Have you ever thought about how much your hair really does mean to you? How much you take your beautiful locks for granted? Have you ever thought about what you would do if you uncontrollably started to lose that?
For me, I have always really confided in my hair. Having long hair has been a sort of shield that I could, not necessarily hide behind but, rely on to give me the confidence I need to face the world. Growing up, I have been known to have such white-blonde hair that I have chosen to keep at a very long length, letting it grow more and more each year. When I was really young in a classroom with mostly brunette children running around, I used to desperately want to wake up with gorgeous long brown shiny locks. When, eventually, I realized that being born blonde is [somewhat] unique in a world where most people have to go to the salon a few times a month in order to process their hair to being blonde. This is when I promised myself to never dye my hair, ever. Having healthy hair that grows so quickly after getting a haircut is a blessing. Because of these choices, I have chosen to donate 11 inches of my hair to a child out there in need.
Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization run throughout the United States and Canada. This organization provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 21 suffering from any medical diagnosis which involves long term hair-loss. Most of the children helped by this cause suffer from a medical condition called Alopecia Areata that has no known cause of cure. In order to achieve the highest quality hair prosthetics, they use donated hair from everyday people like me and you. Lock of Love is a way to restore these children's confidence and self-esteem each and every day. Their mission statement follows:
"Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need."
And now I present to you, the whole process in pictures:
(You can click on each picture to see it in full size)
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| Before shot with my hair fully brushed out and damp, ready to donate! |
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| That ruler really messed with my nerves.. |
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| Deciding on how long to cut off. This was the final decision. |
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| The first snips!!!! |
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| More and more snipping away.. |
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| The last strands. |
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IT'S ALL OFF!!!!!!!!
Now time to fix it all up. |
I have been really thinking about this since Winter Break and getting myself so excited. I haven't told many people about my plan to chop it off in the summer, so I guess.. SURPRISE! I decided to go with more of the straight look instead of layers because I think it's more of a statement. [I can, and probably will get layers put in later on.] I am really enjoying it. With having a middle part, which I have had for a while now, the front makes an awkward bump because it no longer has all that weight pulling it down. Eventually, it will be trained to not do that anymore. One of my first reactions was, "Do I look like Lord Farquaad?" But, I am starting to love it. I think it's a great summery style. As I mentioned above, I may decide to put in layers to give it a little bit more bounce and volume. It's all a guessing game from here. Haven't had my hair so short since third grade!
Summer, here I come!
