The Long and Short of It
I’m debating on letting my hair grow out. I have spent probably half of my life in this debate. All through high school, and probably even before that, I’ve been in a cycle of long and short hair. I’d let my hair grow for a while and then decide to cut it off for maybe a summer, or the beginning of school and then I’d let it grow out again so I could do something with it for prom and then cut it off again just after that. It’s been up and down my whole life and though the cycles have grown longer, they persist in switching off.
When I was a kid I grew my hair out so I could donate it to Locks of Love. I was so excited about it, I was probably eight or nine at the time. As much as I would love to do something like that again, I don’t know if I could grow my hair out that long again. Also I’ve since dyed my hair and they won’t accept hair that’s been dyed. To be fair, it’s mostly grown out by now, but not completely, so I would have to keep cutting it to get all the dye out and then grow it out. Anyway, my hair has always yo-yo-ed it’s way along my back through the years. There are pictures of me as a kid with long hair, short hair and every length in between.
My past few hair cycles have been much more extended than my previous ones. The last time I cut my hair short previous to my marriage was right before I graduated high school. I wanted to look more grown up in my graduation pictures. I kind of have a bit of a baby face and the short hair helps me look more mature. So I cut it and then let it grow all through college. I would be surprised that I lasted so long, except that I was really bullied into it all the way. I was pretty ready to cut it short my junior year, but then I was asked to be in a wedding, and, not know what kind of style she would want for us, I decided I would keep my hair long, since others I knew in the wedding had long hair. Then again, two of my friends who were also in the wedding went ahead and cut their hair, so it probably would have been okay. I did dye my bangs purple that summer, though, so there’s that. After that wedding was done I was seriously considering cutting my hair, but then again, I was also seriously considering getting married myself. So when Logan proposed in August there went that idea. I knew I wanted long hair to do a fancy up-do for my wedding. So it kept growing and I kept waiting and finally I was done with my wedding… and in another wedding a month later. So I waited until September and chopped it all off.
When I say “all,” I mean like half. Here’s the thing about cutting your hair: you need to go all or nothing. I didn’t think my hair cutting through, I just wanted it done, but I wasn’t convinced I wanted the whole short look again, and I didn’t really go in prepared when my mom-in-law and I went to a local SuperCuts or whatever it was. So I just said, “I want it short, but I want to keep my ponytail.” So that’s what she gave me. She asked if I wanted it shaped or layered or anything and I was so flustered from lack of forethought I said no and had a rather awful cut for a few weeks until I went back up to my normal beautician and she fixed me up. It was almost another year until I went for the full cut. I cut it shortly before my first real job interview (which did not result in a job, but at least my hair looked good) and it’s been short ever since.
It’s been a little over a year now, since I got my hair cut short, and I still kind of love the look. I love how easy it is to manage, I love that it doesn’t take forever to wash and I can get away with a quick scrunch some days and a headband some others. I love that it’s super low maintenance and pretty much always looks good, but I also miss all the long hair activities I’m missing out on. I miss braiding my hair. I miss putting it up with my favorite hair stick. I miss using my curling rod. My hair is simply too short right now to use it on the under side and even with a smaller curling iron with a clip and everything I can’t get it to curl and thus it just looks awkward. It’s also super scary as it has to be much closer to my head than I would like.
So, while at the ren fair last week, I bought another hair stick as motivation to grow my hair out. I also want to be able to curl my hair for my husband’s office Christmas party in December, so that’s another goal. We’ll see how long this will last. It’ll be great to be able to pull my hair up again, but I may want to chop it all off again come next summer. I will also have to hide my ponytail holders from the cats as they enjoy playing with them and putting them in the water dish. Why? I don’t know, but it happens, a lot. So we’ll see how this whole growing things goes. In the mean time, have a lovely day, my friends!
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