Well, Happy New Year to all my dear readers. I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus through the holidays and am glad to be back at the keyboard. For my family 2011 has been an interesting year. We’ve had personal struggles, changes in careers, and concerns about our family. On the bright side we’ve seen our good friends get married, built deeper friendships, and continue to put food on our tables and a roof over our heads.
I think goals are an important part of growing as an individual and having a goal for beard growth is just as important as other things in my life. I wanted to share my 6 top goals for my bearded related life.
Go for the yeard: I am already past the half way point and on the downward slope toward the yeard (year long beard for those newly bearded). The journey has already been incredible and I’m sure it will only continue to grow as the beard grows. I must fight temptations to shave it as it gets longer, but ironically the longer it gets the easier it is not to shave.
Have a shave off (or not) party: In June I will for sure have hit my 12 month mark. That means I will have invested over 8750 hours in growth and if I decide to shave, I should have a party. But I had a brilliant idea the other day – rather than just the obligatory shave off, why not have my friends compete to decide what I’ll do. We can raise money for charity and the group that raises the most (either shave it off, or keep on growing) will decide the action. Spokanites, keep your eyes peeled for a party this summer.
Represent the bearded community: As a bearded individual it is important for me to present a professional, fun, and clean image of myself. There are many negative stereotypes out there for bearded people and it won’t help if I stink, wear raggy clothes, and am a jackass to others. I will vow to never tire of hearing the same cliches over and over again. In addition to that I will continue to post experiences about my beard growing journey.
Grow the bearded community: There are too many shaven men (boys) out there and there should be a movement toward larger beards. I think 2012 will be the year of the beard and we will see more bearded individuals in mainstream mediums. If I can encourage others online, or even close friends to me to embark on growing a beard it will be a highlight of my year.
Create a beard generator website: Using my artwork from this website I would like to create a custom beard creator for others to use as avatars and profile pictures. Or to just share it around the web. We would allow you to pick out your hair style, beard style, and colors. It’s a good bit of work so may be one of my most challenging efforts. If I get it working I would also like to be able to sell t-shirts with your custom designed beard avatar.
Dip my beard in soup: I have eaten probably 20 bowls of soups since I first ran across http://beardsoup.tumblr.com/ but I still have yet to get the balls to dip my beard in it. In 2012 I will dip my beard in soup and share the love.
I would love to hear what you guys are looking to do for 2012. Will you grow a new style? Take your handlebar mustache out in public? Or finally grow a beard longer than a 1/4″ long?
January 3, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Thanks for your fine work, bearded one. You never fail to bring a smile to my face when I read of your adventures and escapades. I can’t wait for the yeard party.
January 3, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Thanks for the comments, always nice to know there are others out there reading.
January 3, 2012 at 9:10 pm
If only I could grown one…
January 3, 2012 at 9:20 pm
Give it time. You are still young.
January 4, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Your steadfastness to your goal is an encouragement for other guys growing out their beards. One has ups and downs, and one should not relapse to trimming. I share that goal of growing a bigger beard i 2012 and I will be sticking with it. Of course, I agree with you, the growing comes along with a high standard appearance. Take care, Philippe (from Paris)
January 4, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Eric, I really hope that when the yeard comes you’ll consider _not_ cutting it off. It’s such a fine red full beard. Ginger beards are not all that common and especially big ginger beards. If at all possible you should keep it.