Yesterday I went in to my hairdresser for a trim. It’s been a few weeks since I had my last cut and he was pretty astonished at how long my hair was. I hadn’t even noticed. It’s always funny to me when I go to the salon, the other hairdressers drop their clients to touch my hair. It’s silly… but I have really healthy, soft hair and they like to run their fingers through it. weird? My secret, I don’t wash my hair everyday… sometimes not even every other day… sometimes not for three or four days 😉 But that’s not what I’m here to share. My hairdresser asked to cut off a couple inches. I wanted to know why if it was still healthy? He said, ‘well, because its old hair. The ends have probably been on your head for six or eight years’. woh. six or eight years?! That’s a long time to be carrying around something day in and day out. I gave him permission to snip the ends off… but I couldn’t help but think about what my hair had been through. Alot has happened in the last six to eight years… alot! I was still in Iowa six to eight years ago. I was still working in television six to eight years ago. I was in love with another man six to eight years ago. I was dreaming to become a missionary six to eight years ago. There was a level of innocence I still possessed six to eight years ago. There was also a level of hurt, anger and confusion I was experiencing six to eight years ago. I was dreaming of better days six to eight years ago.

Wow. That hair had been with me during some really important times in my life! The last six to eight years have been life changing. And here I was about to let that go. Every bit of life that my hair had stuck with me through, I was cutting off its life source. That is just incredible to think about. It almost makes me feel fresh, like I’ve started a new life since my trim yesterday. Because the hair I’m carrying around today has probably only been there five years. That is just crazy to think about… the past is gone. What was left of me that was still experiencing those six to eight years have been shed. I’m taking a deep breath in as I think about it. Yesterday’s visit to the salon was more than just a hair trim; it was a letting go of the last bit of past I had left on me from six to eight years ago.