I have a long history of wrestling with my hair and forcing it to submit to a particular style by almost any means possible.  I am not an “au naturel” kind of girl.  

It all started back in 7th grade when I got my first spiral perm.  Yes, I came of age in the late 1980’s when perms were very popular.  Around that same time, I can recall sitting on the bathroom counter, looking in the mirror while styling my hair and vowing I would do whatever it took to make my hair look good every day for school.  No bad hair days allowed.

I broke my “no bad hair days” vow a long time ago, but I never really let my hair go natural unless I am at the beach or confined to bed because I am sick.  I will even go so far as to admit that I cringe a little when I am having a good hair day and it gets “ruined” by the rain or snow or by wrestling with my kids, etc.  

Suffice it to say, I really like my current hairstyle.  For the past six years, I have worn my hair in a chin length bob that is slightly longer in the front than in the back.  It has become my “look.”  Unfortunately, it requires a lot of styling products, tools and some “elbow grease” to get it just so.

My routine generally involves shampoo and conditioner, styling cream, my blow dryer, a round brush, a flat iron, hair wax, a regular brush for “teasing” and some hair spray.  Thankfully, I stopped perming my hair a long time ago and have never really colored my hair or this challenge would be a lot harder! 

My grandparents were decidedly more natural with their hair when they were my age.  Each of my grandparents said for as long as they could remember they simply washed their hair with the same soap they used for washing their hands, face and body and they did not use any styling products until much later in life.

When my Grandma Marlene came of age she recalled styling her hair by rolling it in twist ties that were used to hold bags of coffee shut.  My sister, who is a hairstylist, happened to ask my Grandma Pickies before she passed away how she styled her hair as a young women.  Apparently she used to roll her hair in metal rollers that had a clamp to hold them in place.  She also used a steam powered curling iron.  My Grandma Marlene eventually graduated from twist ties to metal rollers as well.

Women (and men) have always had ways of “styling” their hair but there has not always been a multi-billion dollar industry devoted to it like there is today.  It pains me to say this since my sister and one of my dearest friends are both hairstylists but the hair and beauty industry has resulted in a great deal of waste and pollution.  I am sure I could easily find some statistics to back up my statement but I do not think I need them.  All I have to do is look in my own bathroom cabinet and reflect on how many chemicals I have put on my hair over the years which then get washed down the drain only to become a part of the public water system as well as how many plastic bottles I have thrown away. 

It is time to get back to my natural hair. 

My sister cut my hair a couple of weeks ago and although I did not write about it at the time, I implemented my Grandma Challenge of going more natural with my hair as soon as she finished.  I would like to say I immediately started washing my hair and just let it go “au naturel” but it has not been that simple.  This is a big change for me and so I had to make a plan to ease my way into finding my natural hair.

I did a little research and came across a product that claimed it would “detoxify” my hair and restore it to its natural state.  It is made by a company called Terressentials.  The “shampoo” contains organic aloe vera juice, bentonite clay, organic extracts of organic linden flower, organic nettle, organic chamomile and organic shavegrass.  After following their detox program for one week, I now use it to wash my hair every three days or so. 

When detoxifying your hair it can take a couple of weeks for it to return to its natural state which means your hair may become very oily or dry as it transitions.  My hair seems to be more dry than oily and so the ends have been a frizzy mess.  I can only hope a few good haircuts will remedy this problem. 

However, after a few days of frizzy hair, I made an emergency stop at Target for some rollers.  Ideally, I would have liked to have purchased some rollers that were not made of plastic but I was desperate.  I quickly reasoned that unless my kids drag them out to the sand box or I let them fall into the toilet one too many times by accident (a hazard I discovered one day when they rolled off the counter), they should last much longer than any hair dryer I have ever owned.

The rollers have helped with my frizzy ends, but when I first take them out, my hair reminds me of what I remember my Grandma Pickies’ hair looking like after she took the rollers out of her chin-length hair.  On the flip side, my hair has more bounce, “body” and shine than it has had in years because I no longer put any additional products in it to weigh it down.

It is going to take time before I to get the hang of using my rollers.  Until then you may hear me say, ”I have grandma hair!”

