"In another thread, we were getting onto a topic about whether changing our outside ever really has an effect on how we feel about ourselves: our self-image, self-esteem and self-worth. Sometimes mixing it up with a new haircut, or a flashy new outfit can give us the boost we're looking for but for things that run deeper, can changing external things about ourselves give us an internal shift?
I'll start: when I was younger, I would always chop off my hair at the first sign of angst. Breakups, school stress, you name it; whenever something was feeling off in my life, reaching for the scissors (I was oh-so-punk in doing my own hairstyles for a five year period
) would give me a new feeling of lightness. It wasn't until too long ago that I found out that shaving one's head or cutting one's hair short was a symbol in the Buddhist tradition for a new beginning - you were clearing out the cobwebs from an old life and starting fresh. Nazarite vows from Old Testament Judaism are a similar mode - one wasn't allowed to shave or cut the hair until the vow was fulfilled, and then at the end all the hair would be cut off and offered to God as a symbol. That said, usually the haircut (in my case) was accompanied by some other deep processing, so for me it felt like the external change was a reflection of the internal change.But do other things, like more makeup, or spending time at the gym, or plastic surgery (elective cosmetic surgery is on the rise now, for example but that also includes things like breast reductions) promote changes in how we view our body images? Let's get a discussion going on how our internal and external self-images mesh or clash, and whether it matters, and all teh attendant questions that come along with it. It's a bit of a big topic, but I think one worth having, so let's have at it!"