I apologize for resurrecting an old thread rather than starting a new one. I just wanted to chime in and say I was you until five minutes ago. Everything down to the obsessive fear of going places where I might be asked to take my hat off. I've missed so much these past five years. Everything you've mentioned, I've lived a thousand times over. I must say that after combing through these forums(no pun intended) relentlessly for the past three days and reading hundreds of stories similar to my own on various forums, it was your post that finally struck a chord with me and prompted me to grab a shaver and go to town. I've been having so much doubt about going through with it. I was content to crawl back into my hole with my hat on. I quite literally stood in front of the mirror for two and a half hours this morning, staring at my head and working up the courage to do it. Finally, something clicked and I did it. Like ripping off a bandaid.
I just wanted to thank you for having the courage to post here and share your story. I hope you've found the liberation you've been seeking all these years. I'm still not sure about how I feel. Better off, would be one way to describe it. But I still need to find myself and grow into my own skin.
Cheers
