Monday, January 20, 2014

“Have Scissors, Will Cut”

 
            What five-year-old can resist trimming her bangs? I couldn’t. I remember distinctly deciding to cut my hair with my mother’s large, heavy sewing shears. The weight of those scissors meant my hand wavered as I clipped, clipped, clipped. The result? A zigzag of fringe up my forehead and a sound scolding from my mother. I wore my bangs exceedingly short for a few months since to fix my fashion folly, my mother had to cut my bangs back to my hairline.

Notice the crooked bangs?
 
            Did I learn my lesson and avoid wielding scissors?
            Of course not!
            Over the years, I’ve become a master at cutting my own hair. I have paid for haircuts only three times in thirty-five years!
            Friends can’t believe I’ll snip away until I’ve settled on a new do, but I think it’s rather fun to see the results.
            I never style my hair on a whim. Usually, I debate the change over several days, weighing the pros of my current style, the cons of something different. I may even do something like change the color of my locks before I begin hacking away at them.
            Eventually, the pull of those shears wears me down. Sometimes, it’s simply a little trim to even out growth. Maybe, I just want to see beyond my bangs, so I shorten and feather them softly. Other days, I take the plunge and decide I need a totally new hairdo.
            And so I found myself in the bathroom the other evening, chopping off inches with confidence. If I don’t like my masterpiece? It’s no big deal.
            Hair grows back!!!
 
 

                                                                 The new do!
 
Copyright 2014 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman