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I'm re-pinking my hair today.
I've gone through phases with pink. When I was a kid, I loved it. I wore as much of it as possible for years. And then I was done with it. I wanted no pink, no hearts, nothing cute or cutesy.
A few decades later, I got over all that and embraced the power of pink again. It's pretty. It's strong. It's what happens when you add white to red. Red is fricking fabulous, so how could I not think that pink is, too?
In thinking about why I gave up on pink—no, why I shoved it forcefully out of my life—I think it had to do with other people's negative perceptions of it that were side-eyed and taunted at me and others enjoying it.
Growing up is not easy. We're mean to each other and ourselves. It's not worth it, all that meanness. I (probably unintentionally) grew up enough to stop some of the meanness and decided to keep growing. I got pink back—and hearts and cute things in general. At some point, I figured out healthy ways to love (Hi, Husband!).
So yeah, my day is about kindness. It's about asking if someone is okay instead of telling them they shouldn't be doing something. It's about not stressing over the details of my cute little pink drawing because the idea and the feeling are more important—and the learning. There's so much learning! And I think today is also about giving myself what little freedom I have inside the stay-at-home-shelter-in-place-wear-your-face-mask-keep-your-distance world so many of us are in for an indeterminate period of time right now.
How long is it until May? I dunno, but I'm soon heading toward it with inches of refreshed Electric Flamingo in my hair.
P.S. There are flowers on my socks.