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Hi ,
Question -- when was your last haircut?
The last time I cut my hair was on October 22, 2019.
We were waiting for the baby to arrive (any day now) and chopping off most of my hair meant one less thing for me to fuss about postpartum.
Five months after that salon appointment, stay-at-home orders went into effect, and my window for a trim slammed shut.
Now here we are.
My hair spent most of 2020 in a tangled ponytail.
Maintaining any kind of hair regimen felt like one more thing at a time when regular showers were a luxury #momlife #quarantinechronicles #dontjudgeme
As the year wore on, my mane grew longer and I swore that in the “after-times” I’d run to the salon as soon as I could.
Though technically if everyone stays masked up then haircuts seem to be fairly safe (here’s the case study; you can thank Dr. Husband for that citation). But since I don’t need a haircut, it hasn’t seemed urgent to actually get one pre-vaccination.
Recently, as the idea of the world opening back up (slowly, steadily) began feeling more real, I decided to try styling this mop instead of just tying it out of my way each morning.
Besides, those acts of untangling, conditioning, styling —actually caring for my hair — could serve as intentional, meditative even, daily self-care practices. They were things I could do just for me and just because they felt good.
I researched curly hair products, ordered samples, and started to, you know, actually do something with my hair again.
I’m kind of loving it.
And it’s kind of beautiful.
So now I’m rethinking that haircut.
And not just because it looks good — and it does — but also because during one of those styling sessions, as I stood in my bathroom, my head flipped upside down, my hands applying leave-in conditioner, and scrunching, scrunching, scrunching, it hit me:
the tips of these wet curls sliding between my fingertips are the same curls that nuzzled into Papi's neck during our last hug.
And now he's gone.
But this hair, this hair that my beloveds — Papi and Guela María — once touched, is still here.
I've lost enough since October 2019. I’m not sure I’m ready to part with anything else just yet.
So for now I’m keeping my pandemic hair.
Maybe I’ll even write about it.
What about you?
What are you ready to cut off in the “after times"?
What might you hold onto a little longer?
What, if anything, are you writing about or around at this phase of these pandemic days?
Hit reply and let me know.
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