Express Yourself! Or camouflage for the Soul?

Express or Hide?

Last week was #ChildresnMentalHealthWeek and the theme was to ‘Express Yourself’.  I love this and think that everyone should be able to be just who they want to be, when they want to be.  Without worry of judgement or shame or question. But it did also get me thinking….

I have died my hair since I can remember, in fact it’ll be over 30 years now.  I have no idea what colour my natural hair is (Brown I think?) or if I have any greys (pretty sure I must do!).  I’m known for my ‘wacky’ hair colours, but am I expressing myself, or am I in fact hiding behind my hair.

Camouflage for the soul

Okay so I’m obviously not literally hiding behind my hair, as I’d look pretty stupid and probably walk into a lot of walls!  But a lack of confidence and low esteem over the years, has allowed me to use my hair colour to be the focus.  It’s a conversation starter, a way to take the focus OFF me as a person.  I really do think that rather than expressing myself through my hair, I’ve been expressing a facade, camouflage for the real me.

Facts about Low Self Esteem

• Other names for self-esteem are self-respect, self-regard, self-worth and self-integrity.
• Factors that cause low self-esteem include bullying, peer pressure, physical appearance, genetic factors and mental health issues, as well as many more.
• When you feel bad about your physical look, you often develop low self-esteem.
• When something is not perfect, you develop frustration toward it.
• Other signs include pessimism, excessive will, hypersensitivity toward criticism, envy toward others, and chronic indecision.

Read more here

About self-esteem | Mind

So do we think I can do it, can I actually just dye my hair a ‘normal’ colour and leave it for a while…  Not bleach it (Sorry Steve!) , not change the colour every four weeks and especially not hide behind it.

Well lets see if I can do it, lets see if I can actually start expressing ‘myself’ and not hiding away.

Fay x

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