on a personal note
it is a good idea to take stock of one's life periodically. not so much that we become entirely self-focused and paralyzed by inaction, but just enough to stop and say "do i know what am i doing and where i am going? should i keep doing it? should i change and do something else?"
i am in one of those times right now, and there is a seriously large issue on my mind that needs a seriously large answer. on the one hand, there is something thats been a part of my life for a few years now. it is something i'm known for, and some people in my life have never known me without it. to separate myself from it would change my time habits, and gather much speculation and comments from people around me, in a time when i might not want that much attention on that area of my life. i could certainly press on without change, but i'm not convinced that this is the best answer either. to stay the same because of what other people may think is no way to live, but to change for the sake of change alone is an equally vaccuous mode of decision making.
i am, of course, talking about the future of my beard.