Why I Chopped My Hair Off And Will Never Grow It Out Again!

Welcome to the blog relaunch!  I’m on a journey.  A journey to live a more authentic purposeful life.  What better way to do that then to write about all the things that interest me?  I have such exciting stuff planned this summer for this blog!  Book reviews, interviews with incredible people, photos of some incredible homes, my own DIY and decorating projects, a little bit of fashion, and even a little about raising kids and having a family.  Subscribe to the blog so all of this summer reading goodness hits your inbox and you hardly have to lift a finger (except to tap).    I want to keep you up to date on what is coming up soon so I made this nifty graphic.

Now, without further delay, let’s launch this thing!  Woo Hoo!

Hair obsession started early with me. I was born with really blonde, soft, fine hair. My mother would put my hair in pig tails or pull it back with a barrette and it would just slide down my hair the first time I took off running. I always wanted long thick hair. As my hair grew out it would look thin and stringy so I mostly wore my hair in some version of a bob as a child. Because I wanted long hair so badly, my mother would bobby pin long ribbons in my hair and I would run around the house flicking my “long hair” off my shoulders. Why is it we always want what we don’t have? Brunettes want to be blonde; blondes want to be brunette. Curly haired girls straighten their hair and straight haired girls curl it. The tide of dissatisfaction starts early.
Sadly, much of my adult life has been searching for the always elusive “perfect hair”. I have cut, colored, grown out, and cut my hair again numerous times. The last time I declared I was growing my hair out my husband said, “When did you stop? You’ve been growing your hair out since I met you.” The man speaks truth. We met 26 years ago when I had a very short haircut.  He deserves a medal for putting up with numerous “growing my hair out phases” that left me looking a little awkward. Think I’m exaggerating?  Take a look at the timeline.

 

Each time I grew it out I would determine I just looked better with short hair. I would cut it off and be satisfied for a short while. Then, I would notice all of the long-haired women on TV, in commercials, in magazines, and actually in real life. Suddenly, my short hair didn’t feel so great.  I would become uncomfortable in my own skin hair.  Over and over again I would buy into the idea that long-haired women were sexy and short haired women had just “given up”.  Off I would go to buy hairstyle magazines to help me over the hurdle of growing my hair out once again.  The invention of Pinterest made it really easy to always long for different hair because there are so many pictures of great hairstyles to be found there.  I would pin and pin, then deliberate and decide.  I’m not going to lie, sometimes I would have decided to grow my hair out before I even arrived home from the hair salon.  Sometimes there were even tears on the ride home.  Talk about drama.

I could blame the media, but really, never being satisfied with my hair was really just a result of not being satisfied with me. Always searching for the perfect haircut only left me always searching. Surely, when I found the perfect hair, everything would fall into place, literally. Never feeling satisfied prevented me from embracing me. You may be thinking, “Come on Nancy, it’s just hair.” It’s not. It doesn’t have to be hair. It might be the perfect house, car, job, outfit…or God forbid the perfect husband. The “thing” doesn’t matter, it’s the idea somehow accomplishing this one “thing” will make life perfect.  Why do people drive super expensive cars, live in houses they can’t afford, and run credit cards up shopping?  At the root they are on a quest to have that satisfied feeling because for some reason they just aren’t satisfied with who they are.  But constantly searching for “that thing” will only lead a person back to the search, because “that thing” doesn’t satisfy for very long.

Here I am with my new short haircut.  The one I am going to keep.  I may have the hairstylist tweak it here and there because I have a few cowlicks that don’t want to behave.  But for the most part, this is how I see my hair for the foreseeable future.

To be honest, after seeing these photos I thought maybe I should re-shoot them after visiting my hairdresser and putting on more make up etc…  But this is what I look like on a daily basis.  This is the real me, right now.  This is the picture of the person my kids, husband, parents, and friends love.  I’m good with that (although clearly I could use a better eye cream).   I once heard Oprah say she loved her 40’s because it was when she really knew who she was. Maybe it’s my age. Maybe it’s the fact that I am tired of always having hair drama. I have, for the first time ever, embraced the fact I am a short haired girl.  I will never embark on the growing my hair out journey again.  I have to say, it’s liberating!

Now, I feel my hair defines me. It makes me me.  There’s nothing more attractive than someone who is happy with herself.  Well okay, Cindy Crawford (49? maybe I should buy her eye cream) is still more attractive along with a bunch of other people…but you get the point.

Since cutting my hair, women I know have said they love it and I have heard many times, “I wish I could wear my hair like that.” At these moments I can see the wheels turning in their brain as the pull of dissatisfaction takes hold. As women, we need to keep those thoughts at bay and replace them with thoughts about the uniqueness each of us possesses. Instead of thinking “I wish that I…” think “I’m so happy that I…”  A change in perspective might just change everything.

So there’s my story.  Is there something about you that you should embrace rather than fight?  How would your life change if you weren’t trying to capture your elusive “thing”?

I have something else fun and exciting to kick off this relaunch!  I was one of the lucky people to hit it big at the Lilly for Target sale in April.  To share the wealth, I am giving away one of the coveted Nosie Posie Pillows right here on this little old blog.  You should enter…the winner might just be you!

Here’s the rules.

1.  Subscribe to the blog so my new posts come straight to you inbox.

2.   Leave a comment sharing about a moment in your life when you just knew something was totally you.  It could be a hair moment but doesn’t have to be.

I will pick a winner randomly on May 27th.  Good luck!

 

I’m linking up at some awesome blogs!  You should check them out.  Super inspiring stuff people!

Thursday:

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