Good haircuts.<\/p>\n
Fact One.<\/strong> A few years ago, I was at an event attended by several women I hadn\u2019t seen in a long time. During that period, my hair had changed in a major way. It\u2019d gone from a long blunt cut, with bangs, to very short, and layered. With bangs.<\/p>\n A couple of the women at that event did not immediately recognize me but when they did, they loved my haircut. It elicited some commentary along the lines of, \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do with my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n That caused me to recall the crisp wisdom of Gregory, the guy who cut my hair for hundreds of years. That long blunt cut (with bangs) was what I\u2019d requested for most of those years. I loved its sexiness, its shine, it\u2019s chick chic. Then I got my heart broken and did what a lot of women do in a painful split: I asked Gregory to cut my hair off, into what I called a boy cut. With bangs.<\/p>\n He did. I adored it. Adored running my fingers through it, tangling it up. It was a clarion message to the world, I\u2019m not sure of what.<\/p>\n After a while, I started to let my hair grow again. With bangs. After which a new man came along.<\/p>\n Perhaps you\u2019ve picked up on my reiteration of the word \u201cbangs.\u201d Yes, there\u2019s a reason. The new man expressed distaste for two aspects of my essence: my socks, and my bangs.<\/p>\n \u201cSocks have to be white,\u201d he mandated. Mine were \u2013 and remain \u2013 anything but. I search the earth for wild patterns and colors.<\/p>\n I laughed at him about the socks.<\/p>\n One day, looking at myself in Gregory\u2019s mirror, I wondered out loud if we could do something about the bangs. Like, I didn\u2019t know, but…training them? Teaching them not to fall down over my forehead?<\/p>\n \u201cListen,\u201d said Gregory. \u201cYour hair grows that way. I\u2019ll show you,\u201d and he took up a strand from my forehead. \u201cLook. Your roots grow downward in front. Some people have roots that grow to the side, or to the back. Your hair grows down and there\u2019s nothing you or I can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n I felt a rush of massive relief. My hair grew that way!<\/p>\n That was a fact of life.<\/p>\n Although I did let my bangs grow out, and did annoy myself every day by pinning them back with combs or clips or bands or similar extraneous nonsense, eventually I settled into the fact of life. Bangs. I\u2019ve had them ever since, without fussing. (The guy left me for another woman who, I trust, is bang-less. In white socks. Do not pity me; I didn\u2019t like him very much.)<\/p>\n Fact Two<\/strong>. Also from Gregory.<\/p>\n My hair had not yet begun to turn silver when I had lunch with two women friends who told me they both were graying and did color their hair. I wondered out loud whether I\u2019d decide to do that when the time came.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t start,\u201d they both said, virtually in chorus. \u201cOnce you start, you\u2019re trapped and can\u2019t stop.\u201d<\/p>\n I double checked with Gregory. \u201cDo you think I\u2019ll color my hair when it turns gray?\u201d<\/p>\n He thought over that for a few seconds. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have the patience.\u201d<\/p>\n Fact Three. <\/strong>When I started working, we young women felt compelled to do things to our hair. Rollers, hair dryers, perms. What fuss. It took a few years before I realized my hair did not require any fuss. It looked fine, hanging down straight and smooth.<\/p>\n But as I began to have my hair cut shorter, I realized only the weight of my hair had kept it straight. When shorter, my hair sprouted waves and curls. Unfortunately, the waves on either side of my face were asymmetrical, yet did not have the majesty of a Gothic cathedral. One side flew outward, the other backward. It looked unkempt. And then an impertinent cowlick popped up on the back of my head. What?<\/p>\n I had two choices. First, to launch myself into a styling project, during which I\u2019d buy special brushes and dryers, and would spend a lot of time forcing my hair to lie flat.<\/p>\n Second choice, screw all that. Gregory was right: I didn\u2019t have the patience.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when I again had my hair cut short and in such a style I would never have to touch a hair dryer or a brush. Indeed, my hair is so self-actuated, I barely have to use a comb. And that crazy cowlick? I\u2019ve fallen madly in love with it. It perks me up every morning.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure you can translate this superficial dissertation about (my) hair into resounding truths about why it\u2019s simpler, less time-consuming, less expensive and much less frustrating to gather and rely on the facts of life than to whack your way through the tangles of falsity and fakery.<\/p>\n Good. Because producing this extensive tale has exhausted my capacities for profundity.<\/p>\n Now that I\u2019ve given you an assignment, I\u2019m stopping here. Because I\u2019ve gotta go trim my bangs. Make of that what you will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good haircuts. Fact One. A few years ago, I was at an event attended by several women I hadn\u2019t seen in a long time. During that period, my hair had changed in a major way. It\u2019d gone from a long … Continue reading
\nOn the rare occasion I\u2019ve looked through haircut magazines and have seen a style I like, I\u2019m able to say immediately, \u201cWon\u2019t work with my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n