“A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life”.
I’m sure you have seen this Coco Chanel quote more times you can count. Recently I got a hair cut that I love. It’s not my first hair cut by any means and it’s not really “life changing”, but in a lot of ways, it’s very freeing. One of the things I enjoy most about being natural is the versatility. One day you can be straight, the next day you can wear a twist out, and the next day you can be in clip ins, if that’s your thing. Each time you get to define or redefine how the world sees your hair, and to some extent how they see you.
Almost every time I get a hair cut, I naturally get the question asking, “why”.
“Why did you cut your hair? It was so ………”
I honestly don’t mind the question at all. Most of the time, my answer (and the truth) is, “because I wanted a change, I wanted a new look, I wanted something different.”
This got my thinking about how we define people by certain “looks” or attributes that they may be known for. For some people, it’s a signature look or signature hairstyle.
Over the past 5 years, I have done a lot of hairstyles and talked about hair a lot. It is almost to the point where I became *defined* by my hair. The truth is, I don’t want to be defined by my hair.
*Cues India Arie’s, “I am not my hair”. *
I know everyone says this, but I literally don’t just want to be a head of hair. Yes, I blog about my hair and I want to encourage people to embrace and love their hair but in the GRAND scheme of things, it’s so much bigger than hair.
Last week when Prince suddenly passed away, what I saw people talking about most, was how he was true to himself, how authentic he was, and how he impacted the lives of millions around the world with his musical genius.
While I’m not a celebrity, it made me think about how people (outside of friends and family) might remember me when I die.
I know for sure I don’t want my legacy to be, “Oh VeePeeJay was so nice and she had bomb hair”. LOL. Nope I definitely don’t want that.
I have shared a lot about how I’m committed to fully living a life of purpose and using all the gifts that God has blessed me with. I intend to do just that.
So, I honestly didn’t mean to wax poetic or to go extra deep. After all, it’s just a haircut, right? It just made me think and I wanted to share…
When I posted this photo on social media I got a lot of questions about styling. I posted a quick (2 minute) video on how I style this new cut that inspired this ramble 😉 Check it out below 🙂
I used products from True by Made Beautiful for this style (in the orange blouse) 🙂
YOUR TURN: What do you want to be known for?
I loved this and I thought similar thoughts about my own life as a result of Prince. I am a live life by my own terms type of gal. Sometimes I forget how important that is. I want to live a life that has building lights around the world turning hot pink in my honor.
Yes! Hot pink is definitely your color Mimi.
Great post because I just cut my hair and straighten it and some people were so shocked! I also said I am not my hair…but people do define you by your look and especially if your hair is a trademark. I did straight for a sec and I have crochet now…and I will take the crochet out and go back to rocking a curly fro. My hair will grow back and people need to understand that as well…change is change but hair always grows if you take care of it. You are more than your hair and I am with you!
Yes girl. It’s easy for people to get so attached to one physical trait and define your whole person by that.
I love the quote you used in the beginning. Earlier this year I cut my hair short and I can so relate with you. Do your thang!
Thanks Stacie 🙂
Your hair is fabulous but we know by now that you are way more than your hair <3 I want to be known as a woman who lived passionately and achieved her dreams even as a mother and raised some pretty awesome humans 🙂
Thanks Adanna! I think it’s safe to say that you are well on your way <3