My awesome beard is big, and thick enough to hold two pencils. It can hold a 1/4-20 4-inch stainless steel bolt. Also a carabiner.
My awesome beard took 8 months to grow… and I even trimmed it a few times. It got respect in Senegal. Men would motion to the beard and give nods of agreement even if they did not have one – and very few did. One of our friends, Oumar, made a comment of how much he liked it. I looked at his goatee and asked him why he did not grow it out. He shrugged and said it made him look like a terrorist.
I felt like a mountain man. To them it was wise men who had them.
Perhaps the patience it takes to let something grow on your face for this long lends some credibility to some higher meditation. But there was more. Oumar said the ladies loved the beard. I was skeptical until I was walking from the boat on Ngor Island, and two attractive women cat-called me. I turned to see them miming the beard in emphasis. I have worn a lot of facial hair over the last ten years, and that’s the only time its ever gotten that response.
Why do men grow beards? I don’t know. In general it seems like a mark of manliness, and sometimes we just want to rock that vibe. If more than just Senegalese women were into it, I am sure we would see a lot more. That being said, the beard now creeps into my field of vision and, well… I’m ready for a trim.