I have had the same question time and time again….Why did you shave your hair?

I have always been one to change my hair colour and style and my hair has seen every colour and style imaginable. Maybe I like to become ‘someone else’ for a while, being different, not conforming and changing a part of me that isn’t actually who I am. I have observed though, that people treated me differently when I had different hair colours. When I was a redhead, a lot of people felt intimidated by me (mainly men). As a brunette, I felt people took me seriously and as a blonde (my natural colour) I felt people didn’t take me nearly as seriously as any of the other hair colours.

For many years I wondered what it would be like to shave my hair completely, but I never had the balls to go through with it. It was after a not-so-nice break-up and broken, damaged hair that I cut my hair short and shaved the sides. I felt like a new person with a new lease on life and it felt more “ME” than any long hair ever did.

I kept my hair that way for a few years and although people loved it, I found that a lot of people started asking me when I am going to grow it again. I find it fascinating that people want you to change something about your appearance because “they” want you to. And why is it so important anyway?

(I am about to digress here because writing the previous paragraph sparked these thoughts)

The questions in life never stop….

• You get into a relationship – when are you getting engaged?
• You get engaged – when are you getting married?
• You get married (and 5 minutes later) – when are you having a baby?
• You have a baby (and just as he/she is out of the birth canal) – when are you having another one?
• You move into a new house – when are you having a housewarming party?

Quite frankly, it is none of anyone’s damn business. What happens if someone is unable to conceive a baby? No-one thinks of that when they ask “when are you having kids”. It is almost like it is expected of people to follow a societal norm of a typical traditional timeline. Who wrote this timeline and rules for it anyway?

Anyway, back to the topic.

I almost grew my hair a few times but then ended up just going to the hairdresser and chopping it off again. It was after my last break up (yes another one), that I just decided to do it. Actually, I stared at the clippers for 10 minutes and then just picked it up and shaved it all off. For a few minutes afterwards I thought “Bronwyn, what the &#%$ have you just done?” but after a while of looking at my new shaved pip, I actually started liking it.

Now it is 8 months later and I have loved having no hair. The convenience! The best thing about it is that I can get out of bed and not have to do a thing. I can get out the shower and not waste time having to blow dry my hair. I do not have to buy or use any hair products, go to the hairdresser, contend with broken, damaged hair and I don’t have to fight with the wind blowing my hair out of place. The fact of the matter is that it has made life SO much simpler and given me time to focus on other things.

Now that I have gone into the practical reasons of what I have loved about this (not-so-new) ‘look’, it is not actually not about the look at all. Here are some observations I have made about humans and this experience through this process:

1. We attach so much of who we are based on our hair and outer appearance – style, colour, texture, etc. I would be known as a ‘blonde’ which is a label and it actually starts to identify and stereotype me.
2. People will want you to change something physical about you to make them feel better about themselves.  Why?
3. Most people love you regardless of what you look like. If your heart is pure, hair means stuff all.
4. Having no hair has allowed me to connect deeper with the essence of who I am.
5. There is an energetic shedding process when you shave your hair. Letting go of the past, letting go of old habits, starting afresh and becoming more of who you are automatically happens.
6. Femininity has got nothing to do with long hair and everything to do with your energy. I felt more feminine after shaving my hair as it allowed me to connect with the woman within.
7. It feels cool! I often find myself rubbing my hands over my head. It is quite therapeutic.
8. We sometimes need to strip ourselves of the biggest things that identify us to get to the core of ourselves and realise that there is so much more to life and this existence.
9. Hair does carry an enormous amount of energy. When I shaved it completely off (which I only did once) I felt so exposed and off-balance. I felt way more sensitive and open to energy affecting me.
10. By shaving my hair, I allowed myself to have more fun and take myself less seriously. I have felt free. It felt as if I opened a door and stepped through to allow myself to let go of the insignificant details of human-hood and focus on what really matters.
11. I am not this body, I am not this mind, I am not this hair.
12. I did not shed who or what I am, I shed what I am not.

I am now about to start growing it again as I feel that it is time to and I want to.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that you should make decisions for you and no-one else. Other people’s opinions do not matter. People are going to have opinions anyway. Remember, you are with yourself for the rest of your life and only your approval of yourself matters. As long as you are not harming or hurting anyone, you are entitled to do what is best for you, no matter what anyone else says, does or thinks. You do not have to explain yourself and what you do for you to anyone.

So be bold and daring if you so wish, the world needs more of that magic stuff!