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The ultimate blonde Marilyn Monroe. Photo can be found online at http://bit.ly/1CHy0V6
Ihave been a blonde for the last 30 years and yes, I have had a lot of fun.
And in spite of all the dollars that have gone into maintaining color and style, there have been good and bad hair days. Sometimes I even felt that time and effort spent on the coiffure was wasted, if not outright counterproductive.
And then came surgery and chemotherapy, followed by hair loss.
This proved to be a totally new experience. I had no idea that a bald head can get cold in air conditioned rooms or under ceiling fans. Instead of drinking a nightcap when going to bed, I now had to wear one!
Friends and neighbors who had successfully overcome chemotherapy and baldness were quick to bring me their wigs, and my husband assisted me in choosing some additional ones. My neighbors took notice of the different wigs I wore and suggested I might also wear purple or some other unusual color.
One day when attending a concert, I was approached by a British lady who wished to know the name of my hairstylist because she liked the look of my hairdo. I immediately experienced acute internal turmoil that took me by surprise and I was not sure whether I would laugh or cry when answering the woman’s inquiry. After hesitating for a moment I told her that my hair was purchased at the cancer center gift shop.
Other people had innocently commented on my hair, and sometimes I told them that they too can buy the same kind, and other times I just did not feel like talking about the subject. Even Hillary Clinton in her recent book talks about being constantly judged by her appearance and hairstyle, and that she just smiles and keeps going.
I could not wait for my hair to grow back. I imagined how wonderful it would be to go shopping without wearing a wig or a hat. Any hair would be welcome. Just hair. Period.
And then it grew back. At first very slowly. As I purchased yet another hat at one of the stores that cater to cancer patients, the shop owner came over and patted my head, saying that she just loves the feel of clients’ new hair as it first grows back.
So now I have a head full of steely gray curls. I am very grateful. It is short enough that just running my fingers through it can pass for combing. I do not need an umbrella, because rain does not damage my hair. It is short and natural.
Looking into the mirror, I see an old face with gray hair. I smile. The color does not change. I accidentally catch an image of myself in a department store mirror and realize this is not me, although of course it is.
I apply more makeup and use a darker lipstick. It still does not change the fact that I have gray hair. I buy new clothes in red and purple to change the overall appearance, but gray is what gets noticed first.
Recently, I attended a large gathering. To my surprise I found myself being incognito. Friends and acquaintances looked either through me or passed by me without acknowledging my presence. The manager at a local club glanced at me and resumed his work without so much as a hello.
I wondered what was going on. These had been strange experiences to say the least. I believed my inner being to be intact and unchanged, but no one seemed to recognize it.
My husband is color blind. He is also very diplomatic when commenting about my looks. Yet he recently recommended that I might want to add a little blond tint to my hair in order to feel better about myself. Point well taken!
I took his advice and went straight to the hairdresser, a color specialist whose hair is purple and green. He has had experience with post chemotherapy clients’ hair and recommended that I wait another two to three months before attempting a dye job. He felt that the first hair growing back would be too fragile to handle the onslaught of coloring chemicals.
His suggestion seemed reasonable and so I scheduled an appointment in two months.
In the meantime, I had been thinking about the most famous blonde of all times: Marilyn Monroe. She seemed to have everything one can think of, including a solid career, wealth, fame and beauty.
I wondered how much fun she might have had in her life.
In this particular signature we notice first of all her flair for showmanship. The letters are well formed and rhythmic mental pattern is evident in the first name. There is however a departure from her usual writing style in the name Monroe. She appears to have been troubled at the time of the writing.
Large capital letters indicate good self-esteem. However, the M is drawn with rightward loops. There is now fear in her writing. She is worried. She anticipates problems. She torments herself with disturbing thoughts about things that might never happen. This is damaging to her self-image.
In the end, glamorous Marilyn Monroe died a tragic death by drug overdose.
So it appears that Blondes do not necessarily have more fun.
My friends Ruth and Rose, brunette and redhead respectively, have more fun than anyone I can think of. When we get together for lunch, we laugh so much that other diners keep staring at our table.
So I have come to the conclusion that it really does not matter what our hair color is or whether we have any hair at all when it comes to having fun. What really matters in life is a positive attitude. We have to like ourselves and be at peace with our lot. And of course a sense of humor is relevant.
“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” Joe Namath
A two months’ wait for bleaching my hair blonde seemed too far into the future for my temperament. I returned to the hairdresser and plea bargained with him. I left the salon with brown hair. It is a start. Let the good times roll!
Note to self: check my own handwriting for possible signs of vanity!
Skylar Khan lives on a vortex in Oracle. She is a Master Graphoanalyst and has been contributing articles to The Oracle Towne Crier about personality traits revealed through Handwriting Analysis. Her book “Handwriting Rocks” is informative and entertaining. For more information, please visit HandwritingAuthority.com
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