- What's up everyone?
Notice something different about me?
That's right, I just saved a bunch of money
on my car insurance.
For those of you watching way in the future
who are watching my videos maybe out of order,
just today, earlier today I long hair and a beard,
and so now I look very different than I did just,
just a few hours ago, and much different from my last video.
And man, the change is incredible, isn't it?
I look, I look so much younger and I look so,
my face is so thin, what the frick happened?
So it got me thinking about appearances and how
as your appearance changes, when you try out new styles,
especially with hair and facial hair,
how it affects how people look at you and perceive you,
and how it affects your perception of yourself.
Because let me tell you, I feel different,
like, it's subtle maybe, but it is profound.
It always gets to a point where with the long hair
I just feel like, I just feel like things
are getting out of control, life is becoming too chaotic
and it's being represented by my hair going everywhere.
And so when I cut it short, now that I've got it back to,
like I look right now like I did when I started my channel,
over two years ago, it's like back to the starting point.
I should just end my channel now
because we've come full circle.
But now I feel much more like in control
and like I can go out there and, you know, do stuff,
I feel like a world beater right now,
whatever that means.
I feel like a weight a weigh has been lifted off of me
and this is the thing about perception though,
is that what do I look like to you all, tell me?
It's sort of like I feel like there are people who,
you all know me 'cause you're my pals, right,
but there are people who probably have looked
at the thumbnails of my videos and seen me
with a beard and/or long hair,
depending on what video they're looking at,
and be like, I don't wanna watch that guy,
what does he know?
That's guys a fricking, you know, hippy, long hair,
at Madison Square, what's up with hat?
So, now people who don't know me when they first look at me
are gonna get a totally different impression
that if they had just seen me yesterday,
you know what I mean?
I mean I look 10 years younger.
The other thing about a haircut is you think that people,
it's like you value people for different reasons
depending on what their hair looks like, let me explain.
When a man's hair is longer,
what do you think about them?
You feel like they're a bit more,
a bit more free wheeling maybe?
Maybe they're a bit more in touch with
the spirit world, I don't know,
maybe they don't care so much about what other people think,
they're okay with bucking social norms,
depending on how long the hair is.
Or if there hair is maybe just a little long,
just a little shaggy but not too bad,
it can make them feel like boyish, youthful, approachable.
And then when you've got, you know, kind of a really
tight looking modern look, what does that say?
It's like, oh this guy is clean-cut, he's together,
does it make me more approachable or less approachable?
I don't know, I mean in some senses the beard being gone
I think makes me look like a bit friendlier,
but to me I think the hair being very
sharp
also kind of makes you a little intimidating
because it's like, oh, this guy is together,
at least from my point of view.
I don't know what the ladies would react like, you know,
because when I'm approaching other men,
not for like a date, but you know, just to say hi, you know,
to be pals.
When I approach a guy with long hair I feel
a little less intimidated because I feel like,
okay, this guy, you know, he's a little bit more mellow
and when a guy's hair is like how I have mine right now,
I get a little bit worried, like this guy is gonna be
a little bit uptight, maybe a little bit controlling,
the way he's controlled his hair, you know,
he might jump all over me if I talk to him.
I'm the exact same guy I was yesterday
but people will have an entirely different understandings
of who I am initially, you know, perspectives
just based on something as simple as how much,
of this dead
follicle stuff
is coming out of my head.
Here's a whole other aspect of hair,
the self-expression element of it and what it symbolizes.
Like when you get a major change of hairstyle
or beard style,
it's a bit shift.
Like there is a thing inside all of your brains right now
that is saying, why did Frank do this now?
What does this symbolize?
What does this mean for him going forward?
And I would think the same thing of you
if all of a sudden you'd changed your hair.
Now I might not think it consciously,
but there's just that feeling of,
oh, this is signal that something is different
or that they're taking a different approach in life.
You know, like, with a woman, if I see a girl I know
and she usually has long hair and all of a sudden
she gets like a boy cut,
that's a drastic change and it's like,
oh, she's trying to say something here,
and maybe it's just something like,
out with the old, in with the new, in general.
And that's sort of how I feel right now but
there's just so much symbolism behind it all.
And for me, like, growing my hair out is just something
I've always kinda done in cycles,
and I think it's just fun to grow your hair out.
And not a lot of guys, it's not that rare,
but it's more common for a guy to have short hair,
and so I like to have long hair just a way of standing out,
a bit of peacocking, you know, to draw attention to myself,
because I need everyone's attention,
you know what I'm saying?
I don't, but the beard was a whole different thing
and if are very familiar with my channel,
you know that I went through a breakup in November
and that's, what do you know, shortly after that
I started growing the beard.
And it seems to me like for men,
growing a beard can be kind of an expression of
I'm going through a rough time,
I'm going through a little bit of grieving right now.
Let me just point out a few.
Paul McCartney after "The Beatles" broke up,
though in fairness he also grew a beard during
the "Let It Be" sessions before they broke up,
but regardless.
Conan O'Brien after the "The Tonight Show"
was taken away from him by Jay Leno, he grew a beard,
coincidence, it doesn't seem so to me.
Al Gore after he lost the presidential election,
dude grew a beard.
It's a way of outwardly showing to the world, as a man,
F this, you know, I my own man, I don't need any of you.
Like, 'cause a beard, especially when you grow it out long,
a long beard is a way of
making yourself less approachable
and it's a way of, it's a signal to everyone else that,
whoa, you better watch out 'cause I can grow a beard.
And if you've ever grown a beard out,
you know that it is,
you just feel, you feel more powerful,
I guess, in a way.
Though ironically I think I feel a bit more powerful now
that I've, you know, cleaned up a bit,
and maybe it's just because now I feel more social freedom,
like I am, I will be more acceptable in other people's eyes,
whereas the power you have with a long beard and long hair,
as a man, is
that you feel solid in yourself
and you feel like, you know,
I am rock, I am an island kinda thing,
and the beard is a symbol that I don't need no one else,
and I'm not sure why that's a symbol of that,
but it's, I don't know, maybe that's just me.
And I had been wanting to cut my hair and my beard
for a while and I was thinking,
I should really link this up
with some major shift in my channel,
but I'm like I can't come up with a shift in my channel,
in my content, that is warranted at this time,
or I can't figure it out fast enough,
and I just wanna get this done with.
But definitely this is a marker,
things are gonna be different going forward
and I don't even know how.
And it's the same for any of you,
if you switch up your look,
it's a symbol, it's symbol that things are different,
even if you don't know how.
I'm the same person, but I look different and,
and some ways I am different,
it's like I'm a different person.
You look at pictures of people
when they have different styles, beard, no beard,
long haired, whatever,
and it's like you're looking at two different people,
or three different people, and in a way they are.
It's so interesting to me to think about
the symbology, you know,
the what does it mean?
What does it all mean?
And are you really the same person
or are you different?
Are you, even though like clearly I'm,
yes I am the same person,
but what does it mean when you change how you look so much
that you're kind of a different person?
What does it mean?
Let me know in the comments, leave me a detailed comment
about if you've ever changed up your look a lot
and how did you feel?
And also, selfishly, let me know like
what your impression is of me now,
do you think I'm more approachable, less approachable?
Do you think I seem less wise perhaps?
Do I seem more energetic, even though I'm,
I was looking at myself in the mirror, as I often do,
and it just felt like my face was moving around more,
which I don't think it was, it's just you can see it better.
Let me know your impressions.
Thanks for watching, smash like,
watch some other video I'm gonna put here, subscribe.
Till next time, stay cool and attractive.
(upbeat music)