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Completely changing the topic, What’s with the Blue Hair??

Being a Baby Boomer and having given birth for the only time in my early 40’s, it put me into the quizzical world of raising a Millennial.

With that said, I’ve had my share of head scratching in wonder as I’ve navigated unknown territory, in a youth world that included, but wasn’t limited to, experiencing what I would describe as the somewhat ‘interesting’ phenomenon; especially that of the dyeing of the hair ‘Blue’!

While plenty of my child’s friends did partake, my child didn’t, yet I’m sure if she had it would certainly have been Ariel ‘red’, as that was her absolute favorite Disney passion!

That is not to disregard the other vibrant colors that are also commonly seen on the top of heads in this youth culture (and notably all age ranges, to be fair) but for reasons I can’t even explain, it’s the BLUE that has me the most introspective.

Given, in my own period of youth, in the 60’s and 70’s, I can remember the parents being equally in the dark about the behaviors of the subculture of the time…. namely Hippies.

Maybe some here can recall …It was a time when there was clear defiance of parental authority and college officials. When the common denominator was growing long hair, wearing bell bottom jeans and tie dyed T-shirts, living in communes, using mind altering drugs, relishing in hard rock music and engaging in casual sex.

In certain ways is there really a difference between our youthful defiance of yesteryear and that of the attempt of the youth of today to stand apart??

Think of it…. In the mass of humanity… and suddenly out of the crowd stands a crop of hair that is vibrant, outstanding, unmistakable, undeniable and TRUE as TRUE, the color BLUE!… (or green, red, orange, purple!)

I wonder, now where does that kind of choosing stem from? In the days of ‘old’, blue hair was considered more of a mistake. It was an overkill attempt to create a nice silver out of a dirty stale yellow due to over dyeing. But today, it is done in conscious attempt…in other words, on purpose!

So I simply had to know the why of this behavior, and here is what I’ve found out…

It seems to be motivated by, but in no way limited to the following:

  1. To stand out, demonstrate independence, take a risk, be rebellious
  2. Fitting in with a preferred style of expression and allowing a sense of acceptance from others in the same or similar subculture
  3. To make one feel like an individual
  4. As an easy conversation starter
  5. To overcome anxiety about being judged; looking at the ‘vibrant’ hair distracts from being looked at directly
  6. As a creative outlet; being artistic
  7. Choosing an outstanding appearance on the outside, as an expression to replace that which can’t be made with verbal expression outwardly

Now, WOW! Maybe all that is more than I wanted to know. But in my heart of hearts my burning desire to find out, just got the best of me!

It really all comes down to common scientific findings that rebellion and individuality are part of the developmental process in youth.

So there really isn’t much I can say, as I was a youth once too!

Looking now from the other side, like that of the parents of my day, gives it just a bit of a different twist. With that, I send the message into the ethers “Sorry if any of my behavior freaked you out, Mom and Dad!”  🙂

In my day, it may have been LONG HAIR when today it seems to be BLUE HAIR!

 

Thanks for reading my blog and sticking with me on this passion of ‘having to know’! 🙂

Tell me, what is your experience with the current fashion trend of vibrantly colored hair?

What generation do you identify with (Boomer, GenX, Other)? Do you color your hair vibrantly and if so, what color and what is your motivation?

If you or someone you know partakes, describe the effect you’ve noticed it has. 

Do you think this trend is here to stay?

Can you envision a “next trend” of sorts coming and if so, what is your prediction?

 

Thanks!

Until the next time,

xo Sharon

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Do You Think You Might Have Qualities of Being an Empath?

Have you ever even thought of it? For me, I realized at a very young age that I could feel what others were feeling. I could feel even the feelings of a room full of people, all at once, I began to notice. There are variations to this depending on the person, of course.

Medical Gifted Empath

Back then it was really confusing and often overwhelming to me because it felt a lot like what I was feeling somehow all belonged to me. That was before I realized most of it just wasn’t my stuff. After a while, I began to get it into perspective and now I use my ability to help others with the gift that I have as a Medical Gifted Empath.

Now that’s a type of Empath that’s a bit more layered with a few more abilities than being a simple Empath so as not to be confounding. I’ll write more about being a Medical Gifted Empath in another blog.

For now, though, I just wanted to say I think many people have a refined sensitivity but they might not be able to identify it as being empathic.

Sometimes I wonder if some of the reason certain people you might know get aggravated and start to feel out of control and overwhelmed is because they possess a bit of ability to feel the emotional, mental or physical state of another person.

They might not even realize it, let alone know how to make sense of it. But in any case, it could be some of the explanation for behaviors like that, who knows?

Qualities of an Empath

These are a few qualities of an Empath, being highly sensitive and feeling. In fact, new research is suggesting that 1 to 2 percent of the population might have this ability. Another term that is floating around and is somewhat becoming associated with empaths is that of being an HSP. This means a Highly Sensitive Person. This is another trait I personally identify with. How about you? Do you think you are highly sensitive?

Dr. Elaine Aron, PhD clinical psychologist, has put a simple test online. I thought it might be insightful to take it and see how close I came to scoring as a Highly Sensitive Person.

According to her test, I passed, and it was on the high end! Certainly, this won’t be the case for many though. I just looked it up online, ‘highly sensitive person test’ and it appeared as the first hit. Try it yourself if it interests you too.

There can be a lot more to the topic of being an Empath. But, for now, I just wanted to bring it up and invite you to see if you resonate with it or not.

Thanks for reading my blog on a few traits of being an Empath. I plan to write more detail about the topic over time.

For now, let’s get the conversation started….

  • Describe a time you thought you experienced a trait of empathic ability.
  • Are you open to others being able to tune in to people and their feelings even if you might not be able to do it?
  • If you took the test on being a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), how did you score? Where you surprised?
  • Do you know of anyone who fits the description of being an Empath? What qualities do you observe in them?

I’d love you to leave a comment or two, it would be great to hear from you!

Thanks!

Until the next time,
xo Sharon