So I cut my hair off. Not all of it, but what felt like all of it at the time - 6 inches! This is kind of a big deal, since I have never cut more than 3 inches of my hair off at once, and it has never been shorter than . . . well, long (see picture below). But I decided it was something I should experience at least once in my life.
Actually I decided this in high school, but there always seemed to be some reason not to cut it - senior pictures, I played Rapunzel in the school play (a short-haired Rapunzel would not have worked out so well), I was trying to impress some guy whom I (who knows why) assumed liked long hair better than short. Ultimately, I think I was just scared to cut it. So I made up my mind: I would cut my hair when I went on a mission. Who needs long, vain tresses to take care of when you spend your whole day walking around in frumpy sister missionary clothes and Mary-Janes talking to people you will mostly never see again, and trying NOT to get attention from guys?
Well, that was the plan. Everything was going smoothly. I worked hard learning Spanish, read my scriptures diligently, talked to my bishop about serving a mission, mentally committed myself to chopping off my hair, and then this guy named Adam had the audacity to come along and ask me to get married to him instead of going on a mission! Needless to say, I never went on a mission so I never cut my hair off.
But I still thought I should experience short(er) hair sometime in my life. It just seemed so difficult to do it at an arbitrary time (I struggle with arbitrary decisions), when cutting it before going on a mission would have been so intentional and planned. I knew that if I didn't tie it to another major life change, it would not happen. So I committed to cut it when I had a baby. That was not a hard decision, since I knew it would be a couple years at least before we had a baby (well, I hoped it would :). It actually ended up taking a lot longer than I had expected before I was expecting, further delaying my need to come through on my commitment. But, finally, here I am - my due date is in one week, so I went down to the salon and had them chop it off.
Now, the question everyone asks is always "Do you like it?" I will just answer that question now, so you don't have to wait for me to comment on your comment.
Yes, fortunately, I like it. It is fun. It is very different. I almost feel like a different person now that I have such different hair, but I do like it. And I didn't cry, like I was almost sure I would. I was basically positive that I would come home, look in the mirror, have chopper's remorse, and melt into a pool of tears on the bathroom floor. But instead I came home and smiled when I looked in the mirror, especially when Adam told me how cute he thought it was. He is so great.
There is also a major benefit to having shorter hair: it saves money! I only have to use half as much shampoo, half as much conditioner, and half as much electricity to blow dry it. Okay, I guess shampoo, conditioner, and a little electricity don't cost that much, but every little bit helps when you are starving students. Plus, the electricity point is actually significant, since I have succeeded in blowing our bathroom breaker at least once every time I have blow-dried my hair since we moved to Oregon three months ago. Last week I blew the breaker twice in the space of 10 minutes (yes, I had turned off all other lights and unplugged all other appliances, the breaker just hates me), and I decided that our apartment was trying to tell me that I waste too much electricity on my hair. So it was quite exciting when I blow-dried my new hairstyle this morning continuously without having to re-set the breaker even once!
I guess that means it also saves me time. This will probably be important in the coming months as I explore the new horizons of being a mom to a little baby. I have heard that new moms are lucky if they get to wash their hair, let alone blow dry it, so shorter hair cannot be a bad thing.
Will I grow it back out? Yes, probably. As much fun as my new shorter hair is, I think I still prefer it long. But now I have done it - I experienced what I wanted to experience, and I can say that I have been there and done that. And I will enjoy it in the mean time. :)
