What is it about girls and their hair?

 Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer
Hair, flow it, show it  Long as God can grow, my hair

These are a few lyrics from the song "Hair", made famous by the 1968 musical- also named "Hair." I never saw the musical but the lyrics to the song are a flashback to my teen years. They are also on my mind as I share a few thoughts about hair.

 

Women seem to have a love/hate relationship with their hair. We curl it, straighten it, color it and cut it. Always trying to achieve the perfect "do", the ultimate "good hair day"! I am no exception. In my elusive search for the perfect hair cut I have tortured myself and damaged the hair God gave me. I shudder to think of the money I have spent on products, devices, treatments and salon appointments. Yet I am rarely satisfied. I really don't know what would make me say "wow, I love my hair!"

 

When these products fail we are known to purchase falls, toppers, wigs, extensions and other "fake" hair pieces. If our hair is naturally curly we struggle to tame it. If it's straight we try to curl it. If it's soft we make it stiffer, if it's dry we moisturize it to soften it.

 

My natural hair? I started out with very little! As a small child it was white blond and "fluffy". As the years passed it became darker and less fluffy. I have some prominent cowlicks but otherwise its straight and very fine. It was medium brown (I think) when I started coloring it. I have purposely streaked and frosted it blond for much of my adult life. I have accidentally turned it lavender then later Ronald McDonald red! I have unintentionally fried it with a home permanent turning it into yellow straw. This lovely mess lasted for over a year while I tried to grow it out. My mother has colored her own hair as long as I can remember. When I was about fourteen she tried red. It was beautiful and she looked like a movie star. Now she keeps it a soft blond- it looks great. Obviously it's not an inherited trait!

 

Now after all these decades of stripping out the color, age is streaking my hair with white highlights.  I have decided I don't like it all that much, so I try to cover up those white and gray hairs. And this leads to the Korean Adventure connection. Since I have been here I have had my hair cut only four times-all by Koreans. Hair cuts on the economy are very inexpensive- the equivalent f $7 to $10, plus tipping for service is NOT a tradition here!!! I have been as satisfied as I ever am with the results. The hardest part is just making the appointments. So with the help of our young sister missionaries I am all set up with a walk-in shop located in the alley behind our home.

 

That will make the next few months much easier. I simply took a picture of a time I kind of liked my hair and she followed the pattern. It turned out fine. But with the lack of communication, I was afraid to have her color it. So I did it myself. I can now add tangerine orange to my list of unusual hair colors!! Now I am that old American woman with the orange hair.

 

I have a friend. She is a beautiful, classy, kind woman. She has alopecia. She lost her hair years ago. If you didn't already know, you couldn't tell. She wears lovey wigs and a big beautiful happy smile. I asked her once how she handled it. She simply said she just doesn't think about it that much or it would get depressing. No, she doesn't think about it much because she is too busy thinking about and helping others. I admire her. I need to try more to be like her. Our small inadequacies (real or imagined) can take over our lives or they can be swallowed up and all but disappear in our efforts to follow Christ and to love and serve others. We choose. And we sometimes have to make that choice again and again, day after day!