Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
At the end of my final year in college I decided to grow out my hair. It had been short (short enough not to be able to tuck behind my hair) for 6 months, and at the prompting of my boyfriend's request, I grew out my hair. And I continued to grow it out for the next four years. I go through phases. I'll grow out all my hair then literally cut it all off. I think I first did it in 6th grade. I did it twice in college, first in 2002 then again in 2007. I always donate my hair to Locks of Love, an organization that uses donated hair to make wigs for cancer patients. Although it's a really great cause, for my most recent hair-cutting I decided to sell instead. I figured I had donated enough hair. (I donated at least 20 inches of hair every time.) Besides, I found a buyer who'd purchase my hair for $1500. I was set to sell my hair until I found out my mom had cancer.
After she cut off all of her long hair, there was no question that I, too, would donate. It was hard. I became attached to my hair. I liked and didn't like the attention. I liked I was noticed for my hair, but I didn't like the guys who'd hit on me or want to touch it. It was weird. I knew for a couple months that I wanted a pixie haircut, but I didn't have the courage to take the plunge and cut off all my hair. I had two stipulations: 1. I would have pictures taken of me before I cut it all off and 2. I'd attend my last wedding as a guest for the year. Both passed and I still didn't have the courage to do it. I was in New York and with the support of two friends and the great recommendation from a friend of her hairstylist in New York, I did it.
I cut off 32 inches of hair!
It was shocking and it took a while to get used to. The hairdresser didn't exactly give me a pixie cut, but I love my hair short. Above is the before and after. The picture on the right is about two months before I cut my hair. As you can see, my hair was quite long. And as you can imagine it was a real pain in the butt to take care of all that hair. All in all I'm happy to have short hair. It was time for a change. :)
I suppose.... change is good!
(Ironically, I later realized that I cut all my hair off in 2007 also in New York.)
Image above right by Kimberly Chan