Just because you have purple hair, that doesn't make you a non-conformist

It may have been true years ago that someone with freaky hair, piercings and visible tats was clearly a free spirit, an individual, a non-conformist.

Nowadays, don't count on it. Locked within a social structure hierarchy defined by their peers, someone who wouldn't dare be seen without their rings and studs for fear of looking ridiculous is as trapped and conformist as the man in the canonical gray flannel suit.

I say this because I just read a blog post (linkage withheld) which urged its readers to strike out, to blaze new trails within their own hearts, to become that blue-haired, dragon-tattooed non-conformist they always wanted to be.

The color of your hair is the least of your worries, friend. Freedom begins and ends within your own soul.