The New Me

This is me--the tired, rundown, grumpy me. Long hair is only attractive if you take care of it. I certainly wasn't doing that. It was usually a ponytail in the morning and I was good for the day. Taking care of two quite demanding children, starting a business, serving in two and a half callings, teaching preschool, attending meetings and training meetings, and trying to keep my house presentable while also putting food on the table for my family at a reasonable time every day, just didn't leave me a lot of time left over for primping. And I admit, it wasn't a big priority because really there is only so much you can do with long hair, and I don't know how to do most of them. I've noticed that there are actually some people that can make ponytails, dare I say, "sexy". I am not one of those people.

So why didn't I get my hair cut months ago? Because of a little goal I had made back in July. I decided I'd grow my hair out to donate it to Locks of Love. I'd run into so many people who had donated to the cause, and thought it sounded like a great idea. I honestly didn't realize how emotionally challenging it would be to complete my goal! Now that may sound a little stupid. Why would growing your hair out have anything to do with emotions?, you ask. Remember, I am a girl, and EVERYTHING has to do with emotions, okay? Here's the deal: My long hair made me feel ugly, out of style, and frumpy. This was a major problem since it directly went against one of my major promises to myself when I got married. I promised myself that I would never let myself 'go'. I didn't want to the kind of woman who wore huge t-shirts and sweats all the time or who didn't wear make up or do their hair. For me, preserving my appearance after marrying and becoming a mother was all about preserving my self respect. So that's where the emotional trauma comes in with the long hair. I didn't like how I looked and felt ugly and unattractive.

So today was a VERY liberating day! The Day of the Haircut! Don't I look amazing!?! And I feel amazing! In fact, I am the most amazing person in the world (at least for today, lol)! (Notice that I am wearing a t-shirt and sweatshirt, lol. But interestingly enough, I discovered that an awesome haircut can make even a sweatshirt look cute. Who knew?!)Tomorrow I am packaging up my 10" ponytail and shipping it off. Even with the emotional ups and downs, I do have to say it was an interesting experience. This may sound a bit weird, but toward the end there, I started taking better care of my hair because I started thinking of it as someone else's hair and I wanted their hair to be nice after the experiences that they'd had to go through in order to need my hair. I can't say that I will ever do it again, but I am glad that I did it at least once. And it will be kind of fun to wonder what part of the world my hair is visiting without me!