Hairy Moments
So completely shifting gears (pun intended), I'm going to take a moment to discuss something that was a big challenge for me when I first hit the road - my hair. This might not seem like a big deal. After all, it's not as if there aren't hairdressers all around the country. And it would certainly have been possible for me to keep up with what was already a pretty low maintenance routine. However, this ended up being a journey in its own right.
It goes without saying that hair requires some basic maintenance (washing and brushing at a minimum), and as just noted, you can always find a hair dresser on the road when you need a trim. But since I was such a newbie, I was trying to minimize anything that would add to my logistic challenges. I'd also been coloring my hair for many years, and I'd been considering letting it go natural for a while. So this seemed like the logical time to just let it grow out and be done with it.
Unfortunately, the fact that something is logical doesn't mean it's easy.
From an emotional point of view, I had just put a big, giant spotlight on my head, and my vanity really wanted nothing to do with it. There were times when I thought I was out of my mind and should just pick up a box of color and give up on the whole thing. There were also moments when I considered just shaving it of. The dog was no help in talking this through, but she also didn't seem to think it was an issue.
I did finally get through enough of a grow out period to be able to chop it off and be done with it. But before I was able to get to that point, I still needed to figure out a way to keep it manageable. I'm not sure any of my efforts worked all that well. And ultimately, it was a matter of patience (or more likely plain stubbornness) to get through the months needed to grow it out. The most challenging period was when I was back in the office for 3 weeks in May (my hair really was a complete mess). I'm not sure what others have done to be able to look presentable in an office setting while trying to grow out a color, but kudos to anyone who has gone through it. Personally, I think I failed pretty miserably, but my coworkers (to their credit) didn't make me feel bad about it.
Early on, I had been largely trying to ignore the roots as they started to show. You know, just go with the flow. But when I got to an inch's worth of very noticeable gray roots, I was frustrated. How do I ignore an inch's worth of very visible gray roots? It was not something I could continue to ignore, and I definitely wasn't liking how it looked. I also wasn't keeping up with the overall cut, so it was a mess all around. So what to do? My brilliant idea was to just cover it up! I'm not sure this made my hair look any better, but it did make it easier to carry on with the "just ignore the roots" approach.
However since the ends were in need of some serious trimming, not seeing the roots was now emphasizing the damage to my ends. I finally broke down around the 6 month mark and got a bob. It was badly need and certainly fixed the ends. But without doing much else, I was going to look like Roseanne Roseannadanna with a totally botched bleach job. If you don't know who I'm referring to, you'll have to look it up (classic SNL).
At this point, I shifted from "just cover it up" to wearing a traditional bandana (so yeah - still retro but a definite improvement). It also let the gray start to peak out. This was a good thing if I was ever going to get used to it, and the color provided by the bandana helped me to adjust. The old color was also fading, and while it was still completely obvious that I was growing my hair out, it didn't feel quite so jarring anymore. Perhaps that was just me getting used to my hair being a total disaster and giving up on that piece of vanity, but I'll call it progress as it helped me to keep going and stay on track.
It would be almost a year before my hair had grown out long enough for me to be willing to give it a final whack. I'd never had my hair short, so the bob at 6 months was what I considered to be a baby step. I was still nervous to cut it all off, but I was ready to be done with the grow out. I'll admit it was still a shock and it's taken me a bit to get used to it. But I'm so happy with how it is now - and it's a 100 times easier to keep up with than when I had it long. In hindsight, I should have cut it much sooner. But then I wouldn't have my awesome retro bandana collection! At least I know I'm prepared for the next bad hair day.
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