Day 29 - Donate Hair to Locks of Love

Date: February 4th, 2010

A select few of the things on my running list for this year are things that I spent months or years telling myself I was going to do and just hadn't gotten around to.  For almost three years, I talked about donating my hair to Locks of Love, but every time I decided to go, there was some reason I couldn't.  My hair was too short, I didn't have time, I wanted a certain look, my hair was too damaged, the sun was in my eyes, I was hungry... you know, the usual reasons.

 

And who would want to get rid of this hot mess?

But... the biggest reason I never did it... by far and away... was that I didn't think there was a place near me that I could donate at.  I didn't realize that there was a place right down the road.  In fact, in case anyone wonders, you can even do it at home.  You just have to have hair that meets the requirements.  The Locks of Love website has an address you can send the hair to from home.  In other words - I had no excuses left.

I feel like the easiest way to tell this story is in pictures.  Largely because, not unlike a few other things I've done, the real joy of the experience isn't in the experience itself, but in what it means.  Seriously.  The "experience" I had today was called "getting a haircut".  It included such highlights as the rinse and repeat, going up and down in the chair, seeing the back of my own head in a mirror and, no haircut would be complete without the all important reading of the three-month-old copy of Us Magazine.  Did you know Brangelina is having problems again?  Well I do.  BAM.

First things first, I made sure my hair was actually long enough for the donation.

 

Check.

The stylist I got was really nice.  My hair was close to the border of the shortest that they accept for donations, which you'll see proof of in good time.  That being said, in order to make sure that my hair was even all the way around, she didn't just hack off the ponytail that I wore to the salon.  Instead, she separated the hair into four even groups.

 

Check out those roots.  Sexy.

Then she got a-cuttin'.

 

Past the point of new return.

This used to be on my head.

Once the initial cutting was done, I got my hair cut and styled fairly nicely.  Again, this is not a new experience for me.  See, I'm going to pause for a moment and give you the general rundown of how I deal with a difficult or painful life experience.

Step One: Deal with the situation as it unfolds.

Whether its a bad break-up, a rough semester or a personal crisis, step one should always be tackling the situation head on.  I'd love to assume this is obvious advice, but we both know its not.

Step Two: Take stock of my life.

I'm not emo.  I don't believe in being emo.  I don't even like Elmo cause his name is too close to emo.  But gosh darnit sometimes its nice for something to be about me.  So... I indulge my inner emo for a day or two, think about the next steps and focus on the things that really matter.

Step Three: Change hair color.

Its at that point that I usually remember why I don't like emo-ness so much.  Screw you Elmo!  I will not tickle you.  You just want attention.  Then I decide that I don't like all the emo-ness I've been exuding.  So I make an outward change to indicate a shift to a new phase in my life.

Step Four: Feel pretty.

Self-explanatory.

 

Pictured: Pretty.

Pictured: Ytterp.

(Get it?  The backside of pretty.)

So, I feel pretty.  But, I say that for a particular reason.  I truly believe that inner beauty shines through - people, when they do good things, exude a sort of lightness that makes other people want to be around them.  That's why, in addition to their magazine-model good looks, the Nicholases are so wonderful to be around.  But I digress.  I'm pointing out the prettiness because, as a personal preference, I really like long hair a lot better.  When I decided to do Locks of Love today, I decided to do it regardless of whether or not I had to go crazy short with my hair.  

I expected to have a hair cut I'd be "dealing with" for a while, but the amazing feeling I got knowing what impact the donation would have made that thought wash away.  The people who get the Locks of Love donations are dealing, generally speaking, with a life-threatening illness at a tender and wholly unfair stage of their lives.  To be able to help alleviate one small part of that burden doesn't just feel good - its an honor.