I think I am at the 'let myself go' phase in life. I have a hair cut that kind of takes care of itself. When I go out, it is mostly to a barn. Or a yard to roll in soil. I do like to get my fingernails clean. I haven't worn a girdle since I was 20, pantyhose since....? Nail polish or lipstick maybe 50. I guess I would be embarrassed mostly because my house does not look like one from House and Gardens anymore. I work on it but not fast enough to keep up.
As a teenager, I was very self-conscious. You know the definition of teenage angst: The football team goes into a huddle at the game and you just know that they're talking about that zit on the end of your nose. These days, eh, I clean up pretty well, but I'm not putting on a show anymore. You get to my age and you're invisible to most people anyway.....
I was very self-conscious as a kid. It got worse in college and early business life. I used to choke up whenever I had to speak in public. Maybe I should say try to speak. I usually made a mess of it in college. It got worse in business life where I had to take tranquilizers to manage the fear. After reading a lot about public speaking, I learned that it was the second biggest fear after the fear of death. However, a few minutes ago, I googled to check the latest about public speaking. The answer surprised me. Here is the latest: --------------------------------- --------------------------------- For business reasons, I knew had to do something about this debilitating fear. So, I signed up for a Dale Carnegie Public Speaking Course. If I remember correctly, the course was once a week for 14 weeks. The first couple weeks were hell, but then there was sea change in my attitude. The class sizes were around 40 people. Each meeting, I and every other student had to get up and speak a couple times and in some cases do something unusual. Some of the speaking assignments required making a complete fool out of myself in front of 40 people. But so did everybody else, so we were all in the same boat and actually began having fun. Making a complete fool out of myself in front of 40 people was like magic. It got me over my fear of public speaking. I have heard that the current Dale Carnegie course has soften a lot. They no longer do the wild crazy stuff that I went through. Bottom line: I'm okay now as a public speaker. Butterflies, yes to some extent, but longer the crushing fear of having to speak in public. Since I retired, the only public speaking I have done is at my daughters' weddings. I usually tried to bring in some humor. The best joke I ever used was at my second daughter's wedding where the reception was held at a clearly very expensive club. The groom and I were sharing expenses. After welcoming the guests, I said, "The groom and I agree that this wonderful reception is going to open a new chapter in our lives. We are going to call it "Chapter 11". That brought down the house with laughter, I can still hear it.
Not big on dying, I went to Missouri Auction School to learn aucitoneering which one must do in front of some people. After doing some auctions, my oldest had a bring a parent to class day to tell what we did for work. Hubby worked in a factory and could not take off. So I went to talk in front of a class of high schoolers. Someone asked if I got nervous in front of people doing auctions. I said sometimes. But I did not get nervous speaking to them. Because, the only person who might get embarrassed by my speaking there would have been my daughter.
And you're asking a man who don't wear socks if he's Self-conscious. Seriously tho, today you see a lot of young men dressed in expensive suits and not wearing socks with their shoes. People today have a need to be noticed I guess. Me I don't want to deal with swelling in my ankles, and besides the cat's don't care. I was swarmed this am feeding them because I ran out of canned food so I chopped a frank up and gave them some dry food, the poor little guys must not be getting enough to eat. I went to the store to stock up later and fed them really good. I even put out some dry food on the porch so they could eat before any rain might get here. The little calico is beginning to trust me now and will come up close to eat because he is not welcomed in the other little group. There are cats everywhere, I hope they're tough because when it does get cold here it is miserable.
I am self-conscious any time I get an experimental haircut. I think it looks best longer, but longer is hard to keep Yesterday I had my hair cut to copy the Charlize Theron pixie cut. She looks great in my opinion and I had seen several older ladies that rock the cut, so I got one. Here is what my hairdresser was shooting for, but since I am not young and don't have nice small ears and a small cute nose like Charlize does, I am a bit self-conscious about my current result. I used a program to turn Charlize's hair gray in hopes of getting a better visual of how mine might look and give my hairdresser a better idea of what to do. Hopefully, when it grows, some minor adjustments can be made to give it a better look.
The 'do looks pretty close to hers, Faye. Looks like she might have some "low-lights" in her part since it's darker there. I'm sure you'll enjoy the easy upkeep. Looks great!
@Faye Fox, give yourself some props. It's a cute cut. Play around with it, you know, make-up, dangling earrings and take some selfies too.
I used to see a therapist when I felt self-conscious. Now I just stroll around Walmart, and I feel fine about myself.
I cut my hair several months ago and it will never be thick again. I like it because a cheap pair of clippers saves me a ton of money for something that doesn't help me one iota. Now I have to admit when you get to the back it don't look so Ranch o Grande. I can't see very well without reading glasses and for some strange reason those bathroom kittens jumped high enough on my vanity to destroy my hanging mirror. It don't look so bad but it is very hard to clip your own hair in the rear, even with those special clips that only allow pre set lengths to be cut. Looks like about 10 miles of bad road in the back but then who cares.
We had to take a quick trip to the shops today for milk and few other essentials , while in there I walked past 3 females who were dressed in some of the skimpiest bikini’s you’d ever see. and believe me the 3 were not skinny ..no I’m not body shaming just stating a fact. I’ve seen plenty in their PJs but never that daring in Bikinis ..oh well…this is in a town of about 6.000 residents (lots of tourists here ) till at least the end of Jan when school returns for 2023 I suppose one has to allow / accept freedom of ..whatever now days …..in a county town supermarket ….but I really had to hold my tongue from saying the beach swimming area is just down the street. . I remember the days where you would have to have sleeves in a top and a hair net when dealing with any types of food let alone seeing them helping them selfs to non packaged / help yourself cakes and bread rolls. In a pull out sliding drawer type of thing where brown paper bags are supplied to put your choice of roll or cake in . Hubby noticed as well
I have 3 brothers. My father used to cut our hair. We'd take a chair outside to there was no mess to clean up, he'd get out the electric shears, and in 5 minutes we'd all be done. My hair is very curly, very thick, and it grows real fast. In retirement I may go a couple of months in between haircuts, so it's not that expensive for me to pay a barber. As a bonus, I get to catch up on the town gossip. I just got it cut last Thursday and my barber was talking COVID, politics, and a bunch of other hot-button issues. She had the scissors in her hand and kept waving them around in my face. I took them out of her hand, put them on the counter, and told her she could have them back when we finished discussing viruses.
Yeh, I'll bet It is disappointing to see all standards (and self-awareness) tossed to the ground, though.
I like to take pride in my appearance but I don’t dress flashy just mainly long black pants ( not tight tight but not baggy either) and usually a nice top that’s nothing frilly or revealing . In summer I wear a nice skirt and a top usually a jersey type of fabric for comfort . I’ve never dyed my short hair so it’s getting pretty shiny silvery / white in the front but still a bit darker on top I usually only wear earrings or a necklace and or a bit of makeup if we are going to a dance, so I’m not much of a Jewellery wearer/ make up user