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Hey guys,
One thing I've noticed in the past month or two is that my self-image has changed. For a long time my mental picture of myself was still the very short-haired me, even though I liked what I was seeing in the mirror each day. Now the image has shifted to be fairly on-par with what the current reality, and when I think about myself in the future the hair is longer.
Anyone else experience this sort of delay? I assume it must be at least somewhat common since most people on this board have had short hair for a number of years prior to becoming a longhair.
Mouse
I understand what you mean. For example right now I see my images as being long haired. When I had short hair I never imagined myself with long hair. Now I can't imagine myself without long hair. I like it longer now. And because of that I am not cutting it. By that I mean cutting it all off. Two months ago, I had my first trim in a year, or slightly more than a year by a month.
Keep the hair growing, my friend.
i was never really satisfied with my short hair no matter what i did with it.. years ago when i was a child i always drempt of having long hair but every attempt at growing it until now was a failure. im happier than ever with my long hair and i beleive it suits me perfectly and every time i feel the wind blow in it, or i see myself in the mirrior i say think to myself "this is the real me.. this is who i am" and i love it!
i was never really satisfied with my short hair no matter what i did with it.. years ago when i was a child i always drempt of having long hair but every attempt at growing it until now was a failure. im happier than ever with my long hair and i beleive it suits me perfectly and every time i feel the wind blow in it, or i see myself in the mirrior i say think to myself "this is the real me.. this is who i am" and i love it!
Self-empowerment, Mouse, always falls into place after we've decided to grow our hair. It's part and parcel of dedicating oneself to a look, an outlook, and praxis that goes against the grain, the norm of the day. Thank you for posting your sentiments on that. I'm sure a lot of people here will concur with you.
As someone such as yourself who has had shorter-haired coiffures most of her life, you are, indeed, bound to develop a shift in how you view yourself and, at the same time, society as a whole. Your longer haired progress pictures are a teastament to this. They're great, an excellent achievement. Once again, Mouse, thank you for posting your assertion of that blossoming longhaired spirit. And definitely keep it growin' and goin'!
Yours in longhaired camaraderie,
Quenyan
Good to know your self-image has adjusted now. It can take upto 6 months for this to happen, and while reality and the residual self-image are in stark contrast, it can lead to annoying dreams.
In fact, I have a theory that a lot of dreams including your hair being cut, is back when your self-image is resisting the adjustment to long hair. Or at least in my experience, I stopped having dreams about my hair being cut once my self image had adjusted.
Hey Mouse ...
I have to agree with you. I think self-image changes both physically and probably mentally to some degree. Occasionally I walk by the mirror and have to stop and do a double take at who just walked by... I've not had my hair this long before .... ever. It's a strange and unique feeling to do this ... something that is really hard to put into words really.
Anyway ... thanks for the post and keep up your great work. You're looking great.
Be Blessed..
Tristan
...and it still shocks me to see how long my hair is when I walk past my reflection in a car or shop window.
i know what you're talking about, but in a somewhat different way. i've had long hair since i was about nine, and decided when i was twenty-two to cut it up to my shoulders (from butt length). i never got used to it short. in my dreams i always pictured myself with my long hair back, and then would wake up and almost cry when i looked in the mirror. it wasn't until it reached mid-back again that my head got used to it.
on a more recent note, ten years ago i quit going in the sun after reading about what it really does to the skin. (let me tell you, it's hard to stay out of the sun in the desert). i always had this super dark tan, and i let it fade completely away. this summer, i decided life is too short to stop going out in the daytime, so now i have a tan again. i can't get used to putting lotion on tan legs in the morning, and in my dreams i'm still milky white. but from everything i read in my library of psychology books, it can take from a few months up to a year for the brain to fully process a change and readjust your mental image. (it depends on what kind of change - a lost limb will obvioualy take longer to adjust to than cut hair). so it sounds like you're in the norm.
but isn't the long hair lovely and fun? i can't wait to see new pictures of you again!!
peace,
nic
Funny, I used to think of myself as a longhair in a shorthair world, but more and more I think what are all these shorthairs doing in my longhaired world! lol!
Bruce
Hi Mouse: That's an interesting observation. I can relate. Lately I've been "surprised" at seeing my reflection in windows, etc. and also by my shadow. Though I'm getting used to my long hair, the old image is still embedded in there somewhere and the old and new haven't quite jelled yet. Very profound. I need to give this one a little more thought. Bruce'ster
Yeah this happened to me recently. I got my hair cut(unfortunately) and i would forget about it and when i saw myself in the mirror it'd be like "oh yeah.. it's short now :(" haha.
Interesting thought, Mouse.
I guess I had for a a long time also thought of myself as shorter-haired (self image / picture of what I look like in my head).
Now the opposite has happened. I actaully see in my mind an image of me with hair that is longer than it actually is (yet). Positive thinking ? Creative visualization? I think I just want the hair I see in my mind and am excited to be making this journey towards it.
Shawn (Mr.Crow)