New Hair

Well, my love-hate relationship with my hair came to an abrupt end on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m.  Actually, after school, I was talking to my mother and I hadn't been feeling very well.  She suggested that I should perhaps get a hair cut and maybe I'd feel refreshed.  And I honestly agreed with her wholeheartedly.  I actually felt like my long mess of hair was part of what was making me feel very blah.  


I got in my car and drove to a salon that I had been wanting to try out. I asked them if they take walk-ins, and they said that they will if there is enough time.  However, there sadly wasn't enough time for them to do it then (due to the fact that it was after work and that is when EVERYONE wanted an appointment).  So, I scheduled an appointment for Saturday, but I went away feeling disappointed.  I had really been looking forward to a haircut.


I tried looking up other places in my GPS, but I couldn't tell if they'd be any good because I knew nothing about them.  And the last time I had my hair done at a place here that I knew nothing about, I ended up HATING my hair.  I came down here in April or so for an officer's ball.  I wanted a nice, pretty, elegant updo that I couldn't do at home.  So, I found this place called UnKommen that was a UK themed salon.  I booked an appointment, and my hair ended up looking like this.

I wanted something pretty and elegant and I got something that made me feel like a boy.  I'm even getting upset looking at the picture again.  I had gotten this beautiful dress and a drab hairstyle.  I could have done better than that at home.

Anyway, so since I had had such a frustrating experience before, I wasn't taking chances on my hair again.  I went home.  I told my mom I was not going to get my hair done.  She suggested I at least look some places up online, so I did.  I found this place called D'Allen's and it had all ratings of 5 stars.  Everyone loved it there.  I called them and asked if I could please make an appointment.  Fortunately, one stylist agreed to fit me in.  WOOHOO! I was so excited.  She booked me for 6:30.

This left me with some extra time to find the length I wanted.  After googling various hairstyles, I landed on this one.

This was exactly what I felt I wanted! It was not too short, and I felt like a few layers would be a nice change.  Well, I couldn't be more happy with how my hair turned out!  After seeing this picture, my stylist suggested we might even want to try going for a similar color to the girl in the picture.

And, now don't expect me to look LIKE the girl in the picture, but this is how my hair turned out.  I'm very happy with it!

We Get Upset Because we WANT to be Upset

Tonight, I went to get my hair cut (pictures to come later when I'm not so worn-out looking).  I was waiting in the salon for about 10-15 minutes because I got there a little early.  While waiting, I couldn't help but pay attention to a mistake that the receptionist had made.  What happened was two women went to pay for their appointments at the same time.  The receptionist, trying to take care of everyone quickly and help one woman get out the door faster, took two women's cards and then accidentally switched their cards.  As soon as she handed a card to the 2nd woman, the lady caught the mistake.  The receptionist, feeling horrible, ran out to the parking lot trying to catch the lady.  Unfortunately, she was not able to find her in time.  So she then went out of her way to find all of the phone numbers they had on file for the woman.  She called repeatedly.  All the while, the woman waiting with the wrong card was being exceptionally hard on this girl.  She kept loudly proclaiming, "She mixed up our cards" and then telling the girl how easy it would have been to not mix up the cards.  I felt for the girl because she really didn't mean to do it and it was clear she was beating herself up over it.  Combine that with the fact that the customer was beating her up for it as well and, by the end of the night, the girl was totally a mess over this situation.


It was such a small thing.  Anybody could have made that mistake.  And, I was thinking about how it wasn't THAT big of a deal.  If it were me, I'd just call up the bank, cancel my card and request a new one.  It takes a few minutes and then you have a new one within just a few days.  I'd leave the other woman's card at the salon and be on my way.  No biggie.  But I think what made it worse for me to watch was the fact that the receptionist clearly felt bad and was doing everything she could to rectify the situation having this lady treat her like a totally incompetent moron.  


A similar situation happened to me where somebody got upset with me over something that I honestly couldn't control.  A decision that I made, which was in the best interest of another person, ended up being an inconvenience for somebody else.  There was NO WAY I could have known that it would have done anything to anybody else.  And I did everything I could to ensure that I was considerate of everyone involved.  I'm trying to remain vague because I don't want anyone to be judged.  But, anyway, I digress.  An unexpected schedule change ended up causing my action to adversely affect this other person.


The change was last-minute.  I never could have predicted it, and I was wrapped up in taking care of very pressing matters with somebody who really needed my help.  I think what got to me was that I was treated as if I deliberately acted irresponsible in order to make this other person's day more difficult.  I didn't, and I would have tried to find a way to not have their day impacted that way if I had known how.  I kept reexamining it in my head trying to think of what I could have done differently.  And, you know what?  There was NOTHING I could have done.  This person was upset because something inconvenienced them.  There was nobody to blame, and no way to have changed the end result.  But, that FRUSTRATION..what do you do with it?  You have to focus it somewhere, right? Direct it toward whatever or whoever could possibly be blamed so you have some justification for your irritation.


But the fact of the matter is that we all do this.  I have been in traffic when I have gotten so annoyed with people.  And there wasn't anything they could do.  I was upset with the situation, and I didn't want to admit that I was really being quite silly and childish.  We don't like to admit when we really don't act as mature as we should.


So, I've started wondering now what if I took some action to change the way I view my reaction? Instead of saying, "This is so annoying because he or she or it...." I could be saying, "I'm upset because I'm choosing to be." I don't want to say I'm mad at nothing.  Why be so discontented, why? It doesn't change the situation and only makes you bitter.

Hair

I have a love/hate relationship with my hair.  I am prone to wearing it longer as I usually find more things I can do with long hair.  However, I have a point of ultimate frustration with my hair that I have yet to get past.  Once my hair reaches a certain length, I cannot stand it anymore! I can't wear it down because it just irritates me.  So, I start to wear it in a ponytail all the time.  Yet, even then, it grates on my nerves because it starts to weigh the ponytail holder down and I can feel it on the back of my neck.

As you can see, with my hair flipped up over my head, I am currently preparing for my up and coming role as Jungle Woman Raised by Wolves.  And my hair has been so kind to adequately force me into character by making me feel like a wild woman.  Soon after, I will be rehearsing for my next starring role as Pebbles Flintstone.  You don't want to miss it.  I'm sure it will be an Academy Award winner.  Then, following my moving portrayals of Jungle Woman and Pebbles Flintstone, I will be featured in an epic tale as a middle school emo boy who enjoys living life behind a wall of hair.  Yes, my hair is more versatile than I give it credit for.

Oh but I'm sick of it!  I am trying, very patiently, to let it grow because Lee likes me to have long hair.  He has said I don't have to keep it long; however, I feel like now it is a time of trial for my hair and me.  How much longer can I let it remain? Will I wimp out and give in to its unruly nature?

I have gotten plenty sick of it in the past.  There have been times when it got so long that I went to extremes and just chopped it all off.

Though I did like the change at first, I did grow sad with the fact that it was gone.  And I missed the variety of hairstyles that I could come up with when I was lacking the hair for it.  I think that guilt was my hair's secret way of getting revenge on me for taking such drastic measures.

But I have to say that I am at a point tonight where I almost took out a pair of scissors and just started cutting away because I was tired of it.  Fortunately, I came to my senses before I managed to throw myself into the role of Jungle Woman being entirely untamed.