My response to recent stresses was to YOLO my hair.
Yesterday I went down to Salon Sugar, got a pretty wicked awesome undercut and dyed my hair a smokey lavender. Well. I didn’t. Kim Resnick did it. It took about five and half hours, Molly came to visit, and Kim was a TROOPER, as always.
I’m sitting at work waiting for people to filter in and out of my office and side-eye me, but you know. YOLO, dudes. Harsh ye naught my shine.
Other humans might question the wisdom of a rather exceptional haircut and non-natural dye color whilst in the middle of some pretty major career development and change. I get that, to a certain extent. However, here’s the thing:
One of the things I’m hoping for in a future employer is a lack of f*cks given about the non-essential. I have tattoos. Some of them are visible even while wearing my (really cute) clothes. I dress the way I dress, which is to say RARELY IF EVER PANTS and a lot of colorful cuffed thigh high knit socks. I layer like a bawce. I always look professional, but I don’t ever look conventional. My work wardrobe is my actual wardrobe. Everything is black, white, grey, navy, or shades of purple and red. I wear quirky shoes and accessories. If I’m going to give someone eight to ten hours of my life five days a week, I’m going to be myself during those hours and not stress out about looking like other people or meeting trivial expectations about what it meeeeeeeeeans to be a career woman in her thirties.
My mum always told me, “Dress for the job you /want/ to have; not the job you do have.” THANKS MOM GOOD ADVICE!
The job I want is a job wherein people are like, “GIRL HAS SOME BRAINS Y’ALL” period, full stop. I’d like to land at a smaller company or hip start-up that supports a creative and happy and smart hive of awesome individuals. I’d like to have the freedom to work from home (or, you know, Portland). Moreover, I’d like to live in a world in which people’s appearances are not newsworthy. I am being the change I wanna see in the world, here people. My work product, my skills, and my talents speak for themselves. I work hard and smart. I hope to meet with employers and clients who look at my accomplishments and aptitude and say, “This is the person we want addressing our needs,” and then, you know. Hire me. To do the thing.
So yeah, I’m basically a blackberry flavored marshmallow peep now. I totally love it, and it was exactly what I needed to do to feel like I get to be myself, have power, make decisions and execute change.
YOLO, betches.
I could hide my own Easter eggs. 