Let it fly in the breeze
And get caught in the trees
Give a home to the fleas in my hair
A home for fleas
A hive for bees
A nest for birds
There ain’t no words
For the beauty, the splendor, the wonder
Of my…Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
[from the musical Hair]
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair
When I was in my early 20s – I let my hair grow and grow and grow.
My mother used to tell me “grown-ups don’t have long hair.”
She also used to tell me I looked like an Indian – which was funny because she’s the one who told me that a secret of my father’s side of the family was that we have American Indian heritage.
Ah – memories. That hair growth was when I was in graduate school, it was the 60s and everyone had long hair – down to their backside, waist or wherever it wound up hanging down to.
So there I was, a grown up [of sorts] with long hair – and I let it stay long well into the 70s because I like my hair… and I had lots of earrings that I liked with long hair.
But – long hair can be a hassle. It gets in your face, nose, food, and eyes…. so one very hot summer day when my scalp felt itchy, I went and got it all cut off…..
And shortish it stayed until I was in law school…
But then I cut it off again…and kept it medium length or very short. For years.
Until I decided I wanted to let it grow.
No real reason except that those earrings I like with long hair kept looking at me – and I had kept them.
Alas – I’d forgotten what growing your hair out looks like….it goes through many ugly stages…so at first I kept trimming it to keep it out of my face and eyes…but then, of course, it grew back into my face and eyes..
Finally I bit the proverbial bullet and decided ugly, straggly or whatever – I was going to let it grow until it was long – and then decide what to do
It’s now long, it’s straggly, and it’s still growing……
How have you decided about your hair?
Can grown-ups really have long hair?
Is there any particular thing in your life that has led to long or short hair?
Thanks for the comments.