Might as well face it, you're addicted to...long hair.
I’ve had a shaved head twice (not to the skin). It was fabulous. My neck is too fat now for me to do it without looking sad, but I fantasize about it frequently. I met my future husband while I had nothing but a half-inch of mousy brown hair. He seems to have fallen in love, anyway.
The day before high school graduation, I got a haircut.
I don’t remember what motivated me. I changed my hair color frequently, but hadn’t ever done anything drastic with length. Then I did.
I’ve never had long hair since, except a brief foray sadly memorialized in photos from my sister’s wedding. Even my grandfather conceded that I looked better with short locks.
That was 20 years ago. Most of us change as we age, especially if we weren’t terribly happy in those high school years. Who knows how things would have gone without a physical manifestation of variety? All I know is that cutting my hair was the first step toward becoming an entirely different person.
I’ve had a shaved head twice (not to the skin). It was fabulous. My neck is too fat now for me to do it without looking sad, but I fantasize about it frequently. I met my future husband while I had nothing but a half-inch of mousy brown hair. He seems to have fallen in love, anyway.
Getting rid of my shoulder-length hair, I opted for a style like Meg Ryan in French Kiss — playful, easy, short. Life didn’t change overnight, but my confidence grew. I stopped hiding — literally, behind a curtain of hair, and figuratively by staying quiet. I may not have liked how I looked, but I liked my hair. That step forward made a world of difference.
I hate hair touching my neck, especially since I live in the hottest spot in America. I do dream of ponytails sometimes, but little clips do a pretty good job of keeping hair off my face without much effort. People have asked me over and over again if my husband ‘minds’ my short hair. Apparently it is difficult to discern if someone is a woman unless she has flowing locks. I finally asked him while on an endless car trip where he was trapped and had to answer.
“Do you wish I had long hair? I’d be happy to grow it out if you care.”
“You know that video for 'Addicted to Love'? Your hair is hot.”
I don’t slick my hair back in the dominatrix style of my husband’s '80s MTV fantasy, but I’m glad to know I can I ever need to.
I congratulate women when they go to the Dark Side and embrace short hair. Even if you go back, everyone should try a pixie cut or similar ‘do once in life. You’re on display in a whole different way. It might not be comfortable. You might look weird. Hell, you might find out that one of your ears is a lot larger than the other. But the best thing about hair is that it grows back.
Going short pushed me to become the woman I am today. It would have happened eventually, I hope, but a haircut is a whole lot cheaper than therapy or tattoos or a round-the-world plane ticket.
Do it. You know you want to.
