Ridiculously Long

-
I felt the wind blow through my hair today. While this may be a very ordinary occurrence for most people, it certainly wasn't for me. I have worn my hair ridiculously short for the majority of my life. The last time the wind would have been able to blow through my hair? December 1990. So, yeah... It's been a minute.

Last night I caught sight of something in my peripheral vision and it scared the crap out of me. Until I realized it was my hair. Again it's been the better part of two decades since I've had visible hair. Sure, I've let my bangs get a little long and they'd fall in my face, but long enough on the sides? No way. Never.

I started shaving my head two years ago. It was on my Bucket List so a couple friends and I took care of it. Then I liked it so well that I just kept shaving it. It's also a lot cheaper than paying for a haircut, given that I own clippers and can do it up myself. As surprising as it may seem, I always got compliments on my shaved head. Now, it wasn't shaved shaved, like to bald. I used a #2 guard on the clippers so I was left with some hair. Just not much.

One day a few weeks ago, I decided not not shave my head. I wanted to, but then didn't. Then I wanted to again, but didn't. And again. And again. I suppose now I'm 'growing it out', though I threaten to cut it every day. I keep telling myself that if a day goes by that someone doesn't compliment my 'long' hair or plead with me not to cut it, I'm shaving it. No question. Experiment over.

I really don't know why I want to try having longer hair (I can't say 'long' because it will probably never, ever, ever get to that point). Maybe I want to bust yet another stereotype. Or maybe I just want to be someone people don't think I am. Or maybe I'd like to surprise my mom by having a little hair when I see her in a few months (oops... Mom, sorry if I ruined the surprise). For whatever reason, I'm letting it hang in there.

It's really day-to-day. I am rapidly becoming my very own pet peeve over this (M pet peeve? People who bitch constantly and never to a damn thing about it). I whine and whine and whine. Sooner or later someone is going to tell me to shave it just to shut me up. If I'm honest, I'm looking forward to that day. Because I hate this hair. Hate it. You know how much shampoo I have to use? How much bed-head I endure every morning? And how damn long it takes this mop to dry? I have no idea how people put up with it. I can tell you that as soon as this experiment is over, I'm going back to my old ways. Just me and the #2 guard. Call me GI Jane. You won't offend me. I kinda like it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Biggest Fan

-
It comes for all of us. If we're lucky. Right now, I'm not sure I feel lucky, but I know in the days, weeks, months, and years to come, I will come to realize that I am. Or I was. My parents are elderly, eighty-four and ninety-two. From where I'm sitting at the moment - my mother's hospital room - it's doubtful that my mom will reach tomorrow, much less eighty-five, So here I sit. And write...while  my biggest fan lays a few feet away snoring like a freight train. Her snores mean she's still alive so rather than drowning them out with music, I listen, Intently. Because each one could be her last. It's the drugs - her pain was pretty severe - making her sleep so soundly. These same drugs, the ones that keep the pain at bay, may also hasten her death. Her decision. She's been kicking cancer's a** for the past seven years. My mom's no sissy; she can endure. But this isn't the cancer, the known quantity. This is an aneurysm, a ticking time bomb...
Read more

Ironic, Actually

-
A couple days ago, I posted my first ever vlog. It was  just me reading an old blog from December 2018 called, "Courage, Actually." I chose it specifically because it's about accepting life's challenge and fearlessly stepping outside your comfort zone. Making and posting a video of myself was a big step outside my personal comfort zone - in fact, I have long said it's something I would never do - so I felt the topic was timely and appropriate. Reception of the vlog among my Facebook friends and followers was immediately positive. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Courage for the win. I worry, though, that I have falsely painted myself as some courageous-comfort-zone-and-fear-defying crusader. In reality, that's just not me. Not these days...and I think it's time for me to come clean. It's kind of ironic, actually. And hard for me to admit. This might be the barest I have stripped myself in a long time. For the past few months, I have been mired in ...
Read more

Be That Person

-
 A friend texted me last night. Her almost twelve year old son is starting middle school today and she was more than a little stressed. I guess it's somewhat normal for parents to be nervous about such milestones in their children's lives. I mean sixth grade means a bigger school, perhaps switching classrooms, more complex homework assignments, etc, etc. I'm sure there's also some wistfulness about the whole thing. The "My baby's growing up" kinda thing. My friend's concerns last night (and again this morning) were far larger. You see, her son is different. He always has been. Not only is he on "the spectrum," he also has Tourettte's. And he's on the fringes of non-binary. Plus, he lives on the border of Texas and Arkansas in a place that is far from open-minded and falls just below marginally accepting. This is the land of conservative politics (ie Trump), gun rights, big religion, and the concomitant "family values" that i...
Read more