Greetings from the new guy!

[GettingThere13]

Hi, everyone! I've lurked this forum for awhile and thought I might as well start posting. Here's my story.

First things first, going bald sucks. There's no way around it: our society forces us to believe that we can't be good looking with a balding head. With our Hollywood youth obsession, we can't seem to get over the fact that baldness can be treated like leprosy. That's how I always thought, and even more how I thought when I discovered I had an overall thinning crown a few years ago. I was 25 years old and devastated. My confidence plummeted, my depression worsened, and I found myself spiraling down a mental whirlpool of despair. It didn't help that I was moving to Los Angeles: right into the lion's den of superficiality. I struggled daily with staring down my scalp through the thinning patch on top of my head... examining the disappearing hairline by my left temple. Everyone said "wait, you're balding? I can't tell." But I could tell. It's all I saw in every photo, every reflection. After reading some online encouragement to just "shave it and own it," I bought a set of clippers and buzzed that sh*t off.

At first it was horrible. I couldn't stand how I looked without a "cool hairstyle." I was glad that I had a nice shaped head, but in the glamor of Hollywood, I couldn't get a grip and accept myself. The spiral continued. I buzzed it shorter. The spiral got a little bit better. Then it got worse. Then I fully shaved it off, and I hated it.

But then something changed.

After buzzing my hair to 1/4" or shorter for a year or so, I started to not notice any more. Then, I looked at everyone around me and realized how many good-looking men (and cute women!) there were with shaved heads. At the grocery store. At the local coffee shop. On flights. Everywhere. I also started to notice that no one actually cared that I shaved my head. As a matter of fact, people treated me the same as they always did.

I moved from Los Angeles to Nashville and was happy knowing that every new person I met would only know me as the bald version, not as the "cool hairstyle" version. It became my "look." Part of who I was.

I work in the music industry, and image is extremely important in the entertainment world. While I used to worry that balding would be a career-ender, I now embrace it as my personal style. I have a shaved head, and I'm "that guy" in the band. It has a style of its own, and I wouldn't want to look any other way. When I get off stage, the last thing that anyone in the audience (ahem, ladies) care about is my lack of hair. They care about the fact that I just went up there and put on a show for them. The bald look is a great look for musicians. Paired with a fit body and clothes that fit me well, I look better that I've ever looked before.

I have a shaved head and I like it that way. In hindsight, I can say I haven't lost any sex appeal: I've only gained it. Over time, I had to battle with my confidence, but I came out on top and can now say that I like the fact that I'll never have to worry about styling my hair again, because I have THE most low-maintenance hairstyle you could ever have.

Do what makes you happy: if restoration surgery is what makes you happy, then do it. But I encourage all of you to give the buzz cut a try. You might hate it at first, even for an entire year. But once you get used to it and learn to "rock it," you can learn to love it just like I did. It was hard, but I'm glad it happened because I came out on top.

Greetings, everyone!