Phase one: Look 1

It's about time, right? First, here are two "before" pictures for your reference. These two pictures represent every "style" I've had for the last....I don't know, forever.

Oh, except the ponytail or pen bun. Posted pictures of those would have been more accurate for my "before" style. There is nothing wrong with any of those styles. I loved them. They were easy. They were comfortable. They were me.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the only reason I want to go on this journey is to challenge the concept of "me." I need to make myself realize that I am so much more than the pictures of this chick.

So here is the first change. Red and caramel highlights and 7 inches off. Lots of layers.

 Above Left: wet unstyled hair. Above: day of  first change
Below: Waves. As if you needed that explanation.

The first thing you'll notice is, it's not drastic. Also, my hairstylist is a layer ninja and extremely talented.

The next important thing to note is something you'd never get from looking at the pictures. It's working. I mean, the "maybe if I know I'm going to change my hair constantly over the next few months, I'll care less about my looks" experiment. I thought about my hair almost never. People would say, "you got your hair cut!" and I'd be surprised. They'd ask, "do you like it?" and I'd be confused. It didn't matter if I liked it, it never occurred to me to like it or not like it.  I was just trying it, like a new flavor of ice cream. My hair didn't define me.

This is big for me. It's one step closer to my size not defining me. Because if I can let my hair just be hair, and not be "me," there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe one day I can let my body just be my body, and let me be me.

Coming up next week - Phase one: Look 2