Hey Guys!
I won't be hitting the 1 month mark before the 17th, but I felt inspired to create a new video, and would love to hear your feedback on it!
The topic at hand is what made you want to grow your hair long. Why long hair? How does it make your life better? WHY? ;)
Please feel free comment both here as well as on my YouTube channel! Always appreciate the traffic, and have definitely made sure to put the link to the MLHH.org in the video description! :)
Peace out!
Managed to forget it, sorry!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5ZRqNb_EEs
This is a topic I have always wanted to start but I kept forgetting haha .So here I go:
Number ONE reason why I decided to grow my hair out:
My hair grows really really fast (lucky me, huh?) so having short hair required me to go to the salon once every 10 days (no exaggeration). That requires time and money. I work and study all day, all week (from Monday thru Friday). My only free time to go to the salon is during weekends. So I found ridiculous spending 2 or 3 hours from my day off to get a hair cut (Besides of the money factor, of course).
Growing my hair out was the only solution I found to this "issue". Having short hair also requires attention .You have to keep it short so it looks neat , style it (I used to spend hours every morning in front of the mirror to get my hair styled the way I wanted) , go to the salon, etc.
Now that I have long hair I only have to worry about washing my hair, conditioning, using some oils to avoid frizz , some kind of serum if I notice dry or split ends, and that's it! I spend NO TIME in the mirror in the morning when I get ready to start my day. If oen day you dont feel like messing around with your long hair, you can always tie it back.
The number two reason is that I wanted a change: 90% of guys have short hair. I think is boring to look like the rest of the people. Plus, I had never had long hair before, so I wanted to see how it feels/looks.
But my main reason was the fact that my hair grows too fast as to wear it short and I dont have the time nor the willing to spend the money to go to the salon every 10 days to get a haircut.
Some people say that long hair requires more attention and care than short hair. That's not like that to me. Short hair required me more time than long hair.
Excellent answers, Dave! :)
Who would have thought that from such a "plain" reason as not wanting to maintain short, tidy hair, you would end up with such fantastic long hair! :D Just goes to show you, that some people are simply ment to be longhairs!
Thanks for your elaborate answer, I appreciate it!
The number one reason I started growing my hair long was in
1964, I was watchin the Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles were
on that night. I decided right then and there i had to grow
my hair long. Well days became weeks which became months
which became years. My hair grew longer, and no matter how
much resistance I got from school administrators, teachers and
employers my hair stayed long. Now at the age of 59 my hair
is still long and will remain so until the day I die.
Another reason I decided to grow my hair long was is most of
the other guys had boring short hair cuts. I wanted something different. Later in the 1960s and 1970s alot of other guys
had long hair, i still kept my hair long. By the 1980s alot of guys cut their hair short, I kept my hair long, and now 49 years
later it is still long.
Because 99% of men have short I flatly refuse to join them.
Short hair is boring. And Buzz cuts are even more boring.
Hi Raul,
I did watch your video but ran into technical problems so only saw the first couple minutes until the video froze up but still had the audio which was good enough to listen to your whole presentation.
I have to say even though your only a couple weeks into regrowing your hair it nice to see your entire scalp covered with new hair and no signs of damage from your dreadlock experience.I was concerned you might end up with bald patches but no signs of that:)
I know its tough having to restart your journey but at least you've gotten over the idea of getting too creative with your hair early on.Best to just let it grow out and do its thing and cope as best as possible with the awkward stage when it arrives.
As for your question to us my longhair journey started around the early to mid 1980s and has always been a work in process.I had normal straight hair until I decided to get it permed into tight curls!lol.Yea it looked cool at first but I nearly damaged my hair big time with that treatment but managed to save it.Ever since its always been long and straight until the late 1990s when I wanted to grow it to my waist.I still had trims even after that but in August of 2005 I had my last professional trim and just let it grow to what it is today which must be terminal length.Anyway that's the short story of my journey.As for inspiration it was just seeing other guys with longhair in real life of pictures of longhairs on my LP album covers or record sleeves:)
Well good luck with your renewed hair journey and please make it stick this time my friend.Cheers
Mârk
Unfortunately I've had the same problem with Raul's videos. I
watched the first two he did but from then on every time I tried
to watch the following videos my computer would freeze up???
Maybe Raul is just too hot for my computer to handle.
Lol :D
I wonder what might be causing that issue. I haven't really heard any other such complaints in the comments section on my videos, so I would assume it's something locally rather than a general problem for everybody.
Sorry to hear that, will try to look into it!
I have been able to watch your video without problems. What I noticed is that from the minute 8 or so, the video freezes. But is not a computer issue, its a problem with the upload. So, no worries!
Hi Mark!
Yeah, I was rather worried about having had damaged my scalp as well, but thankfully, no bald patches to report on, and a nice 1/4" of growth already corvering my entire scalp, thank you very much! :D
As I said earlier, I wonder what might be causeing this desync issue on my channel. Will have to look into it, though I do believe that simply refreshing it a couple of times should solve it for the most part :)
Thanks for sharing your reasons for growing your hair long!
Hi Raul,
Never in a million years would I have ever thought I'd be glad to see the day when a guy with less than one inch of hair growth on his head would be talking in a video about wanting to grow back to long again; but knowing the ordeal you recently went through a few weeks ago, I am truly grateful to see that nice bit of growth now!!
