Bringing Beards Back

I've been clean shaven for the past month. I think it is the longest time that I have kept that going since I was 18 and still in a military high school that forced me to do so. I've had enough though. My beard is coming back. Why? I always told myself it was because I was lazy and couldn't hold to shaving on a regular basis. It turns out that long-held belief is untrue. It's actually just a self-image thing. I have visual and tactile blocks against allowing myself to be clean shaven.

First off, I hate how it feels when I'm clean shaven. I hate rubbing my hands over my chin and feeling nothing but skin; even stubble is better than just plain old smoothness. Nothing is better than rubbing my fingers through my beard when it is grown out enough to do so.

The other reason that I hate being clean shaven is one I didn't expect. It throws my identity off. I never thought about it, but I identify myself as having a beard. I mean, you would probably expect that after having one for the vast majority of a decade. I just didn't expect it to be as different as it was. Looking in the mirror everyday was always a shock. I didn't feel quite right the entire time that I didn't have my beard.

So, My beard is coming back. It won't take that long either. A couple days and I'll be past the stubble phase. By next week, I'll have a full blown beard again. One thing I definitively can do is grow a beard in the way all men should be able to; Fast and Full. Give a month and I could probably pass as a closer for the San Francisco Giants.

In any case, the beard is back in style!