Grey Areas
61For months now I’ve noticed that my most-read hub is the one called ‘Going Grey Gracefully’. It’s a trend that has intrigued me greatly. Curiosity piqued, I’ve been making it a point to check my hub traffic statistics regularly and sure enough, at least five people, and often many more, have read the hub since I last checked (which is invariably less than 24 hours). ‘There’s got to be a hub in that somewhere,’ I’ve been telling myself but I haven’t been able to find it yet!
An interesting fact is that most of these readers have been directed there by a search engine. People actually log on to the Internet and search for information on greying gracefully? The mind boggles at the thought! Why would anyone do that? Of all the dilemmas in the world, they need guidance on whether or not to go grey? And then, the poor things, they stumble upon my hub which offers not one bit of advice, sensible or otherwise, on how to grey gracefully! I should be squirming with shame. Misleading the public and all that.
Unfortunately hardly any of these readers leave a comment so I’m none the wiser about why they happened to pass by and whether they’ve decided to go grey, with or without grace. I remember I had a pretty disgraceful time of it, but that stage has passed and now I’m quite comfortable with the grey in my hair. I can even, quite gracefully, laugh at comments about my advancing age and other unflattering observations. Quite frankly, it doesn’t bother me. But perhaps there are others out there who haven’t developed such insouciance yet.
Hub traffic statistics can be very telling. The other two popular hubs on my list seem to be one on the right time for marriage, and another on whether money buys happiness. Apparently these are subjects that bother people enough that they want to check what others have been saying about them.
Interestingly, each of these three topics is so subjective. How can anyone generalise about marriage or money or even grey hair? It would depend on an individual, one would think. How I view marriage is not necessarily the yardstick for anyone else. I may not subscribe to the notion that money can buy me happiness but that doesn’t mean anyone has to take my word for it. Or anyone else’s either. We all have to make up our mind based on our experiences and what works or doesn’t for us. And yet there are people out there searching for information on such matters.
Like a true Libran (or at least that’s what I was till the recent Zodiac reshuffle) I take time to make decisions, weighing the possibilities this way and that. However, the dilemmas are all of my own making and eventually I stop dithering and arrive at a decision. I may occasionally seek advice, but rarely do I follow it. And never would I think of googling as an option. It’s my decision to make and I will get there under my own steam, even if it takes forever! But then, that’s just me.
Why am I protesting so much anyway? I should be glad people are reading my hubs, and if they remain spectacularly unenlightened at the end, they can just move on to the next link their search engine throws up!
There are so many hubs right here on hubpages on how to generate more traffic to your hub and in this case you must have used the right tags.
Actually I have never looked at my hub traffic statistics...meagre that it is..but I really should..it may throw up some interesting insights.
Heading there right now and you work on the tags :P
I had to come back to tell you that my most read hubs were on weight (Hey Fatty Boom Boom) and how to handle a bullying boss.Go figures. :P
As a married man, without money, who is going grey, I am always open to suggestions on how to best survive in that jungle out there... Naaah just kidding. I have now reached that stage were I am happy with my lot and I am always ready to disperse wisdom to anyone dumb enough to ask me for it :-)))
It was about time you wrote a new hub, don't you think?
Is there such a thing as going grey gracefully? I think not but I do admire women who do. I will one day but not just yet, my hairdresser needs me for a while longer.
Hello VS, and thanks for reading! I expect someone somewhere has already researched what people look for on search engines - I'm sure it will throw up some fascinating trends! :)
Diana, if I've used the right tags, it's purely by fluke! And you ought to know by now how obsessed most of us fatties are by our extra kilos! :P
DG, we wise ones have to stick together! Bring on the wisdom! And yes it was about time I wrote a new hub, but the grey cells (such as they may be) weren't co-operating! :D
MPG Narratives, I'm sure there are many who do manage to go grey gracefully - they're the ones who manage overnight dignity. The rest of us just grit our teeth and bear it! :)
What do you do when there's a race going on on top of your head as to whether you will go grey or bald first ?
Also how come men with dark bushy eybrows the eybrows never go grey at the same speed... Or like me the hair receeds at a fair pace backwards leaving you with these two black hairy things lurking on your face....?
Interesting comments you make. Now, I've got to go read your grey hair, marriage, and money hubs. Thanks!
I have tried to "grey gracefully" but then that damnable aisle that contains wonderful things for coloring gracefully proves to be even more tempting. Sad, but true. Could it simply be that your writing is so wonderful it sucks people in and google knows this? Hmmmm. Something to ponder. ;)
I have carefully analyzed for you, FP, why your hub, "Going Grey Gracefully" has attracted reader attention. Here is my reasoning (?):
1) You used the word 'gracefully' in your headline. We all wish to be less clumsy or more graceful.
2) You spell 'gray' with the British spelling 'grey' so U.S. readers haven't a clue and therefore read your hub for enlightenment.
3) Most significantly, you used the tag, 'distinguished,' a trait we all would like to be seen as having more of.
Don't thank me - just send money. :)
It is good to see you back. I would have read any topic you chose simply because I enjoy the way you write.
When I started going gray, I did not do so gracefully, starting at the temples. Instead, I got what resembles a monk's cap at the very top of my head. The rest of my hair is still dark brown. Wierd!
Very interesting about Google!
best way to promote a hub is to write a hub on it.
those cells greyed faster than the hair FP!!!!!
good to see you back.connecting with you always feels very very good.unkempt grey hair or not
Merlin, my husband has the same dilemma, and he's really hoping to see some grey on his head before he goes completely bald! :D
Thanks for reading, Truckstop Sally! :)
Frieda, you are too kind!!! I wish it were as you said but the traffic for the other hubs reveals the sad truth! :D
drbj, your ability to look beyond the obvious is amazing - why do you think I read your hubs with such interest? Your cheque is in the mail! :D
Thank you mysterylady, it's good to be back! :)
neelesh, thank you...and stop letting out all my secrets! :D
Hey Feline, it's good to read your writing again. Some wise guy had said that a writer is much like a baker - it's for her to produce the desserts and for others to devour and enjoy them! When it comes to your baking, I'm happy to be amongst the lot that enjoys the goodies.
