Hair Today

Today I am going to blog about hair. That’s right, hair. You might think there is not a lot a person can say about hair—especially a person unaffiliated with beauty school or the like—but you would be wrong. I have quite the hair thought train right now. Hmmmm. Hair thought train. That is a funny image. Anyway, I suppose I’m not just thinking of hair in general, but of hair color. I started thinking about this a couple of months ago, and it has all culminated in the writing of this probably pointless blog.

As some of you may remember, a couple of months ago, my world fell apart. I posted something about it when I had my nervous break-down. Ever after that, I have been feeling super insignificant in the world that flows and ebbs around me. Not insignificant as in I don’t matter; I don’t want you to think that I am self-depreciating or self-loathing, I like myself. This insignificance is the kind that comes from feeling like one solitary leaf in a whirlwind. Things are constantly moving around me of their own volition, and I am hopeless to control them, no matter how hard I try. Despite the strength of my person, I will never be strong enough to control anything but me. Don’t get me wrong, you can be a force for good, and you can motivate others and you can help with things, yada yada yada, but really each of us is the master of only our own agency. That’s super humbling. And who knows, maybe that is a lesson that God has been trying to teach me this last little while. I’m not really sure. All I know is that I HAVE learned it. And as I’ve learned about my powerlessness to control anything but myself, I’ve gained this immense desire to control EVERYTHING inside myself. I often catch myself thinking about how I’m spending my time, and if it is really how I want to spend it. It is distracting. In the middle of a task, I will think, “Is THIS what I want to be doing right now? No. I want to be doing something else.” And since I have control of me, I will change tasks. Often this leads to my homework falling by the wayside, as you can imagine.

Anyway this is a blog about hair, right? Right. Here’s how I lead into the hair topic: One thing I found that I have control over is the color of my hair. And so for the last couple of months, I have wanted to change my hair. I started to look around for what I like—not what others like, or what is popular or mainstream, but what I like. I wanted to be in control of the decision. I realized that the color I am the most attracted to is a deep red. You may have seen this red being sported by women like the actress on GI Joe, the singer for A Fine Frenzy, and others. I fell in love with the color, and have been obsessing about it for at least a month. Really I’ve been trying to figure out whether people would like me with red hair. But then I realized that I was placing the control with other people again. Worrying if people will like me with red hair? Really? Is the color of my hair going to affect whether or not people LIKE me? I will still be the same person, regardless of the color of the stuff coming out of the top of my head, won’t I?

My friends know that I’m not very fond of stereotyping in general, but this brand is extra repulsive to me. I have spent most of my life sporting blonde locks, which I suppose makes me “A Blonde.” But I hate saying that. I hate saying I’m “a blonde” because of the package deal of stupidity and silliness that comes with that title. Blondes apparently were not blessed with brains. Brunettes, on the other hand, are smart and talented and sometimes athletic. Oh, and my favorite—Gingers. This is a term that is new to me. I wasn’t aware that people with red hair were so generally despised by the entire human race. But apparently they are. Or at least this is what I’m told. I’m told that Gingers are at the bottom of society. Seriously? This whole idea reminds me of Dr. Seuss’s “Sneeches on the beaches with the stars on thars.” Those with the star-bellies were thought to be better simply because of different coloring. But what happened when that crazy guy came into town and switched up all the colors and shapes and sizes? And what would happen if I, a Blonde, had the audacity to dye my hair brown? Would I suddenly become a brilliant-minded athlete of the century? No. I tried it. Didn’t work. Nothing can make me athletic. I’m uncoordinated. But you know what DID happen? People treated me differently. Maybe only a little, but they did it. And I have a friend who is terribly embarrassed of his own red hair because of the Ginger stigma. So he dyes his hair brown. He says people just treat him better all around. How ridiculous is THAT?!

Anyway I don’t know where I’m going with this... The truth is that I started writing this about 3 weeks ago, and now I can’t seem to capture the passion I had concerning hair at that point. I did color my hair red. Parts of it. Painted streaks right through my precious blonde locks. It was beautiful. I almost cried. Okay… maybe not. But it WAS beautiful. Then it faded. I suppose I could come up with a really great analogy about how things in your life fade and how tragic that is… but I won’t. I’ll leave it here. I still like red hair. I think I’m going to pursue it more aggressively.
The End.


Rachel Nichols from GI Joe


Alison Sudol from A Fine Frenzy

I was also going to post a picture of Jessica Rabbit just for kicks... but I couldn't find one that I didn't feel was slightly pornographic. Gross. She's a cartoon for heaven's sake!