Real World Wednesday

Ten Inches.

Ten Inches is the required minimum length to donate to Locks of Love.

Ten Inches looks like this:


Ten inches have been scissored off of my hair.

Haircuts for me are a big deal. It takes weeks to convince myself I need a trim and even longer, clearly, for a major change.

I had planned on just a trim, and then I realized that if I went for the full-on cut, maybe I could do more than just make myself feel better. And I remembered a friend who has done this a couple of times, and I thought, "Well, by golly, I wonder what the requirements are." Well, I didn't think "by golly," 'cause I don't think anyone under the age of 85 thinks that, but you get my point.

I did the research and I found these requirements:

GUIDELINES FOR ACCEPTABLE DONATIONS
* Hair that is colored or permed is acceptable.
* Hair cut years ago is usable if it has been stored in a ponytail or braid.
* Hair that has been bleached (usually this refers to highlighted hair) is not usable. If unsure, ask your stylist.
* Hair that is swept off of the floor is not usable.
* Hair that is shaved off and not in a ponytail or braid is not usable.
* We cannot accept dreadlocks. Our manufacturer is not able to use them in our children’s hairpieces. We also cannot accept wigs, falls, hair extensions or synthetic hair.
* Layered hair is acceptable if the longest layer is 10 inches.
* Layered hair may be divided into multiple ponytails.
* Curly hair may be pulled straight to measure the minimum 10 inches.
* 10 inches measured tip to tip is the minimum length needed for a hairpiece.
* Please Note: Shorter hair will be separated from the ponytails and sold to offset the manufacturing costs. Although the shorter hair cannot be used in the hairpieces, it still greatly helps to reduce costs.
* Gray hair will be accepted and sold to offset the manufacturing costs.

I don't have dreadlocks (ha!), bleach has not touched my head...I think I can do it.

I think I had a mini panic attack last night as I thought about changing my hair so greatly. This morning, my hair looked better than it has in days, all full of life and wavy and shiny. Urgh. The WRONG day to have a good hair day.

And flipping through a magazine at the hair salon this afternoon, all I saw were pictures of women with gorgeous, wavy, long hair.

I started to doubt my decision.

But, it takes six ponytails to make one wig for a child, and I could be one of those ponytails. My long hair is a part of my personality, part of my identity, but I thought about the kids with no hair, and I got over myself.

And so, if you're looking for something nice to do around the holidays (or any other time), but you don't have a lot of money to give to charity, well, why not make a different kind of donation.

Or, get together five or six of your friends (perhaps with a similar hair color) and go for a new kind of spa day.

And if you get a fantastic new hairstyle out of the situation, what's wrong with that?