On Thursday, I had my weekly lunch date with Bombadee, and somehow – I swear I’m not the self-absorbed hair maniac who brought it up this time – we ended up talking about hair. She said something that I’ve been thinking about since I left the restaurant. She said, “You stick with the hairstyle you had when you were getting laid the most.”
People whose glory days contained a mullet or teased perm or a feathered layered thing tend to hang onto that hairstyle long past the time that everyone else has let go. Just think of what those poor poor Emo kids will look like a couple of years from now. We expanded the conversation outside of hair to include behavior in general. Especially in small towns. Those who got laid the most in high school are the people who can’t seem to let go of high school and all of the drama contained therein. Those who didn’t bloom until college are still rockin’ those college habits, and those whose best years happened in adulthood seem to have a more firm grasp on reality.
But the hairstyle comment stuck with me, because I haven’t cut my hair in a very long time. Almost a year. The anniversary is approaching in July. I’ve only been thinking about scheduling an appointment for the last few weeks or so, but I can’t bring myself to do it because I’m basically terrified. I have a tendency to schedule myself for a simple trim and then sit down in the chair and say “Oh, what the hell, let’s try something different.” I’m also scared because of my layers, because I love them so much, they are so perfect and I know that every girl with long hair is thinking “Psh, how special can long layers be?” but trust me: These are special beyond your wildest imagination. My last cut was so perfect that I even talked about it here.
Girls with long hair are also probably thinking that I have at least an inch of split ends happening, and I swear I don’t. I really have only been thinking I need a hair cut for a few weeks. I don’t know if I give my hair so much attention that it doesn’t dare defy me, but it’s cooperated really well with this No Cutting Plan so far.
Back to Bombadee’s comment and the refusal to let go of a hairstyle: Are these my glory days?
The last time my hair was this long, I was maybe 10 or 11 years old. Since then, I’ve had hair that ranged in length from super super short to shoulder-length, always always changing. I used to color my hair and change the style so often that I have trouble putting photos of myself in chronological order. I quit coloring it in October of 2004. Now that it’s this long, the thought of a scissors anywhere near my head just makes me want to cry. I’m a logical person. I understand the concept of a trim, I know that I will probably lose so little hair that only I will notice, but I’m still terrified. I love my long hair. I worship my long hair. Even at my points of lowest self-esteem, I think “Well, at least I have my hair.”
Just writing this out has made me relax a little, and I’m almost ready to reach for the phone and schedule an appointment. For a trim only. Because obviously these are the best days of my life, right?
Thank god it wasn't that summer I dyed my hair orange.











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