Hair Today...
Added 2021-04-08 03:47:30 +0000 UTC
I buzzed off all my hair during my final week of the Intensive Outpatient Program at the mental health hospital. By the time it was long enough to need a cut again, quarantine had started. Rather than use my clippers at home, I figured I’d just make my hair growth a game and see how long it got by the time lockdown was lifted. That goal then shifted to waiting until I got vaccinated. So, here we are, 19 months since I’ve had *any* hair modification of any kind.
I genuinely hate the sensation of having hair. Just. Wow. I hate it. I hate the feel of hair on my neck. I hate the weight of my hair pulling my scalp in a bun. I hate how I’m constantly shedding long hairs that get EVERYwhere. I hate all of it.
Oregon just announced that all adults will be eligible for the vaccine on the 18th, though, so... patience.
I see these photos of my hair growth, the ones I took today, and I see my mom in my face. I didn’t recognize her at first when she ambushed me in disguise at a comic con a few years ago— it had been almost a decade since I had cut off contact with her at that point— but she was the first thing I saw when I looked at these pictures taken today.
Two more months until I turn 38, and then it’s just a sneeze until I’m 40. I see where my flesh is starting to settle, I see the map on my face drawn by my mother.
I’m so grateful I’ve had access to the mental health resources that I’ve had. I’m so grateful for the support I’ve had from my community, my loved ones. I’ve seen where a brain like mine can wind up without help. I may have inherited that map but I’m charting a different path.
.....................UHG.
Can I just.
Can I just take some boring-ass hair growth progress pictures and post them on the internet without turning it into a whole thing about my mother???
No, I cannot.
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Adapted from a caption-turned-essay on an Instagram post. I don’t mean to spill my guts! It just happens.
Comments
<-- fully intend to embrace the 'ageing hippie' look with long gray/white hair
fred
2021-04-15 13:09:43 +0000 UTCI think I’m the opposite with hair. I’m 43 now and I’ve had long hair since I left school. Not having it would be weird. Well, will be weird, because it’s not going to last forever and I’m not interested in the ageing rocker look.
Chris Crowther
2021-04-11 03:50:02 +0000 UTCI am literally in the same boat as you. Had buzzed my head at home with clippers, and by the time I started thinking about getting it cut COVID butted into our lives. I get vaccinated tomorrow, and can't wait for a proper haircut. I don't like the feeling of it touching my face all the time.
Alicia P.
2021-04-09 22:39:08 +0000 UTCYes, you know, many people do not like the feeling of hair on their heads and try to do without them ... Nevertheless, thanks for sharing the progress of your hair growth, it was really curious.'
VitAnyaNaked
2021-04-08 18:36:59 +0000 UTCHeh, I'm doing the same thing with my hair too: can't decide whether to call "end" at vaccine or "no more masks". Definitely been a weird experiment trying long hair!
CloudHackIX
2021-04-08 12:34:30 +0000 UTC*just hugs*
Karine Charlebois
2021-04-08 11:25:14 +0000 UTCWell HOT DAMN that looks good! And it’s SPRING!!! Nice warm breezes blowing no hair but brushing your neck. My hair is halfway down my back and silver. I might keep it.
Kate Michmerhuizen
2021-04-08 10:54:51 +0000 UTCYou're probably not reading the comments this time because you didn't request a nice topic, but I'll tell a positive hair story anyway and I hope others will chip in :) My sister has curly hair and she had the sides shaved and the rest from forehead to neck long enough to curl a little. She kept shaving the sides but only sometimes bothers to cut it and so she looks like the most delightful curly cockatoo. Our maybe like a poodle 🐩 I'm very much looking forward to ruffle through it when we can meet again 😊
Zoltanina
2021-04-08 07:13:02 +0000 UTCI’ll just say that most of us around the world are having to deal with too much hair at the moment! At least it looks quite good on you, even if you don’t like it. Mine is just a mess. Barbers and hairdressers are due to reopen here next week, and I for one cannot wait...
Amyphist
2021-04-08 06:39:22 +0000 UTCI'm flip side of that coin. My (extremely beloved) mother is dying of lung cancer and I feel like I've aged 20 years in the last 15 months. I look into her face more and more every time I look in the mirror. To top it off, she always wore her beautiful white hair chin length, and I either had super long brown hair or super short pink hair, but since chemo took her hair and it's grown back, it's the same length as mine, and it grew back grey? And I have gone VERY significantly grey in the past 15 months?! I have to look into the face of somebody I love and am going to lose and miss every day for the rest of my life. I can't imagine looking into the face of somebody I don't want in my life. Thank goodness for mental health care.
H
2021-04-08 05:35:35 +0000 UTCI cut my mother out of my life 15 years ago, and she's low-level stalked me since. Right there with you. We so desperately don't want to be them, but have to make peace with the resemblances and the learned behaviors we fight.
Jon B.
2021-04-08 04:59:36 +0000 UTC*hug*
Becky Fish
2021-04-08 04:29:12 +0000 UTCI hate having hair. I hate it. I hate washing it, brushing it, putting it up, feeling it brush against me. I feel you.
Domino
2021-04-08 03:56:53 +0000 UTCHey, I get it about the 'rents. My father was awful, his second wife worse. I go after them every chance I get.
Jonathan Frieman
2021-04-08 03:52:00 +0000 UTC
