Gray

My husband took this picture on my 40th birthday to show me that I was in fact having a good hair day.  Yes, after almost 19 years of marriage, I have trained him well! J  The funny thing about this picture is that (zoom in), you can see my untamed gray hair—you know, those hairs that seem to stand up no matter how much hair products you use.  The fact is that I actually love my gray.  And yes, I will most likely think this even after most of my hair is gray.  You know why?  Because, to me, gray represents wisdom, depth, maturity . . . and frankly, all the blood, sweat and tears one has lived through.  I’m learning that this is life.  Just like those stray, rough, funky, untamed, defiant gray, life has become a journey through which to navigate through all those pieces.  Richard Rohr, in Falling Upward:  A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, says, “the first half of life is to create a proper container for one’s life . . .The task of the second half of life, is quite simply, to find that actual contents that this container was meant to hold and deliver.”  As I navigate through this second half of my life, I have a feeling that the gray—the rough-around-the edges, hard to control pieces—are part of my “contents,” the pieces of my life that I will not only accept, but that I will embrace. 
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