After years of having long hair, you would think I would feel out of sorts having short hair but the truth is I love it. I am at a stage in my life when I want to simplify and as much as I loved my dreads, the truth is they were carrying a lot of energy that frankly was weighing me down. There was also the fact that the longer they got,the more that taking care of them felt like an ordeal.
So all that to say I am enjoying being able to wash and go, I did not wash my locs on a daily basis (Black hair in many cases is not washed daily…want more info, feel free to Google it) but I enjoy being able to wash daily. I love the feel of freshly washed hair, I love the fact that I am not longer in need of a scarf, headwrap or ponytail holder before I can leave the house.
I am also at peace with my decision, I know now that it was the right time. I am not the person I was years ago and a change was needed. That said, its been a gas seeing folks reactions to my hair. Lets see the first day I went out before I got a trim, I got a lot of stunned looks. The younger the person was, the higher the “That’s cool” seemed to be, older more traditional folks looked at me like had I taken leave of my senses.
I have gotten some probing, why did you do that? Gee, why does anyone do such a thing…because I wanted to! At 36 I am a grown ass woman and if I want to cut my hair….I just do it. I even got a half cocked “so you took your braids out” yeah, I ignored that numbnut especially since this is a woman who always talks about how she went to high school in New York and was the only white girl at her school. I suspect she does this to bond with me, but really I don’t care. Anyway assuming a Black woman with long hair must have extensions or braids speaks of one who makes assumptions (H, I know you are reading this and no I am not talking about you) about Black beauty. Old stereotypes that assume Black women don’t have long hair unless it was bought someplace…but that’s another post for another time.
The thing is 10 years ago when I first had hair this short I was still in denial that I could look good with short hair thus I always felt awkward about short hair. Now I love it. In fact its liberating at least for me, so while there are many who may think and wonder why I cut my hair, the answer is simply because I wanted to.
Switching gears for a second, as the summer gets off, my schedule will be busy so I am seeking guest posts on how folks are coping with the economic downturn. Specifically if you used to be solidly middle class and now find yourself not so solidly in the middle class, please consider doing a post. It will a weekly post entitled Dispatches from the Formerly Middle Class. My email is on the sidebar, so drop me a line.
