I am My Hair

I am my hair. For most of my life my hair has defined me. I'm the girl with long (sometimes super long) brown hair. I don't know if I necessarily hid behind my hair. But I do think it defined me. And I was okay with that. Sometimes I wanted a "Big" change. So I would slightly change the color, add highlights or even bangs. But I still kept my long hair. That was until recently.

Last week I chopped my hair off. Literally.  About 14 inches off. Gone. No more buns. No more ponytails. No French braids. Why would a woman who loves her long hair just cut it off. Love. Love is the reason.

Three times now I've had the privilege to donate my hair to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is an organization that gives wigs to people under 21 who suffer from hair loss for medical reasons. (www.locksoflove.org)  Love is the reason I donate. Its the reason I can go through the anxiety of cutting my hair. It's knowing that I am giving my hair up so a child doesn't have to go without.

Here are two amazing women in my life.  Both are breasr cancer survivors.  Both lost their hair during their treatments. And both have such courage. Here are their stories:

"I never wore a wig while I was going through treatments and was bald because I just wore scarves and hats, but I know that there are several women who I met who never would have had the confidence to leave their homes while going through treatments and being bald if it weren't for their wigs. So I think donating to Locks of Love is Awesome.  I donated my hair about 4 years ago and my daughter donated hers about 2 years ago. It made me feel good to know that I was helping someone else out in some small way. :) " - A.M.

"Donated hair is a huge deal to me.  I was diagnosed with breast cancer in Aug 2010.  After my second chemo treatment, my hair fell out and wigs were a part of my life for the next eight months.  I kept working full time at my office and did my best to look presentable.  My favorite wig was made of human hair and was very close to my natural color and shoulder length.  Each time I would go to my chemo treatment, the drugs would make me very sleepy, so I would take off my wig so I wouldn't mess it up.  If someone was new in the chemo room who never saw me before, they would gasp and say..."Oh, I thought that was your real hair."  I loved it when someone would have that reaction.

MJ is a very special person with beautiful hair.  I'm so proud of her for giving such a great gift." -W.R.

As women I believe we let our hair define us.  Redheaded woman. Curly haired girl. The girl with long brown hair. But really, it's our spirits that should define us. In my anxiety before cutting I mentioned to my husband. "What if I don't love myself with short hair?" He reminded me that I teach young women every week that it's not what we look like that matters if we love ourselves. It's who we truly are.  Our Heavenly Father loves us and we love him. It doesn't matter the length of our hair, what our body shape is or how fancy we dress.  This statement is always true. Our Heavenly Father will always love us. We just need to remember this.  So next time you look in the mirror and wish something was different about yourself, remember, your Heavenly Father loves you just the way you are right at that moment. Never forget that!

PS. I like the short hair. Just need to learn how to do short hair. :)