Making small but meaningful changes to my appearance
I don't know why, but I've been thinking for a little while about some ways I can change my appearance. One of those is letting my hair return to its natural color. I had been routinely dying my hair more or less black since about 2017, and several months ago I decided to pause that for the foreseeable future. Of course it will take a long time for it to completely fade to my natural light brown, but several people have already noticed a difference. Funnily enough, half of them asked if my hair is now darker.
I was trying to think of what else I could do. I already have several tattoos. While I am thinking about my next potential tattoo, it then occurred to me that I don't have any piercings. I was never really into jewelry. My earlobes were pierced when I was a baby, but I rarely reminisce on my times wearing earrings. They were always such a hassle because I played soccer for a decade and was constantly fussing with them. Finally, I took out my earrings about a decade ago and let the holes close after I hung up my cleats for good. Go figure.
But for some reason I started thinking about piercing my ears again. I don't know. Honestly, I just think they look cute and/or badass. A couple weeks ago I started thinking more about making this a reality. I went down every rabbit hole on r/piercing: Which piercings would suit my ear anatomy? How much pain would I have to endure? How long would it take them to heal?
Today I did it. I got my first "adult" ear piercings: a lobe and a rook. Even though there are only two, I'm really happy with them and feel a bit better about myself already. I'm not sure how to describe it. Slightly more polished? Even though the metal is quite boring for now, understandably. Maybe it's more the potential of what can/will be that excites me.
Plus my ear enthusiasm happened to infect my friend today, who got both of her second lobes pierced. 😎
I'm looking forward to going back in a couple months and hopefully adding another piercing or two. Also can't wait until the rook heals and I can replace the current jewelry with a ring, though that won't be for a long time. It's a long-term project. Now I'm into jewelry, I guess.
Another change I am making is wearing glasses more often as more of a fashion choice. Not "fake" glasses (as my friend likes to call those who wear glasses without a prescription), as I do have mild myopia. Having slightly crisper vision is a nice side effect of this choice. Anyway, I decided to not only treat myself to a nicer pair of (prescription!) sunglasses but also replace my 13-year-old glasses frames that now look and feel a bit outdated since I got them as a teenager diagnosed with nearsightedness. So, I ordered a couple new pairs of glasses as well, and they should all arrive this week.
Contemplating these things is kind of a nice distraction from everything going on in the world right now. And like a lot of people do at some point, I've just found myself craving change. I guess I am entering my glasses and piercing era. It's nice to feel a little prettier even if it's probably more about novelty.