Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

You never know how much capacity your heart has for love until it is fit to burst with it.  I have experienced that sensation many times before (because my life is pretty freaking rad) and it’s a different feeling each and every time.  This time my heart is swelling with love for my family.  That’s right, my family gave my heart a chubby.  Before I explain that… maybe alarming… statement, I want to talk about me because… well, it’s what I do.

My hair is having a very exciting month.  Or maybe, just an exciting two weeks.  As you may remember I was recently a bit blue.  This week, I’m a bit bald.  A few days ago I shaved my head (more accurately my sister shaved it for me.  If the whole teaching thing doesn’t work out for her she has a future as a very specific type of hair stylist).  I did it for so many reasons and at the same time, just one, love.  Love for an aunt that is bravely fighting, love for my family that all came out in such a major show of support, and a love of beauty, because bald is beautiful too.

There were some fundraising goals set for money we were collecting for said aunt.  There were different stages of goals; outrageous hair coloring for one, men shaving their legs for another, and the big money ticket for if we totally met our goal, was for some of the ladies to shave our heads.

Let’s start with the bald of it all.  When we originally said we were going to shave our heads if we met our goal there were some comments made.  Some people thought we were crazy, some people thought we would regret it, and some thought we wouldn’t go through with it.  Now that I’m on the other side and sporting my new low maintenance look, I have a few things to say to anyone that may be considering making the cut, for whatever reasons you may have, that I couldn’t say pre-Ripley from Alien 3.

Bald is brave.  Girl, I know that you don’t know what shape your head is under there.  What if you have a patch of hair that is actually more like boar hair but you never noticed before because it was hidden under all that other hair?  Or there’s some crazy bump at the top that you never really think about because your hair covers it.  Face your fears.  Chances are that you have a delightful shape to your noggin (you know, the standard head shaped noggin).  I am sure you are as close to perfect as you can be.  And if you’re not, well chances are that nobody will notice.  They have too much going on in their own life to worry about your hair style choices.

Bald is ballsy.  Some people might think that you teach women’s studies at a local college.  Some people may think you are quietly showing your allegiance with camp Donald Trump.  Some people may think that you lost a really long and drawn out battle with a lice infestation.  Anyone that gives it a second thought (and most will not, because again, most people don’t care why you have the hair style you have) will try and figure out your story.  They may speculate some really crazy things about why you rock the Sinead O’Connor but they will probably all share a common thought.  There goes one bad ass lady.

Bald is baller.  Guess who wakes up ready to go?  This girl.  No more bed head here!  Guess who isn’t spending $20 a bottle on fancy shampoo* made out of unicorn tears for her magical snowflake hair?  Again, this girl.  Want to jazz your dome up for a special occasion?  Boom, headband!

*In this case Unicorn Tear shampoo is more commonly known as no poo shampoo for curly hair and it was so worth every twenty of those dollars, thank you very much!

It just so happens that fancy shampoo just happens to be a terrific segue into the super colorful bathwater that so many ladies I know are experiencing this weekend.  Some of them have pink, some of them have blue, and some have a purplish hue (tell me that doesn’t just roll off the tongue).  I have never before seen so many beautiful jewel toned heads in my life.  I love it.  Every single one of them completely radiated beauty, but it wasn’t just in the colors of their hair.  It was in their acts of love and support.  Even though I think everyone is really rocking their new hair styles I really think they are all even lovelier on their insides, you know, where our heart boners live.

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(I did not have pictures of everyone to post.  If you want your pictures added, let me know and send them on over!)

And that leads us to the men.  Of course I can’t forget the men!  NONE OF THEM SHAVED THEIR LEGS.  Why you ask?  Because men are sissies**.  And it takes balls to go pink, balls to go blue, and balls to go bald.  Even if it is just your legs.

And although I can’t say enough how amazing we are all looking, how we look isn’t actually the point.  We are more than all of that.  I’m not my hair, you’re not your hair, none of us are our hair.  Or our weight.  Or our height for that matter (shout out to the shorty).  Or any other superficial thing.

Instead we should all judge our self-worth based on things that actually matter.  Like stepping up in whatever way you can to support someone that needs to see they are not alone.  On being a good person on the inside that tries to say more kind things than hurtful.  For being someone that is kind to animals and the elderly.  Oh, and let’s not forget the people that use the correct form of their, they’re, and there.  Also people who say Lauren and I when it should be me and Lauren (and vice versa).

Small aside: I know that all of this is easy for me to say because I made the choice to shave my head.  I got to choose.  I could have just as easily let it grow or cut it into whatever style I damn well pleased.  I get that it’s not the same and I am not trying to say that it is.  I am trying to say that it’s just hair.  It doesn’t make you, it doesn’t break you, and it serves no other purpose than to keep your scalp from getting a sun burn (note to self, get more sun screen). 

**And yeah, okay, the men all had valid reasons for not shaving their legs but I still reserve the right to mock them.

4 thoughts on “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow”

  1. I love love love that you did this. I love how much you love your family and that you are so ballsy and also extremely weird! Every girl needs to be liberated from her hair at some point in her life.

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