First, apologies to The Stranglers for my unforgiveable use of their terrific song in the title of this post. It’s in a good cause, honest…
Movember has finished. From our gallant team, only 3 Mo’s still remain (and 2 of those are on habitual wearers of The Facial Hair). While the start of the month was fun, a novelty experiment eliciting laughter and quizzical looks all round, the second half of Movember proved to be something altogether more interesting. A few phenomena became apparent…
- We got competitive: the Mo stylings became more considered, with mutual appreciation and grudging admiration frequently displayed
- Grooming standards definitely rose. We work in a fairly casual office, in which daily shaving is not at all de rigeur. But the Mo’Bros took time to show their new facial adornments off at their best. I hope our partners were all proud…
- The ‘joke’ part of our appearance started to be overcome by a new ‘normalcy’. Towards the middle of the month I became a bit concerned about how strangers, shopkeepers et al might react to me. But as the Mo’s took shape and form, became established, we grew more confident. They were now part of us.
- Perhaps that self-belief fuelled an increasing number of comments from my friends that “it suits you” or even more silences from people who thought it was just a personal choice, a ‘new look’. I wasn’t sure then, and I’m still not entirely sure what I think about that. Without wanting to insult anyone who chooses to wear a moustche like the one I cultivated (pictures below), Iam slightly worried that people ‘liked it’. I got into the spirit of things, I almost took on a new character, but it wasn’t me.
- At the risk of giving away too much intimate information, I didn’t enjoy kissing my wife as much with the Mo. I know she wasn’t impressed with my look or with the kissing. Put simply, it didn’t feel right. It was bristly, rough, and it got in the way.
- Our team at The Real Adventure developed a strong sense of solidarity. Conversations were more open, with more laughter. The spirit within the building rose. Between us, we’ve raised over £3,000 for Prostate Cancer charities.
- Now that the Mo has gone, I definitely feel like myself again, although it has taken a few days to realise that this is the normal me, and the absence of a hairy upper lip is the rule, not the exception. Apparently I look younger, and less like a serial killer / farmer / WW2 pilot. You can be the judge of that…
You can still sponsor my efforts post-mo-mously (ouch!) here, and view the full story of my Movember transformations (including a portrait of me alongside Harry Potter, drawn by my 5-year-old daughter, and a short-lived experiment with a pencil-Mo) on my facebook album…
Thanks to everyone who has supported me, laughed at me, encouraged me, sponsored me, and especially to Rachel for putting up with the-man-who-used-to-look-like-my-husband. It was in a good cause.
[...] took part last year along with a group of colleagues at work, with some striking results. We raised over £3,000 between us and had more than a little fun at the same time. We’re [...]
[...] scale, a jokey conversation at work transformed into more than a dozen of us taking part in Movember, growing slightly dubious facial hair and raising money for charity. I raised over £500 out a team [...]
Sterling effort Chris! We were well impressed not only with the moustache but with all the money you raised. You showed the ‘boys’ how it was done!