A little over a year ago now, I decided to cut my hair. Now, when I say “cut”, I don’t mean a trim, or even a significant trim to just “get the dead ends off.” No, I did the big chop, as it’s commonly called – I cut a whole 14 inches off and sent it off to Wigs for Kids to hopefully, make a wig for a kid. Okay, let me rewind for context.
I had had extremely long hair for almost as long as I could remember; it was a huge part of me and my identity, as I think a lot of people can relate to. Hair, and how we present ourselves to the world, tells a lot about ourselves. However, having had long, straight hair since my first “bob” in fifth grade (spoiler: it wasn’t a good look) I had grown out my hair and for a while, could not imagine taking off more than a few inches at a time. I would become anxious in the chair and did not go to a salon for quite some time because of this. Eventually, I decided I wanted a change. I had ruled out hair dye, bangs, or a perm… but I knew that I wanted to do something different, and drastic. So, that left one option: the chop.
A year later, I’ve continued to wear my hair just a little past my shoulders, and I really love it. My long hair had become too intertwined with who I was – high school friends only knew me with long hair, and it almost became synonymous with my personality (at least that’s what I thought), and more personally, I did not want to feel like I was compromising my own femininity. I loved my long hair, too, and didn’t want to cut it off and lose the confidence it gave me. I wanted to be different than who I had been in high school, especially now that I was in college, and what better way than change my hairstyle? The power of a new haircut really can change a person; post breakup, starting a new job, or by just wanting to create change in your life because maybe it’s been a bit dull lately. After I chopped my hair, I became more involved on campus, reached out to friends more, and ironically, gained confidence from doing so. It forced me to step out of my comfort zone – a lot – which opened so many more opportunities for me.
So, all of this is to say, if you ever ask me “Should I cut my hair?”, my answer will always be yes.