Long and Short Of It

Some of you know the story of my drastic January haircut but I’ll recap for those that don’t. It’s kind of a fun story AND has some lessons that relate to the subject of this blog which is, I know, a dream come true for all of us.

Saturday January 16 – I had long hair and had no plans of getting it cut. Here’s a picture of how my long hair looked pretty much always.

[Park City Fall 2016. Check out the shadow profile of my nose! Awesome and sharp. Also, I LOVE puffy vests.]

Saturday night – my SIL and I stayed up too late getting more and more serious about the really short cuts I was looking at. We still can’t remember how we got on the subject of hair cuts, much less pixie cuts. I’ve for years wanted to try short hair for ease and potential simplification; my long hair took a fair amount of time to maintain and I wasn’t loving the result and played with it all the time without ever being satisfied with it. But I thought it would need to wait until I moved across country to start a new job so I could be in an environment where no one knew me any other way since I wasn’t brave enough. Yet.

Sunday – I texted a super talented hairstylist friend in Vegas the picture I was considering and asked 1) whether she thought I could pull it off and 2) for local recommendations of a short hair stylist.

Danielle thought I could pull it off and after a while of back-and-forth catching up on life and stuff she (jokingly?) said I could just come to Vegas and she would cut it. I (jokingly?) responded, asking if she was free the next day and…voila! She was! We made tentative arrangements, all with the caveat that I might chicken out but I got more and more serious as the day went on. I right now have butterflies thinking back on the butterflies of that 24 hour window.

Sunday night at midnight – 95% sure I wanted to do this but terrified I’d back out – I put my long hair in a low ponytail and cut it off! No going back now.

Monday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) – left for Vegas at 4am. Napped 2x along the way. The haircut took place with Danielle doing an AMAZING job and us having a great time together catching up.  However, given the drastic-ness of the cut, I cannot believe I did it. And kind of on a whim. That’s not entirely true since like I’d mentioned earlier I’d wanted to try it for a long time. I was mostly afraid of the reactions and of it looking terrible on me. Getting brave and JUST TRYING IT was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. Maybe I should take more risks if a haircut is on the list of bravest/most exciting things I’ve done:)

Here's a picture of the new "do" a few months later. Rain jackets are another of my favorite things:

You’ll get to know my hair (which a girl at work called a unicorn the other day since it’s different just about every day) on this blog, but I’ll spare you any more pictures for now.

What I won’t spare you is some of the things I learned as they relate to drastic hair changes, money and possessions:

1. I was holding on to something safe (long hair) because it was comfortable. How many clothes and spending habits/hobbies do you have that fall in this category? How about that figurative old, 2-sizes-too-big, pilly, hooded J.Crew sweater from 10 years ago? (Said actual sweater might warrant a post of its own someday). What attitudes about stuff and money are keeping you in your comfortable if dissatisfied rut? I think a lot of us are comfortable with feelings of guilt and hopelessness that keep us attached to our unhealthy money-organizing/spending habits as well as our possessions.
2. Cutting off so much hair length (14-16 inches?) was literally and figuratively a weight off.  Having short hair is SO fun and is something I hope everyone gets to experience at least once in their life for the feeling of…liberation... is the only word that describes it for me. Getting rid of unused stuff (clothes, books, excess office supplies that never get used, memorabilia, etc) can provide this same feeling!
3. Not taking risks out of fear of what others think is dumb, for lack of a more substantial word. I have received a 1000% lift in the number of compliments on my hair. But even without those compliments, I loved it and that is honestly the most important opinion. Living your life worrying about what others think is dumb (there it is again – sorry!) Like I wrote about recently, other people don’t live IN your life. At most they just look at it so don’t spent your time and energies trying to keep THEM happy with YOUR life, spending habits, clothes, etc.

Any chance you’ll think about cutting out something that’s weighing you down whether it be a habit, hopelessness or literal stuff? Let me know if you have or have had some successes with any of the above – would love to hear ’em!

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