One Week Later

It's been one week since I had all my hair cut off! I'm loving it now, but I won't lie: there was no small amount of shock and a moderate adjustment period. I've had it short before, but not this short (please excuse my haggard face as I took this just now when I got home from work, while waiting for the rice to cook):

And yes, that is Elle magazine over there. Love it.

...and here's the view from the top. What Dumpling sees! (He's quite tall.) It's fun because my hair is really thick so I can make it spike up into a kind of faux-hawk down the middle, or smooth it all down, or ruffle it all up. Good times.

You can see a before picture in my Halloween post, though I'm wearing a headband you get the idea.

Last Thursday I had it cut in the morning before I walked dogs, which was convenient for me but kind of annoying because I had lots of tiny little hairs all over my face and neck for the rest of the day.

Right after I left the salon I found a reflective window outside and put my earrings back in and really had a look at my head. My first thought was that my head is not as big as I thought it was (my thick hair created the illusion of a larger head)!

Then I started to feel really ugly, unfeminine, and repentant. I knew it'd pass and that I'd get used to it, but I made a beeline for the Sephora over on Broadway and put on some powder, eyeshadow, a little blush. I don't normally wear any makeup on a day to day basis, so it helped me feel less butch. Seems silly now that I've been walking around barefaced ever since, but it was a quick pick-me-up during the "oh my god what did I just do to myself" phase :)

Another thing that helped me get used to it was the fact that the dogs did not give a shit what my hair looked like, and were just as enthusiastic and lovely as ever. Animals are great. And believe it or not, Dumpling has spontaneously professed his liking for my new 'do on several occasions (or maybe he just likes the fact that I've stopped complaining about how sick I am of my hair and how badly I want to cut it off!)

Since I made the chop it's made me think, and I realized that subconsciously I may have done it as a way of facing fears. You know, usually very short hair (or baldness/shaved head) on women makes us think of certain things: chemo, concentration camps, or losing your shit à la Britney Spears. Not very pleasant associations. But now I feel sort of 'immune' to the fear of losing my hair for any reason. Or to put it another way, if I ever have a traumatic/stressful situation that results in me losing my hair, I won't have the shock of seeing myself without long hair for the first time added on top of that experience.

Plus my curiosity of what I would look like is finally satisfied, and that is priceless!

I'm not trying to convince anyone to go super short if you don't want to--but if you've been toying with the idea and keep coming back to it, just give it a shot! You have nothing to lose but your fear--and some weight off your scalp! Seriously, it feels great!