That horrible middle ground!

[isleepinthebuff]

As I sat in the bath ten minutes ago, I mused on that merry little go round of 'shall I have hair or not' that pops into my head about once a week.

My hair has come and gone for the last 5 years but for probably nearing two I have been shaving and I know for a fact this year I have shaved every day, usually twice a day. Don't get me wrong, I'd love my old hair and when I see guys on here moaning cos they are bald by choice and "oh shaving it so hard and will my life change?" I'm a bit "meh, you have hair grow it, enjoy it". I know exactly how I want my hair, it's kind of shaved round the sides and lustrious on top, a bit like the British Gymnast Louis Smith. It. ain't. gonna. happen.

So why do I ponder the decision of having hair so frequently? Well you see, I have hair but it's not the hair I want, it's receeding at the front, not that bad and I could probably get a fringe or a quiff out of it but not the fringe or quiff I want, as it's just not thick enough. However, it's at the crown I hate it most. It's thinned and dare I even say it, a bald spot is there, enough that my colleagues would joke about it before I went fully sly. And of course there's the moment on the tredmill at the gym, with the  mirrors everywhere, where I can see the true extent, where with even 24 hours growth, on my work-out before I sly up I can see it! It's a bald spot and sly is the only answer to hide it. Every so often I see guys with great hair at the gym and think, "maybe with the right style" and the pangs of hair envy are there and the thoughts start.

There's a couple of guys I know that are sly, they just have horseshoes to shave now and I find myself also wistfully looking at their bald head's with no shadow , just sleek and smooth and think "why can't I be like that". So here I am caught in that middle ground.... Too much hair to be sleek for long, too bald to have nice hair!

You see I give myself a good shave, a damn good shave, I'm smoooooooth. I went to a barber a few weeks ago for a treat and I shave better than he did. However even when freshly shaved, I can still see that shadow and despite being smooth in the morning by the time I get home from work it's sandpapery, apart from on the bald spot .

Earlier tonight, I decided I may just once more try and grow it, just to see what it would look like and I'd shave the sides till I got a bit of length on top but as I shaved the sides,  I could feel that  tennis ball size smooth area in my head that reminds me I don't have the right hair for hair... and in the main I am happy sly, I'm confident sly but I just want to be MORE sly!

So I shaved, finished my bath and thought I'll post my whinge of being in no man's slyland.

Guys who have hair I am jealous of you
Guys who have no hair on the top of your head, I am jealous of you
I am in no man's sly land! I shall however end this brief moments of growing my hair (today's was an hour) with a razor!
 
 and on that thought.....
Good night!

[stasiu]

Thanks for sharing Mate !

Sometimes I wished I had hair on top to buzz and shave smooth ... isn't life ironic ?

As long as you have that confidence and sheer pleasure of sly ... enjoy the process and progress !

Bald should be your middle name !

[Razor X]

One of my big fears was being stuck in the dreaded "middle ground" indefinitely.  When the hair first starts to go, you keep wishing for the progression to slow down as much as possible.  At some point you reach the stage where you just want the rest of it to fall out.  I started shaving my head because I didn't like the look of an irregular, severely receded hairline.  I wasn't sure that I'd ever reach the stage of just having a horseshoe.  Eventually I did, but by then I'd been shaving for several years so it was somewhat of a moot point.  I will admit that there were occasions that I thought about growing out my hair -- until Mother Nature removed that option for me.   

In all likelihood, you'll never be able to grow hair that you'll be happy with.  And the passage of time will only make it a more elusive goal.  So the best thing to do is just soldier on and keep shaving.   

[Slyest]

Come on mother nature takes the rest! The thing is I know I'll not be able to grow it and In the main I don't want to. I've never really had a problem with being bald, I'd say for at least five years in my twenties I had a grade 0, even tho I had hair.

I think in the main, I want it to go now. I like the feeling of smoothness, it's just frustrating at the end of the day when I can feel it's not smooth and that's when the very short pang of wanting hair sometimes appears!

I'm just one of those people that always wants what he hasn't got - I'm also hankering after a sixpack and guns at the month! Ha ha

[kalbo]

I love reading your "rant" I can relate to what you said about always wanting to have what you dont got. Thank you for the interesting self expression. 

[leighmundo40]

I think that a LOT of us can relate to what you have written about (Welcome back BTW!) I look at other guys with shaved/cropped heads and think "Ok, If Im going to lose my hair I want to lose it like that, not like this!"

[ZachM]

Slyest I am in the same boat.  I recently let my hair go for a week thinking it would look okay if it grew for a couple weeks and filled in but no dice.  It looks pretty bad and is really thinned out on top.  Sides still grow in thick as ever though.  I too see some guys hairstyles that I wish I could grow but I've been shaving my head for almost a year now and am happy the way I am.  So you are definitely not alone in your thoughts.

[jarheadj]

Unfortunately, we can't turn back the clock. I'll admit it, I have a full thick head of hair when I grow it out but kept it shaved most of my adult life due to my military career. Once I retired, let it grow "because I could" however what appeared was not the hair of my youth but rather a very grey reminder that I'm old now. (I'm 44 now). Coloring "helps" however that only lasts a few weeks before the grey starts showing again and in the end, whether receeding or greying, we have to accept the fact that going Sly looks and feels much better so just go with it.