White, Silver. Gray.

After procrastinating a few cycles of routine dye jobs, I reached a decision. A few weeks ago I declared to all who would listen that I have stopped dying my hair.

Now, I'm eager for the transformation. I find my eyes drawn to long gray hair with a sort of lust. One day, I will proudly sport a long, silvery braid. Pictured below is seven or eight weeks of growth on my crown. It's going to be a long wait for that braid! Tonight I did some image and advice searches online. My twofold purpose was to find tips on gracefully growing out the dyed locks and to seek shorter hair cut ideas for the journey. What I discovered surprised me: Gray is chic.
There are sites devoted to the evolution to gray, with glamorous (rather than earthy) photos of celebs such as Glenn Close, Emmy Lou Harris, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Evidently, an Oprah episode was dedicated to proud silver manes. GrayGirls.com is fueling a (r)evolution. Flickr photos celebrate natural hair. (I dare not share these photos here for fear of infringement, but click to view them.)

Newspaper reporters like William Loeffler have observed, "This is not your grandmother's gray. No longer is it compressed into a schoolmarmish bun or crinkled into a blue rinse. It's seen in clubs and art galleries, coffee houses and fashion runways. It's worn long and straight, cut into a punk-style buzz or crimped into flirty curls" (Philidelphia Times).

Books have recently been written about women's avoidance of gray, as well as an emerging spirit of acceptance. (Hyperlinks are to books.)

It seems my decision has coincided with a movement of sorts. I'm okay with that. After all, white, silver, or gray hair symbolizes peace.

Gray Haired Scorpio, signing off.