On why your hub about greying is more popular than others: It's like the baker wondering why her choco fudge sundae is more popular than the pineapple pudding! How about writing one on going scarlet or purple? That might give the greying one some competition!
You keep making them in all flavours and we'll keep licking our lips and savoring the delicacies.
Dear FP, with the wonderful grey cells/hair and endearingly colorful personality:
It's always very enlightening to read your Hubs.
Pray continue to weave those words and dispense your thoughts....
Cheers!
Jeez, Feline, ... I've been circling this hub for well over 32 hours trying to say something sensible to match the sense that you make here. But ... no luck yet!
Sigh! :)
Jaspal, since I can't bake for real, this is all I have! :D
Rashmi, have I convinced you to go grey yet? :D
quicksand, never let it be said that I forced you to use your grey cells! :D
Thank you all for reading! I promise to give you time to digest this one before I write...er...bake another! :)
nice one fp!!
Thank you minilady! :)
Ah! Got one at last!
Here we go ... "I've been greying disgracefully!"
Can you decipher that? :)
Haha, quicksand, I beat you to that one! :D
I think drbj has hit the nail on the head....greying or otherwise :)
Like a fine wine that develops with time (don't read grey/gray into that!), your latest Hub is worth the wait.
I love how your mind connects ideas. Going grey and Google, no one could have done it as well. There are layers of thought in this Hub that I'll be thinking about for a while. Up and awesome.
I hadn't written a hub for so long, I thought I'd forgotten how to, ST! Thank you for your kind words...deserves a glass of wine, methinks! :)
Welcome back indeed!!
I never have a chance to look at what's doing well or not doing well - maybe that is my problem! I just write it, post it up and leave it to the hubpages gods (so to chance that it actually is working for me).
Definitely we both deserve a glass of wine~! Cheers!
Audrey you don't have the time to check your statistics because you are more constructively occupied writing hubs! My hubs are so few and far between, I have to find something else to occupy my time! Shall we drink to that? :D
Hello FP, once there was a woman who plucked each grey hair as it appeared,put it in a jar and brushed the rest 100 times. Soon the routine became her whole waking existence and she began to lose sleep worrying about how many would be there when she awoke. Finally she went to sleep and dreamed of a very wise, very grey old man with kindly eyes and a knowing smile. "You know why you are getting grey hairs, don't you?" At this the woman replied: "No, does it mean I am growing old and of no longer use to anyone?" She was rewarded with a big smile. "Just the opposite." he said. "The grey hairs mean that you have earned favor with God and that you are one to ask if someone needs wisdom." "I feel so foolish." she said putting her hands to her head. "Tell God I'm sorry I collected the grey hairs instead of wearing them with pride." "Don't worry." he grinned. "God says: 'There's plenty more where those came from.'"
=:)
Great story, Winsome! You do know that I'm wearing my grey hair with pride? Do you think God has noticed? :D
Absolutely. He said not to worry about all those jars in the cellar and your hair is looking exceptionally nice today. =:)
That's a relief! :D
"You do know that I'm wearing my grey hair with pride?"
Congratulations! With that statement you just blew your chances of being appointed brand ambassador for "L'Oreal!"
Shucks! Don't they have anything to enhance grey hair? I could wear that with pride too! :D
... to enhance grey hair? Sorry, L'oreal does not have it. Rolex has, Omega has ... !
LOL...and time ticks inexorably by!
So the secret formula for hub page success is the holy triumvirate of Grey hair, marriage and money. I'm off to scribble some of my own ( subjective, of course) views. You go ahead and show off your grey with pride. Because you're worth it. Oh yes. And grey is the new black. Apparently.
Docmo, I hope you are married, moneyed and grey...experience helps, you know! Waiting to read your doubtless erudite views! :D
haha, this is not what I expected from a hub titled "Grey Areas!" IN fact, I do not know what I expected. I read the title and thought, hmmm, wonder what that hub is about? Fe always comes up with something that gets me thinking. Perhaps Grey Areas are transition points. Wonder what she would say about that? Or maybe she is discussing negative space in cartooning. Possibly, she is revealing those areas outside judgment, like, "I agree with the Supreme Court decision with the exception of the following grey areas..."
Enough said, I enjoyed what you did write. I have not read your grey hair hub, and I find myself agreeing with your assessment of the problem. I am letting my white hairs come in as they please, though my husband finds them disturbing. I do miss having orange hair, but not enough to color it.
Grey hair is a banner, claiming, "Thus far, I have survived!" Too bad advertisers don't see it this way.
Storytellersrus, I had to read this one again to recall what I had written! I should have known it wouldn't contain much useful information! :D
If you read the earlier hub on greying you will see that I suffered through the 'growing out' phase when my hair resembled an ugly, multi-hued mop - I'm sure there were even mysterious tinges of orange! Now that it's settled into its greyness I feel so liberated! :)
Too funny! Amazing what gets us going, eh?
VioletSun Level 5 Commenter 16 months ago
Funny about doing a search on grey hair, but, I am thinking maybe the women (I assume its the ladies who do the search) who want to grey gracefully want some hair tips?
I watched "Inside the Mind of Google" on TV over the weekend, and they said that every single search initiated by users is recorded; can you imagine what it tells about what is in the mind of millions of users.
Enjoyed reading your musings. :)