I wished that hair wasn’t so important, but it seems that it is. All kinds of hair. The hair on our heads, legs, underarms, eyebrows, mustaches and chins along with any other spot on our bodies where society has deemed only a certain amount acceptable. There are millions of dollars spent every year by people and researchers all trying to figure out how to take hair away, or put it back on.
I wish I were immune to that part of society, but I’m not. I know that hair is just hair and that for most people, including me, it will grow and I can cut, shave, pluck or trim it as I see fit. It shouldn’t define who I am, but hair does play a large part in how we are viewed by others.
If I were to sport a true 1980s mullet, I’d be seen as dated, not-with-it, hiding in my past or some other similar thought. If I had long, flowing, curled hair, perfectly put together every day and right on trend with the current movie stars, then society may judge me as shallow, selfish, conceited or assume I’m mean. Fortunately, I’m neither.
I have a lot of hair. The older I get the more it grows where I don’t want it to but one thing has stayed the same, I have a lot of hair on my head. Well, not so much at the moment since it’s rather short, but it is very thick and that makes it very, very hard to find anyone who can cut it without making me look like a stereotypical, middle-aged, Midwestern, soccer mom. It doesn’t help that I’ve mostly resided in the Midwest and very few people want to stand out with their hair around here. A lot of people kinda look the same. Not bad, just rather similar and I don’t want to look average or like anyone else.
So yes, hair is very important to me. So much so that after living in a new place for a year and having multiple bad (I mean bad!) haircuts, I decided last weekend to make an 8 hour trip to my former residence and see my old hair stylist. She’s only one of two people who has ever really been able to cut my hair in a manner which makes me feel stylish (not trendy, stylish) and I don’t feel like a stereotyped soccer mom (I’m not that either!). So yes, I spent the gas money and paid more for her services to get something cut right so I can feel good enough to work on the rest of me. I’m overweight, not in a job I like, living in a rental house that drives me nuts, trying to figure out which path to create for myself from this point in my life to the next. So yes, I needed a good haircut to help me feel a bit better. Given my practical upbringing I feel rather guilty about making such a superficial trip given that there are many bigger problems in the world than my hair, but I’m starting to learn that it’s ok to give myself permission now and then to do what I need to do to take care of my emotional health. And sometimes that just means a good haircut.
