Category: Random Thoughts

I don’t care if you ask or not, I’m giving my opinion anyway.

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Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I’m a pushover for kids. Especially if the child has some type of disease or disorder that puts him or her at a higher risk for being teased and abused by peers. This sympathy probably stems from personal experience, but admittedly, I choke back tears when watching Hallmark commercials.

Twenty months ago when visiting friends at the corporate office, there were some jokes and remarks about the owner, the VP of production and some other guys growing out their hair long. I took up the challenge for vain purposes at first, to fit in as one of the guys.

A few months later an opportunity to help others through this silly endeavor became evident. Children undergoing chemo treatment or suffering Alopecia could use a wig or hair extensions. Ironically, one of the younger stars on Flickr that I’ve come to admire (for her willingness to humble herself and her professional, yet fanciful style) has Alopecia and uses hair extensions.

So it was decided to grow out my hair the required length for donation. It hasn’t been without it’s sacrifices. And as I’ve come to even like having long hair it will be another sacrifice to cut it back. Still, there’s good with each season in life and the satisfaction of knowing how the past 20 months of minimal effort will bring peace to a child or young-adult’s life brings a great satisfaction.

What I’ve learned over these past 20 months:

  1. Hair doesn’t grow out at the rate of an inch per month. It’s more like 3/8 of an inch permonth.

  2. As a long haired man, I’ve “frightened” many grown-ups… until I started looking more like a smiling Jesus hippy.

  3. The younger the child, the less affected they are to seeing long hair on a man.

  4. Each inch of long hair from the forehead causes another annoyance until it reaches about 7 inches long.
    • First it gets in the eyes
    • Six weeks later it’s into the nose
    • another six weeks and it curls into the mouth
    • Yet another six weeks it tickles the chin

    This is probably why so many long-haired women have short bangs.

  5. Nearly all shampoo has lauryl sulfate in it. This chemical weakens the hair and over-strips the protective oils from it. (Great site about shampoo ingredients.)

  6. When doing any type of physical labor that requires you look down, any hair that isn’t tied back obstructs your view.

  7. It’s difficult to pull back all your long hair and the one strand that isn’t bound with the rest will find its way into your face when you roll down the car window to let in the outside breeze.

  8. Long braided pig-tails and a bandanna doesn’t make me look as cool as it does for Willie Nelson.

  9. Long haired men that walk with confidence are stereotyped as successful photographer/musician/artist.

  10. Women who brandish well-kept natural long hair have garnered my respect.

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who am i?

I notice myself being drawn to that question – particularly in lyrics and music. The question raises serious naval-staring moments. I’m really nobody; nothing important; dust or vapor in the wind; a shadow before sunrise.

What makes me so important to others? I’m not special or particularly good looking. If there was anti-charisma, you’d certainly attribute that to my character. I’m not being humble here, just honest. So why would anyone find me special?

I think Antoine de Saint-Exupery stated it well in “The Little Prince”

“Anything essential is invisible to the eyes…. It’s the time that you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important…. People have forgotten this truth,” the fox said, “But you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose….”

I suppose I’m a little wild, like the fox or the rose and people who have personally spent time chipping away at that to tame me has also acquired a special sense of responsibility and uniqueness for me.

There’s a proverb that states “Where your treasure is, your heart is also.” The more we work at something, the more of our personal selves are put into it and the more it’s treasured. It’s what we choose to treasure that alters the world around us and changes other people – and not necessarily because they’ve changed, but more because of a change in our perception.

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Thoreau Was Wrong

One of the famous signature quotes from Thoreau is “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” However, he was mistaken. It’s when men don’t lead that they end up in these moments of desperation and if they become complacent in it they ultimately live their lives in quiet – maybe a grunt here or there at the water cooler, but they ultimately die out quietly and unnoticed.

So it’s not that most men lead lives of quiet desperation; it’s that what they follow leads to it.

In Proverbs 7, King Solomon talks about what happens when we follow our heart rather than lead it. Emotions change; sometimes emotions change as quickly as weather in the mountains. Since our hearts are so indecisive, they can’t really be trusted.

I’m not saying our hearts shouldn’t be heard. The poetry and beauty that mankind has added to this world depends on the heart, soul and mind down to its core. However, directing life on a series of decisions based on what feels good has a proven track record of causing destruction.

It’s like that scene in The Incredibles with the cape discussion. Bob (Mr. Incredible) wants a cape because it appeals to his feeling of a superhero. Edna has to go on a lengthy monologue that explains how capes spelled the demise of one superhero after another. After all that, Bob decides he doesn’t really want a new suit.

I’m not entirely certain, but I think the cape on Superman was little more than his baby blanket bound around his neck. You could even say that Superman was the first security-blanket-loving-Linus character.

Back to the point – bright men come up with ideas but often seek bad counsel. They give up and feel hopelessness choke out their creativity. In their shame and reluctance they remain quiet when new ideas come to mind which makes them feel their desperation even more. They followed the wrong counsel – the wrong advice – the insecure heart. So shed that cape, turn off the TV, pick up a good book and change the way you think. Let wisdom and understanding guide you and you won’t end up quiet or in desperation.