When I was a kid, perhaps ten years old, I caught a glimpse of myself in passing, and in that moment I saw myself with long, wavy hair. It was a vision. A glimpse of the future. Perhaps it was simply my eyes playing tricks on me. Maybe not.
I'd always been a girl with short-ish hair. I determined in that moment that one day I'd grow my hair out to be like that, long and flowing and wavy.
Well, the wavy part never really happened. I wasn't blessed with curl. But at the age of twenty-seven, I determined that I would finally do it. I'd grow my hair out. That was five years ago. For five years I've kept up those tresses, believing in that glimpse from childhood, secretly fulfilling that longing for a one-beauty, like Jo from Little Women.
This weekend, I walked into my stylist's salon with every intention of simply trimming the ends of my hair and walked out with short hair. It was surprising, how little time it took to chop off five-years worth of work. And liberating in the respect that what is left is much healthier, and more vibrant than it had been. That one-beauty hadn't lived up to my expectations for a while, and yet I clung to that long hair for months longer than I should have. It was security. It was inertia. But it was holding me back from the vision I have of myself for the future. You see, the me I envision for the future is a traveler. She lives out of a backpack and goes where the wind takes her. And she doesn't care to spend an hour, or even thirty minutes each day tending to things like the fixing of crazy-long hair because she'd rather be photographing Angkor Wat. Or kayaking over a sunken city in southern Turkey. Or riding an Elephant in India. You get the gist. I'm not advocating going granola, growing dreadlocks and giving up showering. Just re prioritizing.
I think I have some more "hair cutting" to do in my life. It's time to get to work, downsize and sell my stuff in preparation for my move, actually finish my online course...
The haircut was never intended to be a life lesson. It was never meant to be more than doing a mundane thing to keep my hair healthy. And in the end, that's exactly what it was, but it was also much more. While it's fun to fulfill our childhood dreams, we must also make room for the dreams we dream in adulthood. Make them happen.
*On another note, also on the same subject of change, I've pushed back my tentative departure date for my move cross-continents to September. April was always tentative and now that it's January, I've a few things to take care of that will take a bit longer than three months. Also, I'm constantly revising my tentative itinerary. Exciting things are in store, my friends.
I'd always been a girl with short-ish hair. I determined in that moment that one day I'd grow my hair out to be like that, long and flowing and wavy.
Well, the wavy part never really happened. I wasn't blessed with curl. But at the age of twenty-seven, I determined that I would finally do it. I'd grow my hair out. That was five years ago. For five years I've kept up those tresses, believing in that glimpse from childhood, secretly fulfilling that longing for a one-beauty, like Jo from Little Women.
This weekend, I walked into my stylist's salon with every intention of simply trimming the ends of my hair and walked out with short hair. It was surprising, how little time it took to chop off five-years worth of work. And liberating in the respect that what is left is much healthier, and more vibrant than it had been. That one-beauty hadn't lived up to my expectations for a while, and yet I clung to that long hair for months longer than I should have. It was security. It was inertia. But it was holding me back from the vision I have of myself for the future. You see, the me I envision for the future is a traveler. She lives out of a backpack and goes where the wind takes her. And she doesn't care to spend an hour, or even thirty minutes each day tending to things like the fixing of crazy-long hair because she'd rather be photographing Angkor Wat. Or kayaking over a sunken city in southern Turkey. Or riding an Elephant in India. You get the gist. I'm not advocating going granola, growing dreadlocks and giving up showering. Just re prioritizing.
I think I have some more "hair cutting" to do in my life. It's time to get to work, downsize and sell my stuff in preparation for my move, actually finish my online course...
The haircut was never intended to be a life lesson. It was never meant to be more than doing a mundane thing to keep my hair healthy. And in the end, that's exactly what it was, but it was also much more. While it's fun to fulfill our childhood dreams, we must also make room for the dreams we dream in adulthood. Make them happen.
*On another note, also on the same subject of change, I've pushed back my tentative departure date for my move cross-continents to September. April was always tentative and now that it's January, I've a few things to take care of that will take a bit longer than three months. Also, I'm constantly revising my tentative itinerary. Exciting things are in store, my friends.
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