•10:12 AM
Can I just be a girl for a minute? Like, a totally vain, superficial girl?
If you are of the male gender, now is your time to escape. Consider yourself warned ...
Girls ... it's my hair ... I don't know what to do with it.
If I had my way and I could act really spontaneously, I would go and get it cut really super short for summer. Something fun and sassy and cute.
But, if you know me even a little bit, you also know that I cannot act spontaneously. And, when I have acted spontaneously, I ALWAYS regret it.
Okay ... here is the problem. My hair is extremely long. What? That's not a problem, you say? But it is really long with no real style ... just long. It is healthy and I get compliments on it ... but it seems blah. For me. I started to grow it after Addison was born - that was about four years ago. Previous to that, I wore a bob in varying degrees of shortness ... but I don't think I looked great. Should I really be worried about how great I look? I keep forgetting that I'm old now ... so nobody cares.
Even though I had a short easy bob, I missed my long hair and thought that the option of a pony tail seemed like a good idea. So, I started to grow it. And once it reached "pony-tail-length," that was how it was styled on most days. Until, one day, when I took the pony tail out, I realized my hair had grown quite long.
And, I liked it.
I could pretend I was not forty years old. Because forty-year-old women do not wear pony tails ... their little girls do. Forty-year-old women are much too mature and austere to wear a youthful pony tail; they fear looking incompetent or unprofessionsal. Yes, a forty-year-old woman wearing a ponytail would just be foolish ... unless you are cleaning your house, or cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
But I am forty years old ... quickly approaching forty-one years old, if the truth be told. And yet, I often wear my hair in a pony tail ... to get it out of the way.
But if I always want to get it out of the way, why do I keep it long? Why not just cut it short and sassy and cute?
This is the dilemma ... it's hard to be a girl.
Why is it hard to cut your long hair off? Is it because, with each snip of the stylists shears, a bit of your youthful energy is lost? Until all that is left is a middle-aged woman, with a "Mom" haircut? But what is wrong with a "Mom" haircut? I am a Mom, afterall. And, maybe all that hair is just weighing me down. Hey, I just thought of something - do you think that if I cut it, I would lose a couple of pounds? 'Cause that could take all the apprehension out of getting a new cute and sassy haircut!
Can you hear me trying to tell myself it is okay?
I want to make a very responsible, well-thought-out decision. I have searched the Internet and found a website that will help you determine the shape of your face; and then, the hair style most suited. After completing the questionnaire, answering each question diligently, I waited eagerly for the answer to all my questions .... I can wear my hair in any style apparently. Helpful. But, I want something that accentuates my face. Ugh.
The problem is that I won't know if I like it or not until it is too late. I am not afraid of having short hair. Honestly. When I was seventeen, I looked through magazines until I found what I wanted, and then I did it. I went from long, long hair to a very short style. And the next day at school, people (and by people, I mean, girls) told me they liked it; but in the next breath asked what would possess me to chop off all my pretty hair?
I wish I could wear a cute pixie haircut like Carrie Mulligan. She looks so cute ... young and fresh. Then again, she is young and fresh. I would look like a Mom - not that there is anything wrong with that ... Plus, once I go that short, it would have to stay that short because I would never have the patience to grow it over my ears again. That's the hardest part ... growing it passed your ears, growing out the layers. Trust me on this ... I have done it and it is not pretty. Or, as Caiden would say, "It's nasty."
However, for Carrie Mulligan, should she decide that she wants long locks once again, it can all be done in an afternoon. It would take me years to achieve that same thing. Because I do not have a Hollywood bank account or a stylist.
Another thing to consider is that when your hair is really short, it looks the same all the time. Whether you are going to the grocery store, or cleaning the house, or out to the movies with friends, or attending a fancy wedding ... your hair looks the same. When your hair is long, you style it according to the occasion. When your hair is short, the only way to tell whether you are off to Walmart or a fancy night out for supper, is by the amount of make-up you are wearing.
Do you see how I am trying to talk myself out of it?
And so, it begins. Too much time has been spent on this already. I guess there is no right or wrong answer. And I do not have to decide right now because there is no expiry date on my long hair. Or, if there was, it was passed long ago.
Sigh ... it's hard being a girl.
If you are of the male gender, now is your time to escape. Consider yourself warned ...
Girls ... it's my hair ... I don't know what to do with it.
If I had my way and I could act really spontaneously, I would go and get it cut really super short for summer. Something fun and sassy and cute.
