Lopping off the Locks

"My hair was so long, I'd have to move it out of the way to go to the bathroom."

My mom loves my hair and my hair color so she wanted to show it off and make me grow it out all long and pretty. It got to the point where it was way too hectic. I would spend hours in the shower trying to shampoo it and condition it, and finally I was like, "Mom, I need to cut my hair." It was one of the most drastic things in the world to me. You can just feel yourself falling away piece by piece. But it also felt good at the same time. It was a release to finally get rid of all that excess work and responsibility.

"This is the right thing to do."

Before and during the haircut, I was like, "This is the right thing to do, this is the right thing to do, you can do it, it is all right, you will survive." If you have long hair and you cut it, and then you go to brush it and it just ends, it's the strangest feeling. I would brush it and it would end, and I would be like, "Where did it go?"

"When you get a drastic haircut you never know what is going to happen."

It might turn out really great and you might be really confident, or it might turn out not so great and you won't know what to do with yourself. Luckily, I liked my haircut, I liked the length. I kind of looked like a hippie with it all one length, so I do layers now. I also decided to get bangs, which really helped me to be more confident because my face is really small and I needed something to frame it better.

I have actually thought about cutting it really short and perming it into a Medusa-like thing. I went to a wig shop with my mom and tried on a bunch of hairstyles. I tried on short black wigs and everyone at the wig shop told me to cut my hair and dye it black and I was like, "No, I can't do that, that is too drastic." I have to go in stages, but at least now I've got the courage to experiment a little.