From the Series: Life on Dog Hill
When I made this daring decision, I considered it a fun, playful thing to do. I never thought of it as an attention-seeking gimmick until a humorous gentleman I recently met asked me how having blue hair would not attract attention. Hmm. Good point.
Most of the time I don’t think of my hair, with the blue streaks layered through it, until someone mentions it.
“Oh, blue hair!” a friend exclaimed, as we sat down for tea at Caffé Driade a couple of mornings ago.
Or the man in the grocery store last week who turned his shopping cart around mid-isle and started following me. When I stopped to look for gluten-free cookies — wait, I meant to write gluten-free noodles — he pulled up beside me, stared at me with his head cocked, and asked if my hair was really blue.
“Yes, it is really blue,” I answered. “Do you like it?”
He did — or so he said. In fact, he told me that he thought more women my age should be as daring with their hair.
I’m sure he meant it as a compliment.
*Clears throat*
Yes, having blue hair has been an interesting experience, beginning with hubby’s first glimpse of my new do.
“I thought you were joking about getting blue hair,” he said, his voice at least seven octaves higher than normal.
“Don’t be silly. I never joke about this kind of stuff. Besides you always said blue brings out the color of my eyes.”
*Bats eyelashes*
“I guess it’s better than pink,” he managed.
For me, getting blue highlights in my hair was simply another form of self-expression. A statement that I like to be different. That might explain my disappointment at seeing another woman with a big blue streak in her hair the same color as mine the last time I went ballroom dancing with my partner. Not to worry, we stayed on opposite sides of the dance floor.
But there’s another reason for blue.
I have had an interesting relationship with the color blue since my mother’s passing two years ago. She died on September 6, the day of her 68th birthday. While I was never drawn to the color blue before her death, I found myself proactively looking for anything blue after she died. Blue decorative bowls to set around my house. Blue hand-towels for the bathroom. Blue clothing and jewelry.
For these last two years I’ve looked for ways to bring more #blue into my life….
— sheila callaham (@SheilaCallaham) September 3, 2015
Blue was my mom’s favorite color, as you might already have guessed.
Mom would have loved my blue-streaked hair. She was fun like that. If she were living, I know the two of us would have gone to the salon together for fashion color hair.
The color blue carries a variety of symbolic meanings. In my culture, it most often symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, and truth. All wonderful words to associate with my mother’s life.
It is also interesting to note the different meanings of blue in countries around the world. Did you know that in Belgium, blue is for a baby girl and pink is for a baby boy?
Now that I think about it, maybe getting blue-streaked hair was more about my mother than anything else.
My heart still pines for her, of course.
Every day.
I guess it always will.
In celebration of my mother’s life, here’s a photo taken of us the spring before she died. I decided to give both of us blue hair, because I know she would have rocked it!
I love you, Momma!
Sheila Callaham is an author, motivational speaker, and life coach.
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