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I agree with DAXX. Carving neck and cheek lines will clearly show others that you are cultivating a beard and will look perfectly normal to others.

You've got awesome growth there, Margus. I for one would like to see what your beard looks like when it fills in. I'm guessing it will look quite good.

What's the real issue here? Are you worried what others will think of a man growing a beard? If so, who cares what they think? It's your face, not theirs. And likely you don't even know most of the people involved, so why do their opinions matter?

Grow. Looking good so far.

I hear you, Margus. I think we all probably go through that at some point in developing Beard Freedom. We all had to arrive at a place where our desire to grow whiskers is more important to us than what others may think.

It's probably normal social conditioning, actually -- especially for younger men and men with less than full beards. Society has in some ways grown more toward a feminized male, so large numbers of people shun beards. Many men have never actually grown out their own beards. Until recently, I was one such person. And my not letting it grow was based in part on early attempts that looked bad and were poorly groomed.

You just have to get over it, Brother. You clearly have a very fine full beard in the making, so you've got it much easier than guys with less development -- meaning you can get away with it more than most.

It sounds to me like you MUST grow your beard just to break through that barrier and get to the other side of greater self-acceptance and social independence. That is what I would recommend. I predict you will find it quite liberating to wake up one day and truly not care what "they" might think about your whiskers.

Besides, most people won't even notice. Most people are very self-absorbed and caught up too much in their own issues to worry about your facial hair preferences. My guess is that even if you go like you are right now, nobody will say anything. If they do, have fun with it and with them and do not take any of it seriously, because it isn't serious; it's just fun, natural and normal to grow whiskers.

It's not about hope, my friend. To say you "hope" implies that you have little or no control. But in fact, you have total control -- as soon as you seize and claim that control. You are the master of your beardly ways. Nobody but you can truly determine the fate of your beard.

Like Charlie said, it's about making a decision. When you decide, you cut off retreat from other options. Though a 6 month challenge might be too much, I believe an 8-week commitment, to yourself, would help conquer this beast and get you to where you need to be. It may not be easy as you've got some barriers to overcome inside yourself. But once you commit to a "shave date," if your commitment to yourself is firm and you are true to your word, you have left yourself no choice but to get over/through those issues.

I believe the Rules of Beard Acquisition deal squarely with a couple of these issues. You might revisit them with a fresh perspective and a new willingness to take them to heart.

I can tell you quite sincerely that your beard is going to look really, really good when you let it grow out, Margus. The growth patterns and density are definitely there for it to look quite striking in a very good way. I joined the 6 month challenge to break through the same issues you're dealing with. Less than a month left, and I've already arrived. Now, I can grow, or not, as pleases me, regardless of what anyone else thinks. That's a new result, and a good one that sounds like it would be welcome in your life, too. I now believe I'll have some kind of whiskers forever. But if I ever feel like shaving it all off to start over, I will, and I don't care one tiny bit what anyone else thinks about that. That's a good feeling: Beard Freedom.