Hair makes such an impact on our self-confidence. It can make us feel like a rock star or really icky about our appearance. Every morning I wake up, look in the mirror, and think “Ugh, what do I do with this today?” More often than not it ends up in a bun or a braid. Even though it’s long pretty hair, it just felt like a burden to deal with every day. Sure, I could wake up early to spend time straightening or curling it but then it would just poof up due to living in the land of humidity. Plus, who only wants to feel good about their hair after spending all that time and effort making it fancy! What about every day?

At one of my jobs I get to meet a large diversity of people on a daily basis. That includes witnessing a lot of really awesome hairstyles. Lately I’ve been noticing some really beautiful women rocking some spunky pixie cuts and bobs. Holding my ponytail, I realized how long my hair actually was.

I grabbed a tape measure and measured it. Almost 10 inches! That’s totally long enough to donate so I researched various organizations that accepted hair donations and their specific criteria. Locks of Love is probably the most well-known organization but I wanted to contribute to one that provides more specifically to women and children who can’t afford to buy wigs. That led me to Pantene Beautiful Lengths which accepts as short as eight inches of healthy hair. Now I couldn’t think of a reason NOT to do this!

My next day off I went to Floyd's 99 Barbershop in downtown Orlando. My lovely hair stylist, Jocelyn, was quite excited to cut off so much length and play with a fun short style because that 10 inch cut made my hair really short.I showed her some Google images of a style between a pixie cut and a bob that I really liked. She started snipping away! I noticed a couple other barbers and customers watching, cracking up because they seemed more nervous than me. After the big cut, they went back to their business and occasionally came over to eagerly see how it was coming along. Amongst the nostalgic album covers pasted all over the walls, Jocelyn was super friendly and walked me through every step of the haircut so I understood the layers and “graduating” (learned a new hair term!) of my cut. We chatted about the Orlando Fringe Festival (yay to supporting new theatre!) and she asked about my musical endeavors.

Coming onto almost two hours, her snipping became incredibly detailed. Watching her face, I saw an artist meticulously polishing her work of art. It warmed my heart to see how invested she was in making this cut perfect. She handed me the mirror and spun me around. My face was beaming like a sunny beach day! The hair style looked super adorable. Even though it’s super short, the front gave me room to play with bobby pins and styling gel to give it an extra oomph whenever I’m in the mood.

Those 10 inches of hair covered my tense neck and shoulders and carried weight of stress and anxiety over my appearance, how that affects my career, and the comments people have made about how the longer the hair the prettier the girl. This haircut is me calling bullsh*t on all of that! With the breeze on the back of my neck I can confidently say I feel freer, stronger, and more myself than I have in a long time.

The best part is that the confidence I feel by losing those 10 inches is the confidence that some woman or little boy or girl is going to feel pulling that wig over their head. That confidence can make the world of a difference to someone with cancer who doesn’t have the under-appreciated luxury of fast-growing hair.

If your hair is long and luscious and you want to spice up your look, consider donating! I was completely satisfied with Jocelyn (@jocelynyvelis) at Floyd’s 99 Barbershop (@floydsorlando) at 842 N Mills Ave in downtown Orlando. What’s even better? They are so supportive of donating hair that they gave me my haircut for free. Call them at 407-985-3500 to schedule an appointment today!