A bald man's profile.

So what motivates a bald guy, to get a whole lot of other bald blokes together and ruminate about the joys of being bald.

It is difficult to put a handle on it, as the evolution has been fairly long and protracted. As mentioned in the history of the League, it all started as a bit of a joke. I suppose everyone goes through life wondering what they are best suited for and what their actual purpose is on the planet. What matters and what doesn't. Who is important and who isn't. The one thing I've realised in recent years is that whilst most people are out there chasing monetary rewards, life slips by and we suddenly turn around at some stage and question what really matters in fulfilling all areas of our lives.

That process hit me when I turned forty. I had been a primary teacher for ten years, the bulk of it spent in Physical Education. Feeling closeted by the bureaucracy and wanting to see what existed beyond classrooms, one of a vast array of ideas was unleashed upon the world. This involved an advertising concept which was based upon a shitload of assumptions and minimalist research. The concept failed but it was the catalyst to the establishment of an advertising/marketing business that meant learning the ropes of a business from the ground up and making all the subsequent mistakes along the way. Actually, not all the mistakes because I know if I ever stop making them I stop learning. So hopefully I've made just the rudimentary ones.

So what happened at forty. A mid life crisis? I don't know. Probably more a re-evaluation as to what is important and what is not, under the premise that we are all mortal and only here for a certain period of time. The realisation that this time is actually shortening and the distance of youth is fading causes the inducement of an exam like sense of urgency. The penny dropped when sitting around a camp site with a friend late at night with a drink (a lot of great ideas, philosophising and understanding of the human spirit happen under such conditions). He was bemoaning the constant pressure both from within his family and outside to earn more money. His income as a teacher was a sufficient one but as in most cases, peoples spending rises proportionate to their incomes and we all ultimately want more.

"It's funny you know. I know my parents were never rich. We were clothed and fed. How well off we were, is not what I vividly remember about my childhood. What I remember is the end of a hot summer's day at the beach. Or having a kick out the backyard with Dad after he mowed the lawns on a Saturday afternoon while the footy blared out of the radio. I want to provide my kids with experiences that they will remember."

He had just articulated what we all know. It is the vast array of pleasurable experiences we have through life that we fondly remember and use as reference points. That, in all our final moments, is what we will reflect on. Experiences that fulfill our needs for social interaction, acceptance, diversity, love is what we all seek but are constantly caught up by this conflicting with the pressures to have more and more. Success in today's society is most often measured by monetary reward. But as Ben Elton pointed out in one of his literary pieces, we all have only one dick and one stomach. There is only so much either can cope with at any one time

Memories of experiences are far more enduring when they can be relived. To relive them we usually have to share them. To be part of a wider group enables this to happen. How many nights have you repieced and relived the next morning, day, week or tens of years after the event with friends.

So with the coming of this realisation came the re evaluation of what I was doing as a job. I heard a vocation expert talk a couple of years ago about teenagers selecting subjects for their anticipated careers. It has always astonished me this process. We ask adolescents to choose subjects for a career they want to occupy. How do most adolescents know what they want to do when the majority of adults have no idea and these adults have already had experience of the work force? My decision to originally pursue teaching was based on the amount of available girls at an introductory union night. The vocational expert's push was simply to select something you love doing. It may be a hobby or something you are very good at. I thought the advice fairly well grounded. How can you enjoy life if you don't love what you are doing.

Hence the League. I have always loved organising events and pursuits for people where they enjoy an experience, whether it be canoeing down a river or a staged social night. The League that started off as a joke around a BBQ could fulfill a need for bald guys and allowed me to apply skills learnt within marketing and teaching. Most of all it enabled a proud bald guy like myself the opportunity to meet and share enjoyable experiences with lots of other proud bald guys. To be part of a group who love to enjoy life and declare that they love who they are, even if they are bald.

Go you bald man!
Cheers,

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Stephen Espenschied

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