This is not a perfect solution but it is an improvement since I am now only using the Terressentials’ clay-based shampoo and a few rollers.  I may try to use baking soda with an apple cider vinegar rinse after my detoxifying shampoo is gone.  I will let you know if and when I do.  At this point, I am not entirely convinced I am not going to go running back to my old hairstyle after a few months of “grandma” hair.

Is anyone willing to join me in this Grandma Challenge?  If your answer is no, I would like to know what you would have a hard time giving up in your current hair regime.  Do you have any good hair tips if you already have a more natural hair style?  Do you have any stories you would like to share about your grandparents?

As part of my two week break from blogging, I spent three days at a monastery called, St. Gregory’s Abbey in Three Rivers, Michigan.  There is almost no quieter place on earth than spending time in the company of monks.

It was just what I needed.

From the moment I arrived until the minute I left, I found myself pondering one thing - the fact that my life has grown too noisy (again).  I knew very little about the blogging world prior to starting my own and while this has been a deeply satisfying journey, it does not fit well into the other parts of my life.

And so it is with a true sense of sadness that I have decided to close down My Grandma Was Green. 

I have struggled with this decision because on the surface it seems my reason is as simple as my life has grown too busy and full.  And in the American culture where a full schedule is praised, personal busyness hardly seems a reason to step away from something.  However, I have discovered that busyness can be and often has been a source of disconnectedness and pain in my life.  Consequently, busyness hardly lends itself to creating a more sustainable and simple lifestyle.

I never took time to define the word sustainability while writing my blog but I think I have started to form a working definition for my own life.  I believe living sustainably means taking only that which I need to live a meaningful, generous and connected life. 

In order to do this I need to be diligent in learning how to distinguish between wants and needs - no small feat in a culture that is saturated with advertising aimed at turning every single thing into a need!  I realize my definition is somewhat ambiguous because the words meaningful, generous and connected can be defined in a variety of ways.  However, when I view sustainability in this context, it puts me on a path of wanting to take less and give more.  It breaks down the walls of my everyday, ordinary life and forces me to consider the well-being of others in each decision I make.

I seem to have a passion for “s” words such as simplicity and slowness.  I am now committed to moving forward in my journey with another “s” word to pursue - sustainability.  Each of these words is connected in so many ways but the tie that binds them together for me is relationships.  I believe I can pursue deeper and more meaningful relationships with self, God, my family, friends, neighbors, community and the world if I commit myself to simplicity, slowness and also sustainability. 

Therefore, I am going to persist with the changes I have made and I will continue to make more changes in the future.  Only now I will have to record my journey in the old-fashioned way - in the pages of my journal, through conversations with friends and family and in the quiet moments of my days.

I am not sure which part of this short journey has been the most important - recommitting myself to a slower pace, my growing awareness of important changes I need to make toward a more sustainable lifestyle, or reconnecting with my grandparents and my own history.  I guess each one is important in its own way.

If you are interested in learning from and connecting to your grandparents or any older person who is significant to you and/or learning about sustainability by looking to the past, I would encourage you to make use of the extensive questionnaire developed by Virginia Allee called, A Family History Questionnaire.  It proved to be an invaluable resource in asking my grandparents to share their story.  I trust you will find the same.

Thank you for all of your support in this endeavor.  I have learned a lot and will continue to be inspired by the stories I have read and by those individuals who are making great changes through the blogging world.

Goodbye for now,
April

Today is an anniversary of sorts for My Grandma Was Green.  I have been writing this blog for exactly three months and have managed to see my way through twelve Grandma Challenges. 

It is time for me to pause.

The chair in the picture is my favorite reading chair.  It is tucked into a corner in my living room next to a table with a lamp.  I love to sit in this chair at night when the house is quiet and my kids are in bed.  It is a precious moment of the day when I can read, reflect and rest.

I have not been able to sit in my favorite chair nearly as much since starting My Grandma Was Green.  I am okay with that since I knew this would be a season of action.  However, I do feel the need to take a little break in order to rest, regroup and reflect on what I have learned so far.

Stay tuned for for my next post on Tuesday, October 7.  I will share some of my reflections and return with a new set of Grandma Challenges as well as some updates on the ones I have already implemented. 

In the meantime, please continue to collect your best “grandma” stories and dig around in the archives if you are new to my site.  Although I am taking a little break, feel free to leave a comment or drop me a note at april@mygrandmwasgreen.com  I will still check my site and take time to respond to your comments and stories!