Riot and Frolic

I cut my hair and lost my mind.  Was my hair keeping my brain in place?

Yes.

Seriously, I cut off a foot of my hair (I donated it, but damn, if that thing didn't look like a nasty old horse tail) and now have decidedly Short Hair (bobs do NOT count as short hair, btw).  And since then my hair looks good no matter what I do with it.  (False: I just don't care.)

This is Before.

This is After.

I wake up in the morning and with total bed head… walk out the door.  

Today?  Went to work with an off-center cockscomb thing going on.  

It totally worked.

I have "always" had short hair until a couple years ago.  In college, I cut it into a pixie (yes, I cut it myself) and kept it that way until about 5 years ago when The G and I started doing 9-Dance (both the American styles). Then it seemed easier to grow it out then keep it tidy AND short through a LOT of dancing.

Here's what I hated about long hair:

• it is EVERY WHERE.  Pieces of it floating on your clothes, clogging the shower drain, getting in your mouth when you roll down your car window, haunting your neck on runs…
• you can't wear lip gloss.  Because hair is a magnet to that stuff.
• what the hell do you do with it?  I mean… What The Hell?  I felt like I should be creative with it, because isn't that what you do with long hair?  But I really dug braids (with made me feel like I should don a schoolgirl skirt and chew bubblegum) or a topknot (and those cause Breakage; see following)
• damage.  I had to worry about my hair.  That just seems stupid.  I liked wrangling my hair into a high bun that wouldn't move for AT LEAST a day, but that meant I had an ever-growing halo of broken strands around my head.  
• so many accoutrements are needed, and an emergency stash needs to be nearby.  Bobby pins, rubber bands, headbands, etc.
• maintenance.  Other people have fabulous long hair.  I would see them and admire their tenacity.  I just didn't have the interest in maintaining long tresses.
• having to plan hairstyles around dancing.  If I wear a ponytail, I might take out someone's cornea; if I wear it down, my head will be trapped in dance frame when the guy closes his hand on my back.
• it's supposed to be pretty/feminine/sexy, but I always felt like I was wearing a wig.  It just wasn't me.

Here's what's great about short hair:

• it looks great no matter what.
• I can wear lip gloss with abandon.
• ballroom hair takes 15 minutes and is STURDY.  (I did so much research before doing the chop to make sure I wouldn't be a hot mess after 10 minutes.)
• sassy.  Just so sassy.  (Watch me toss my head around and not choke on my ponytail.)
• people randomly pet me.  
• I've been told I look younger.
• I no longer hunt for insanely irritating, stray long hairs which stick to my clothes and tickle me.
• MY HAIR ISN'T EVER IN MY FACE.

Here's some falsehoods people will tell you:

• it's easier.  False: hair is a pain in the ass, no matter what.  It's just a different pain in the ass.
• it takes less time.  False: putting my long hair in a bun or braid took very little time.  Rubbing some pomade in my hair takes very little time, but if I want to look less punk, I use a blow dryer, curling iron, straightening iron, and like 4 other hair products.  It's a wash really.
• it'll make you look like a boy.  Really?  REALLY?  First of all, there's these things called boobs we have that make it rather obvious that you're not, but … just… No.
• it's just hair.  Yes, it's just hair, but you will more shocked by your FACE.  Somehow, even with my hair pulled back every day, I was still shocked to see what my face looked like behind that curtain.

I'm completely happy with my new look.  Scared to do it? DO IT!  Unless you don't want to.  Then DON'T.

One year ago: LLLL, in which we don't get the cow car seat cover.

Two years ago: LLLL, in which a popsicle box gets the best of me.