There happens to be a story behind my long, luscious hair. The length that I have now has always been my favorite but there was a period in my life where I had to make the decision of chopping it all off for the sake of my mental stability.

I had been diagnosed with vitiligo my junior year of High School. It appeared due to the excessive amount of stress I experienced at that time. For those who don’t know, vitiligo causes dis-pigmentation of the skin and I had it on the right side of my forehead. The color was as white as a sheet.

Since I struggled so much with my appearance and self-esteem, I decided to give myself a new look for my senior year. It’s not something I’ve done before and I told myself “It’s just hair. It’ll grow back eventually.” So I did it.

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them―that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like

Lao Tzu

Let me tell you, the first time I washed it, it was such a liberating feeling cause DAMN, that shower was quick and there was no added on weight. My hair is extremely thick and as you can see, there’s a lot of it! So frankly, I enjoyed the short length.

But of course, there’s pro’s and con’s to everything, right? I missed being able to style my hair with its long strands, warm my hands when it got cold (is that weird?), or play with it any chance I got…but most of all, I used it as a physical defense mechanism when I was in uncomfortable situations.

Find the lesson or the purpose in everything you do or any position you’re put in.

It hid me well from people, from seeing things I didn’t want to see. I basically had my own personal curtain separating me from the world.When I got rid of it, I felt exposed and vulnerable. It may seem a little silly but we all have things we do when we want to get away from any kind of discomfort. There was no where or no way for me to hide.

But you have to find the lesson or the purpose in everything you do or any position you’re put in. I learned how to style my short hair in a way that made me feel beautiful, I learned patience by enjoying the time I had with the weightless feel of it and I learned that anticipation is actually a reward when I began to see it grow over the next few years.

To see where it’s at now, I realize this was just one of the many journeys that I’ve taken and will take in the future that will teach me more than I can imagine. Will I ever cut it short again or do something crazy? You just never know…