On beards and friendships…

My wife and I took a road trip to Chicago for a wedding this past weekend. Good times were had by all, as it was a mini-reunion of sorts. I posted a bunch of photos via Posterous, which consequently hit a couple major social networks. A few photos revealed that I had let my facial hair grow for roughly a month.

Some friends were shocked when they saw it for the first time, whether in person or via Facebook/Twitter. Yes, it is different for me. Most everyone gave it a thumbs-up (I did clean it up for the wedding, keeping a chin beard).

What’s my point? IT’S DIFFERENT. And that’s okay. Kind of like my DRASTIC career change and decision to move to NC & go to grad school. You’re probably thinking, “Scott, that’s a dumb analogy.”

Yeah, probably, but it’s proof that I can pull something off that I haven’t done in all 30 years of my life. My friends still love and support and encourage me… but if the beard looked stupid, they’d tell me. Same goes for making transitions in life. I’ll get smacked upside the head if I really do something stupid.

So why not try something different? Are you satisfied with where you are in life? Can you make a change? Do you have the means to do a litmus test to see if what you’re doing is groovy? Friends are a great resource for this… especially if they’re as great as the ones below…