Never under-estimate the power of a new haircut. I’ve always maintained this adage. In times of feeling down, I find that a new haircut can be completely exhilarating. Occasionally, it’s life-altering. Such is the case with my friend Kira. She has had the same hairdo for the better part of her life. That’s almost four decades. This last year, however, she finally cut it all off as I’ve been advising her since we met (that would be 15 years and counting). The transformation has been a big and glorious one, and it’s happened just as much on the inside as on the outside. I will always defend the fact that appearance shouldn’t really matter, but it carries its own set of powers, and whether we like it or not it defines who we are. You don’t have to agree with that, but you do need to acknowledge it.
For Kira, it’s instilled her with a new confidence, and for someone who was so quiet and timid when we first met a decade and a half ago, that’s a pretty fantastic thing to witness. Recently she competed, by herself, in one of those Color Runs (wherein you get coated with colored chalk and run a 5K course) and this summer/ fall she wants to go skydiving. I’m trying to work up the courage and craziness to join her, but she may have already surpassed me in being brave.