When I impulsively cut my own hair short back in Y2K (which had grown out to waist-length after 9 years of patient hair-farming), the hair stylist who cut it for me (per my own request) must have sensed that I needed to hear the following statement: "Your hair is growing, even a we speak!"
How true -- and how comforting -- that statement is!
Re. your question, "Why long hair?", let me try to sum it up this way:
1) from as far back as I can remember, I never liked haircuts
2) from as far back as I can remember, I was always attracted to long hair -- I liked the look of it, wanted to better know how it felt on my own head, and always admired it long on others
3) the more adamantly my dad did NOT allow long hair on me or my brothers in his household, the more I had a burning desire to grow it (and I do mean, this desire within me was indeed a BURNING one)!!
Actually, I could go on and on about this subject; but do I really need to give any more reasons than the above? 'Nough said! (LOL)
- Ken in San Francisco
Hi Ken!
That is indeed a comforting, positive quote, and I absolutely love it! :)
Great reasons, and thank you for sharing!
I enjoyed your video very much. So much of what you said resonates with me and mirrors my reasons for growing my hair long. Part of it is external, wanting to be different and not part of the herd but the greater part is internal. I knew from a very young age that I wanted long hair and this is despite growing up in a bigoted religion that despised male longhairs.
I too have tried so many styles and colors. Most of that was done before I could really grow my hair because that was my only avenue to explore various things with my hair. Once I shed the shackles of control, it was full steam ahead. I loved every minute of the growing process including the awkward stage. It was a celebration of freedom and becoming who I truly am. There was a sense of peace and smashing down the walls of limitation and imprisonment.
The growing process I found to be so exciting and full of wonderment as each new month produced kind of a new me. I do miss that but it fulfilled its purpose and I emerged a longhair! As you know, Ive recently have been able to entertain thoughts of entering new length territory and thats very cool and brings back a bit of that anticipation.
I truly do believe that some are born longhairs whereas some just want to try it out. I am the former without question!
You have a way with words, Jason, a gift at articulating in an original way feelings and experiences that are hard to put into words -- THANK YOU for taking the time to write so many details that express the heart & soul of what it means to be a longhair! Your childhood and mine had many similarities (although in my case, it was not my religion that forbade long hair on males, it was simply my bigoted dad). And it also sounds like Raul had a very strict anti-longhair father as well. In Bill's case, it was his overly controlling mother... so many of us here I'm sure can relate to what you said; so again, thanks!
- Ken
Thanks Ken. I appreciate your kind words. I try to never miss a post you make as I feel you are also without question an innate longhair. Your unfortunate haircut 13 years ago was strictly an aberration and one that it sounds like you regretted even as you were sitting in the chair having the procedure done to you.
I am encouraging in every way I can think of to those with frustrations during the growing out process. With that said, I honestly cant relate to having them [the frustrations]. Perhaps its because I was forced to wait so long to start my journey but I loved the entire process. Having my hair poof out or get wings or not stay properly were just milestones to me and ones to celebrate as proof that I was well on my way to becoming a full-fledged longhair. I definitely took steps to contain my hair like using gel and hats but it wasnt in any way a problem in my eyes.
Its great to be among those who understand how natural we feel to be longhairs. I look at men, especially those with great heads of hair, who slavishly show up for monthly haircutting and think we longhairs are considered the crazy ones .? Theyre spending good money to have that done to them?! I support their right to keep getting their hair cut but I do sometimes wonder how much its truly their desire to have this done or whether theyre just going along with the program. If thats the case, I pity them and am reminded how thankful and I am to be whole, to be free, emancipated from whatever forces are out there corralling and controlling the masses.
Hey Jason!
Thanks for sharing one of the truly most inspiring stories of following one's dreaming and self realization, I know of!
You've definitely got a way with words, and this entire board is blessed with hair you here with us!
Hey Raul,
Thanks man. Your enthusiasm for long hair is contagious and has done much to really spark our whole community here. It's to have you back!
Jason
Appreciate it! Good to be back :)
The reason I'm growing my hair out long is I simply can't find a short haircut that I like, buzzcuts work but they're boring, and you can't really dye short hair as you'll be cutting it off again in a week anyway
Hi Stickeelion!
So true, so true... dying short hair is pretty much like throwing money in the toilet, though I have definitely done it many many times before in my life.
The dying short hair part, that is, not the flushing presidents down the toilet, hehe.
Hi Raul,
I finally watched your video last night! I was just smiling through the whole thing! Because I know you will grow your wonderful hair back and I look forward to following you! Good things come to those who wait! And I can't wait! Please keep it growing and flowing dear friend! I will be subscribing!
Ted
Hey brother...at work so i'll have to catch your video another time, but I did see your most recent picture and it does look like everything is growing back quickly! I'm thrilled that you are continuing onward!
As for my reasoning, I have wanted long hair since around 10 years old simply because I liked the way it looked. I attended a strict private school growing up so I wasn't allowed to have anything but a very short cut until I graduated high school. I did try my first time to grow hair when I turned 16 and graduated high school. That was an extremely crazy time in my life that involved working full time, going to college classes at night, getting married and the birth of my first daughter...and I ended up cutting it about 10-12 months (don't recall exact) later to appease my family mainly. All the years between now and then my opinion on long hair hasn't ever changed, so here I am again just about ready to chart into unknown territory.
-Tommy