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I used to have very long hair, got about two inches longer than this. Now it's short, and I'm regretting my decision. I'm turning 18 soon, should I grow it back out?
Absolutely. I'm 60 years old now, I started growing my hair long in 1964.
I got lots of complaints from the school folks but I persisted in keeping it long. Now in 2014 it is still long (it's all grey now but it is still long.)
Hi Corey,
Yes, of course you looked fresh or cool in 6th grade! I think you should give yourself an early birthday gift by starting your long hair journey again! You do have wonderful color and texture to work with! And there's certainly nothing wrong with looking fresh at an older age! Please be well my friend!
Ted
I forgot to welcome you to the board! My apologies!
I have to ask what do you mean by "fresh?"
I'm old enough to remember when kids who were "fresh" were kids who "misbehaved." And kids like us who grew our hair long
were considered "fresh" we wanted to go against the stutus quo of boys having short hair.
C'mon now, do you really need to ask that question? ... Especially HERE!!! (OF COURSE you should grow your hair out, you look awesome with long flowing locks!!!!)
By the way, on a completely different topic (re. your shirt / sweatshirt):
I love love LOVE Tillamook cheese!
OK, back to hair again...
Grow it! Just plain grow it!!!!!!! Grow your hair looooong, while you're young -- don't wait until your 40th birthday (as I did); just do it now, while your hair is full & thick and has a lot of color. Not that it's "bad" to grow your hair long when you're an old geezer, like I am; just that it's more fun to have long hair BEFORE you go bald and/or your hairline recedes and/or your mane turns totally grey.
"Onward & Downward!"
- Ken in San Francisco, CA
This is really good advice for someone who is shy. I grew mine in my teens to just above shoulder length, but a visit home to my parents always meant a haircut. Like most of our contemporaries, I became conditioned into the "shorthair ideology" and was buzz cutting until only a year ago.
I am lucky not to have gone bald, except a tiny bit at the temples, but I am grey-white and no longer have the nice chestnut brown I had as a boy.
Ken is right. It is like walking into a butcher's shop and asking whether it would be a good idea to eat meat! We are not going to tell you to get your hair cut. The difference is that we are not making money from numbers of guys who grow their hair long!
Speaking for myself, I won't say that you have to grow it long either. It's your choice. You obviously have good thick hair, and it will look good long, especially if you look after it.
If you want to grow your hair out, then you have found the place to find encouragement, especially when you get criticism from family, friends, teachers, employers, etc.
Good luck with the journey, and learn patience. And juts live with it as you go...
Anthony
My blog
IMHO both you and Ken are missing the point here. Yes this place is all about growing your hair and not cutting it. But doing so you're going to incur the wrath of employers, school administrators, and parents. That commitment is not for everyone, many will give in to the massive pressure and cut their hair. It comes down to how badly do you want long hair,
how far you want to push to maintain that right to grow your hair. It's very easy to just skip the barber shop and let your hair grow. The hard part is getting over the hurdle of parents, relatives, school, employers, and an entire world that will apply unrelenting pressure to cut your hair. It sometimes means growing a very thick skin, getting up the courage to go against
the mainstream thinking that men should have short hair. And being prepared to incur the wrath of short hair folks who will do everything in their power to shove their beliefs about hair
length down your throat. I've heard too many stories over the years of autocratic parents who insisted their sons had to have short hair and went as far as to force the issue. When you choose to grow your hair long you need to go into it with your eyes wide open. I chose to grow my hair long in 1964, it's still long today in 2014, and with all the hassles I got over the years i'd choose to grow it long again. It was a really great journey despite all the road blocks. For me it was a great journey, but it is a journey that is not for everyone
and only you (the individual) can decide how you want to make that journey. The good news is that unrelenting pressure will eventually end. I got lots of complaints about my hair in my younger years. But once I hit the age of 45 the complaints stopped. I'm now 60 and get no complaints about my hair. Call it one of the benefits of growing old and getting grey hair.
So the bottom line is how badly do you want long hair and how far are you prepared to fight the relentless pressure to cut your hair?
I might have missed making the emphasis that you do, but it is part of my experience. I have said it in other posts. It takes a lot of courage and determination. I too grew up with conservative parents and I was not very determined. I was simply a teenager in the 1970's. I had to cut my hair short when I was in seminary.
I sympathise with young men who live under all this pressure, which we older guys don't experience as intensely. My wife would prefer me to have short hair, but she seems to have given up trying to persuade me. She still goes on about trims, but I just brush them off.
Yes it does take determination and character, and we need to know what we want in life. It isn't for everyone, and people in certain jobs can just forget it. That's life. I can't speak for everybody, just give a few ideas.
Anthony
* * *
My blog
should I grow it back out?
Hey Flowing Locks Corey,
Yes, you should grow it back out and let it grow to terminal length.
Your long haired bro,
Raymond
By all means, grow it out when you're young...
I wished I had and stuck to it...
.... You will like the results....
Welcome to MLHH and thanks for sharing..
All The Best..... The Spaf Man