A weight off....
So, after nearly 20 years - my entire adult life, pretty much - of long hair (usually anywhere from halfway down my back to covering my bum)....
...I shaved my head. :)
It was for a good cause: the World's Greatest Shave, raising money for research into leukaemia and other blood-related cancers. My hair went to a wig-makers here in Melbourne, I've raised some money (family and workplace were quite generous), and Friday was the big day, where my hair was stranded into numerous pig-tails, carefully cut off at the root, and then clippers were run over what was left on my head.
I must admit, it takes some getting used to. I'm not used to the reflection that looks at me in the mirror now, as the lack of long hair has changed the shape of my face. Every time I move, there's no counter-movement of hair across my shoulders or down my back, or when I remove my t-shirt; feeling the sun or even water from a shower feels eerie against my scalp; feeling the air-conditioning or wind across the back of my neck feels both refreshing and startling.
I decided to grow my hair out leaving high-school (symbolic of wanting to change after the unpleasant experience of high school) and starting university at 17, and have had it ever since. Despite some interesting colour changes - sea-blue, amethyst purple, bright UV-reactive fluoro-green (a favourite I returned to quite a bit) and a very-brief experiment with black - over the years, I've taken care of my hair, especially with the rigours of long-distance backpacking. It attracted all sorts of attention, as you'd expect, from a range of people: even in the western world, there's not a lot of males with long red hair these days.
But once again, it's time for a change. I'm getting older, the hairline is slowly beginning to recede, and there's no way I'm growing old looking like a disgraced, aging punk rockstar (or like Michael Bolton: short on the front and long in the back) in a weird distortion of a mullet. The weather is a lot warmer in Australia than in Europe. And despite my uncertainty of the final result, many people have said it suits me.
We'll see. I can always grow it back again.
This entry was originally posted at http://mnemonia.dreamwidth.org/345157.html. Comments may be left on either entry.
...I shaved my head. :)
It was for a good cause: the World's Greatest Shave, raising money for research into leukaemia and other blood-related cancers. My hair went to a wig-makers here in Melbourne, I've raised some money (family and workplace were quite generous), and Friday was the big day, where my hair was stranded into numerous pig-tails, carefully cut off at the root, and then clippers were run over what was left on my head.
I must admit, it takes some getting used to. I'm not used to the reflection that looks at me in the mirror now, as the lack of long hair has changed the shape of my face. Every time I move, there's no counter-movement of hair across my shoulders or down my back, or when I remove my t-shirt; feeling the sun or even water from a shower feels eerie against my scalp; feeling the air-conditioning or wind across the back of my neck feels both refreshing and startling.
I decided to grow my hair out leaving high-school (symbolic of wanting to change after the unpleasant experience of high school) and starting university at 17, and have had it ever since. Despite some interesting colour changes - sea-blue, amethyst purple, bright UV-reactive fluoro-green (a favourite I returned to quite a bit) and a very-brief experiment with black - over the years, I've taken care of my hair, especially with the rigours of long-distance backpacking. It attracted all sorts of attention, as you'd expect, from a range of people: even in the western world, there's not a lot of males with long red hair these days.
But once again, it's time for a change. I'm getting older, the hairline is slowly beginning to recede, and there's no way I'm growing old looking like a disgraced, aging punk rockstar (or like Michael Bolton: short on the front and long in the back) in a weird distortion of a mullet. The weather is a lot warmer in Australia than in Europe. And despite my uncertainty of the final result, many people have said it suits me.
We'll see. I can always grow it back again.
This entry was originally posted at http://mnemonia.dreamwidth.org/345157.html. Comments may be left on either entry.