Fleeing Locks

What is it about women and their hair?

I’ve had all sorts of hairstyles from the short (once, my little sister did mistake me for a boy) to the long (far too long- it was 1995-1996 when Alanis Morrisette was huge. Everyone thought I was trying to look like her.)

But, I always tried to be the girl who didn’t care about her hair. I never grew an attachment to any of my hair styles. I always tried something different every 6-8 weeks with my hair stylist. For me, this turned into a sort-of creative outlet.

For whatever reason, I really wanted my hair to be long when I got married. So, I attempted to grow it out, and have continued to do so over the past 2 years. For those of you who do not know, I’ve got t-h-i-c-k hair.

(Don’t even remind me of the haircut I received at 19. My friend, in hair school at the time, gave me her first haircut. The cut's length ended right in the middle of my ears. Remember I said I have thick hair? It’s partially curly too, so my head looked like a giant triangle.)

Where was I? Oh yes, over the course of the past two years, my hair’s grown incredibly slow. It’s gotten stuck and refused to grow any further. Which is fine, but in my head, I had a goal:

I want my hair to fall just below my shoulders.

Then, I started watching ‘Heroes.’

Anyone watched it? (Not as great as ‘Lost,’ but the storytelling is very smart and the characters have super-hero powers.) Jeff and I have turned into 'Heroe'-crazed fans. We watch at least 2 episodes a night. And, in doing so I’ve been consumed with ‘Heroes’ images, and fell head-over-heels for this haircut:

(That’s Norah Zehetner; she plays Eden. She was also in the movie ‘Brick’ and was in the short-lived drama ‘Everwood.’)

Jeff, too, loved this haircut. So, in my head, I’ve been mentally preparing myself—Should I go back to short hair? But, what of my goal? My hair has yet to reach my shoulders…

See? What is it about hair? All of a sudden, I felt a real loyalty to my long locks. Sure, it drives me crazy some mornings, and it’s a pain to wash, but it has been growing… and, all of a sudden I want to chop all that hard work away?

I felt like I would betray my own hair.

But, as fate would have it, guess who had a hair appointment today at 5:00?

So... I jumped. I went for it.

Last night- this was me:

Tonight- this is me:

Although, I didn’t keep my goal to myself, or to my hair, I did it. I let those loyalties flee, and I feel free. (5 pounds lighter too.)

Now...!

if I could just figure out how to style it.