The Fading (Aging) Process

It's been three months since my Great Dance Adventure. Three months for the glitter and shine to lose their luster. Three months for all of my journey into the Wide World of Fakeness to wear off ... fall off ... grow off.

The tan was the first to go. It washed off by the time I returned home. Lily white skin in February - April is something that doesn't bother me.

The eyelashes? I miss them. Now, when I awake in the mornings, I no longer see my eyes. Literally. Since my eyelash extensions fell off, I am back to the process of trying to define my eyes with eyeliner and mascara. I do it by feel (I need to wear my glasses to see clearly and it's pretty impossible to put on eye make up while wearing glasses). It's interesting. You judge by the resistance against the eyeliner pencil and mascara wand.

The finger nails? They are in the ugly process of being half grown off of my nails. I spent every spare moment on Sunday trying to sand the gel nail down. I can't bear to pay someone to do this for me. If I'm paying for it, I want to just fill the nails again and talk myself into believing that I'll let them grow out the next time.

Then there are the toe nails. Oh, to have pretty feet for the summer. Wouldn't it be nice? But after one of my fake nails getting caught up in dance partner's foot and nearly ripping it off? I don't know. At least I was able to finally cut down my tender toenail so it doesn't hurt any more. Socks are a good cover for untended toes. But oh, I liked my pretty toes.

The hair. The one thing that is out there for the world to see. I'm in an ugly half grown out stage right now. The grayness is starting to appear again. I can't bear to look in the mirror. What to do? What to do??

But the one thing that spurred my thinking onto this topic is ... chin hairs.

Oh! They are sneaky. They come out of no where. All of a sudden, you find a dark, half-inch-long chin hair! Do they grow overnight? Or do others stare at your chin wondering why you are growing out your 'beard'? But the one I found this morning? It was bent upwards, as if I slept on it wrong. My chin hair was having a bad hair day!

This aging and fading process. It is what it is.

I'm grateful that I have eyes that can see. I feel foolish to have obsessed about filing down my nails. For a day! I have a thick head of hair. I have feet that can dance, a heart that is full of life and an inner drive that is not fading away.

Youth is only skin deep. Go beyond that point and there are many hidden treasures. Yes, some mornings, it may be a chin hair. But others ... it is an unearthed passion.

I kind of like what age has brought into my life. You can buy all the other 'stuff'.