in, and using my foods as medicine.  I’m sure that helped the hair and nails grow longer and stronger.

Also since I changed my diet, I’ve kept off the extra 50 pounds I’d carried for 8 years.  That’s contributed to me looking younger I know, and to being healthier.  I cut out red meat, pork, butter, fried foods and since 2005 have kept my fat grams to no more than 50 a day.  I’ve never been healthier nor had more energy.  That makes me feel young, and I know as I feel young, I look young.  It’s a viscious cycle.

One thing I notice is that my eyebrows are so faint now. I used to be vain of my heavy brows, alas, no more. They do seem to be now appearing as a bit of a goatee and fu manchu, but I’ve embraced that as well.  I’m not going to be one of those who tweezes every stray hair and ends up looking like a bald rat.  I embrace my fuzzy faced-ness whole heartedly.  I’m even shaping it into a nice goatee *smile*

So far I haven’t found a down side to the whole aging thang.  I do notice that when I’m inactive for awhile, my body lets me know.  The more I stay in motion, the more mobility I’ll have and the longer I’ll have it.  I hope to be still doing my daily yoga well into my elder years.

I’ve learned that my sleeping patterns morph and change with the years as well.  I go months where I only get 2-3 hours at a time.  I’ve arranged my schedule so I can do that at least twice a day.  I know not to fall asleep with the tv on. It’s not just the retina of our eyes that register light and react to it. The cells of our body also react to light and sound and remain on active standby while we’re asleep. I wrote in 15 Simple Steps to Reboot A Sluggish System that just as poinsettas in the garden need 6 hours of darkness every 24 hours in order to bloom and grow, just so our mind and body does better when we have quiet darkness to sleep in.

Even me, I’m always surprised to be reminded how much longer and sounder I sleep after I make myself shut off all external stimuli.  I’ll go months just napping in the chair or on the couch and not actually making it into my bedroom, where it is completely dark and cool and quiet.  Last night at 8pm when I began to doze in the big puffy chair, I made myself get up and go to bed.  I didn’t get up until 2am.  My body needed that!  So you can’t complain that you’re not sleeping well unless you’re lying in your bed with all light and sound off.  Ignore that inner voice that says you can’t fall asleep without the tv on.  That’s just your mind tricking you.  You’ve listened to that voice for so many years and that’s exactly what has gotten you to this point of not sleeping well.

Remember, as you get older, you’re the boss of that voice and it does what you tell it to. With just a little practice you can re-program your inner dialogue.  You will find this your biggest assistant as you get older, knowing how to keep yourself cheerleaded and motivated into each day by your own inner dialogue.

I told a friend of mine, when asked how I wanted to die, that I wanted to be 120 years old, hiking in the Rockies with my 90 year old lover.

He laughed.  We’ll see who laughs last.

🙂

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