But, if you know me even a little bit, you also know that I cannot act spontaneously. And, when I have acted spontaneously, I ALWAYS regret it.
Okay ... here is the problem. My hair is extremely long. What? That's not a problem, you say? But it is really long with no real style ... just long. It is healthy and I get compliments on it ... but it seems blah. For me. I started to grow it after Addison was born - that was about four years ago. Previous to that, I wore a bob in varying degrees of shortness ... but I don't think I looked great. Should I really be worried about how great I look? I keep forgetting that I'm old now ... so nobody cares.
Even though I had a short easy bob, I missed my long hair and thought that the option of a pony tail seemed like a good idea. So, I started to grow it. And once it reached "pony-tail-length," that was how it was styled on most days. Until, one day, when I took the pony tail out, I realized my hair had grown quite long.
And, I liked it.
I could pretend I was not forty years old. Because forty-year-old women do not wear pony tails ... their little girls do. Forty-year-old women are much too mature and austere to wear a youthful pony tail; they fear looking incompetent or unprofessionsal. Yes, a forty-year-old woman wearing a ponytail would just be foolish ... unless you are cleaning your house, or cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
But I am forty years old ... quickly approaching forty-one years old, if the truth be told. And yet, I often wear my hair in a pony tail ... to get it out of the way.
But if I always want to get it out of the way, why do I keep it long? Why not just cut it short and sassy and cute?
This is the dilemma ... it's hard to be a girl.
Why is it hard to cut your long hair off? Is it because, with each snip of the stylists shears, a bit of your youthful energy is lost? Until all that is left is a middle-aged woman, with a "Mom" haircut? But what is wrong with a "Mom" haircut? I am a Mom, afterall. And, maybe all that hair is just weighing me down. Hey, I just thought of something - do you think that if I cut it, I would lose a couple of pounds? 'Cause that could take all the apprehension out of getting a new cute and sassy haircut!
Can you hear me trying to tell myself it is okay?
I want to make a very responsible, well-thought-out decision. I have searched the Internet and found a website that will help you determine the shape of your face; and then, the hair style most suited. After completing the questionnaire, answering each question diligently, I waited eagerly for the answer to all my questions .... I can wear my hair in any style apparently. Helpful. But, I want something that accentuates my face. Ugh.
The problem is that I won't know if I like it or not until it is too late. I am not afraid of having short hair. Honestly. When I was seventeen, I looked through magazines until I found what I wanted, and then I did it. I went from long, long hair to a very short style. And the next day at school, people (and by people, I mean, girls) told me they liked it; but in the next breath asked what would possess me to chop off all my pretty hair?
However, for Carrie Mulligan, should she decide that she wants long locks once again, it can all be done in an afternoon. It would take me years to achieve that same thing. Because I do not have a Hollywood bank account or a stylist.
Another thing to consider is that when your hair is really short, it looks the same all the time. Whether you are going to the grocery store, or cleaning the house, or out to the movies with friends, or attending a fancy wedding ... your hair looks the same. When your hair is long, you style it according to the occasion. When your hair is short, the only way to tell whether you are off to Walmart or a fancy night out for supper, is by the amount of make-up you are wearing.
Do you see how I am trying to talk myself out of it?
And so, it begins. Too much time has been spent on this already. I guess there is no right or wrong answer. And I do not have to decide right now because there is no expiry date on my long hair. Or, if there was, it was passed long ago.
Sigh ... it's hard being a girl.
2 comments:
Although you didn't ask for my opinion,Jill, I'm going to offer one. Your long hair is beautiful and so healthy looking, and I really think a short perky cut is way too drastic. Having said that, your hair length is longer than it needs to be. What about a shoulder length cut, shape, and style that could still be put in a "ponytail" when you want? You could try that for a while and get used to the shorter length, and still go shorter when and if you are ready.
Jill,
I remember your short hair in highschool and it was really cute!! But, you'd probably regret doing that now especially if your hair is really long--might be too drastic of a change. And BTW, I wear ponytails all the time, at work too (and I'm forty-something). I just cut my hair fairly short but it's angled longer in the front and I love it!
Speaking of acting spontaneously; when Jake was a baby, I wanted my hair cut but didn't want to make an appointment and go somewhere. So Marv cut my hair in a cute little "bob" (more of a "bowl") We laugh so hard at pictures from that time.... it was really bad.
Do you have gray hair? I have one spot of gray right at the top of my head, and I always colour my hair--- I'm only 40, not 60! LOL
Good luck with your dilemma. I'm sure you'll look great no matter what you do.