Whilst scrolling through my daily news feed this morning, I came across the story of Lonni Pike. Lonni is a 56-year-old social media ‘influencer’ who goes by the name of grayhairandtattoos online. She posts really positive messages and unsurprisingly has tattoos and has stopped dying her hair, so it’s now gray. She comes across as something of a free spirit with a really positive mindset and dresses in what some would call ‘trendy clothes’. For example, Dr Marten boots, Levi jeans and a t-shirt. Where’s this going I hear you ask?
Well according to comments made on her social media accounts, she is too old to be wearing such clothes! Ageism is still alive and well. We all know that people are very brave when they are sat at home and can hide behind their keyboards, I believe ‘keyboard warrior’ is the term, I very much doubt these people would be brave enough to say such things to her face. However, Lonni replied to the comments with good grace, explaining she really didn’t care what other people thought. She also said that these types of comments can stop people from wearing what they want and can make people become very insecure about their appearance. With 26,000 comments, clearly this is a view shared by many of her followers.
What a great example of a Boldie, living life on her terms and proving that age really is just a number. The opinion of others really doesn’t matter when you are comfortable in your own skin and enjoying your life, your way.
Lonni has her own blog which can be found here, with the strapline ‘I might be older, but don’t call me old’. As you might have guessed, we are fans, the world needs more Lonni’s.
Lonni’s Instagram and TikTok accounts are @grayhairandtattoos if you would like to see more.