I have had short hair my entire life. There were a few years when my hair was long enough to be tied up, but it had not gone any further than shoulder-length. That was some time in Form 1 – 2. I agreed to cut it short in Form 3 because I was really tired of tying my hair up. I promised myself though, that after high school, when I am no longer required to tie up hair that goes past the collar, I will let myself have whatever length I wanted. I certainly got what I wished for, and more.
With my new (and growing) hair length, I now have a host of hair-related problems. My unlayered curtain of hair is not as bouncy as it used to be. I have to braid my hair before I exercise (not that I do all that often, but still) and it is restrictive during. My neck feels extremely sticky on hot days, especially when I don’t have hair ties with me. I now spend so much more time in the shower, shampooing and then conditioning (I used to skip the latter when I had a more manageable length). My hair takes forever to dry and the weight pulls on my scalp.
But the worst of all, is my alarming hair fall rate. I know studies show that 50 strands a day is normal but it is not normal for me. I didn’t use to have loose strands of hair tangled in my hands when I carelessly combed through my hair, or when I shampooed my hair, or when I played with my hair. Now I’ll breathe a sigh of relief when it doesn’t happen. It may not seem like a big deal to some people but let me assure you that it is very scary when you see a fresh pile of hair on the toilet strainer after a shower. Imagine if I begin balding at eighteen!
The obvious solution is to chop off my hair and hope that the hair loss will eventually plague me less persistently. But not yet. I haven’t had my fill of long hair, and it is not at my desired length yet. One more year and I promise I will get that drastic hair cut and donate my hair to charity. For now, I am going to braid burn dye my hair any way I like. No, I’m kidding. I’m not going to intentionally burn my hair.
