A receding hairstyle

Hair is something sacred. It’s often the first thing you notice about a person. It’s a central piece of style; entire industries are built upon hair in a way that other body parts barely touch upon.

The love affair with hair could be scientific. After all, it protects our head, somewhat; that is, as much as your head needs protection from things like extreme cold and extreme heat. That’s what its original evolutionary purpose was, you know. To regulate body temperature.

But to many, it also protects our pride. Which means, to just as many, it’s difficult to change.

A botched haircut or style can’t be fixed easily. It takes time. And with that time comes weeks of embarrassment. A feeling of dread. Some have gotten past this. “It’s only hair,” they say. “It will grow back!”

Others haven’t.

You see this every day. You see this every time you notice an awful hairstyle, and you think to yourself, “Wow. That’s really bad.”

“Did they even look at themselves this morning?”

“Is that hair even relevant?”

But imagine the mind that rests under that hair. It’s comfortable. And quite possibly, it’s scared. Scared of change. And scared of chance.

I know this because I went through it myself. Always at war with my hair, I often wear outdated styles simply because I don’t want to mess with what works. And I’m not alone: look around, and you’ll find people still clinging to their 80s bangs, or their dirty grunge ponytail, or their creepy combover.

I don’t believe these strange hairstyles carry on because the wearers are ignorant. Simply, they are afraid of the change.

Because hair doesn’t grow back instantaneously. And for some, that’s too much of a risk to take.

[Prompt: “Strange Hair” – James Zajicek, who works at a video producer at Good Samaritan Society and seconds my claims that Mason Jennings is both underrated and destined for greatness.]

This was lovingly handwritten on November 4th, 2009