Embracing Change

I don't take to change very easily.  Ask Jennifer if this is true and she will nod her head emphatically (she’s had firsthand experience).  I have my moments (few, admittedly) when I’ve pivoted on the fly, but, for the most part, me and my routine are very good friends, disruptions are not looked upon as a good thing and changes occur at a glacial pace.

One example of this (there are many, but I’ll try to remain on point J) is the way I've styled my hair.  At some point in my young life, I began hating parts in my hair.  When I was younger, Mom would sometimes put a part in my hair on one side of my head or the other (mostly the left side).  No big deal to me then.  When I started taking charge of my own hair combing, however, parts drove me nuts.  I could never get them straight.  Since I also have a perfectionist streak in me, the fact that I could never part my hair straight made me quickly give up on the entire process.  As far as I can tell from year book pictures, I settled on a "comb it one way, comb it the other way, tousle it and walk out the door" look.

My Hairstyle Before

It wasn't until "The Vacation" (the vacation where my family spent two months in a RV driving around the Eastern seaboard visiting US history and Church history sites) that I finally settled on a sort of hair style. During drive time, I spent a good portion of that trip in the back on the driver's side propped up on the couch/bed (the middle section would be the dining table during dinner-time) reading books or comic books or making up stories with Aaron to entertain the masses.  I would keep the window open to let the air circulate.  With the open window on my left side, the wind had a tendency to flip my bangs from the left side to the right.  After a while, I got used it seeing it that way in the mirror and started combing my hair that way—without the part; that was non-negotiable.  Thus my hairstyle, such as it is, was born and I’ve been combing it in that fashion for 3 decades.

Now I’ve reached a time in my life where continuing in this fashion is becoming more difficult.  I’ve finally had to face up to the fact that my hair has thinned to the point where this style is not as feasible as it once was.  Oh, men who are my contemporaries and are more … er, “folliclely challenged” then I say, “Well, at least you still have hair,” but that brings little comfort when there used to be an abundance of it that is no longer available.

I have been getting my hair cut for the last 9 months of so at a barbershop near work.  They specialize in men’s haircuts.  The last two times I got my hair cut there, the barber cutting my hair (I don't have a "favorite"—I choose whoever is available at the time) styled it very differently than I am used to.  He parted it on left side and swooshed it over to the right—not a comb over (I still have enough to not have to do such a thing), but a swoosh held in place by gel.  The first two times, I came home, manually fixed my hair in order to get it back to my regular way of combing it and went about my business.

My Hairstyle Now

Today, after getting my haircut and the barber styling it in this new way again, I was coming home and stopped at Wal-Mart for cat litter for our new kittens.  As I was on my cell phone asking Jennifer about a brand we were trying, Sister Hunter from our ward happened to see me and raved about my new hair style.  I’ll admit, I was a bit taken aback.  No one had ever complimented me on my hairstyle before.  Later, I told everyone about Sister Hunter’s reaction as we ate dinner.  I suggested that I keep the hairstyle of a few days to see if maybe I liked it.  The part isn’t has difficult to maintain now that it doesn’t have to be as long and styling my hair with gel might cut down on the time it takes to blow dry it.  Jennifer said she liked it and Ben and Isaac also approved.

When I walked into the Gospel Principles class today, the sisters in the room suddenly became quiet and looked at me.  A bit self-conscious, I asked what was going on and was told that Sister Hunter had been telling everyone in Relief Society about my new hairstyle.  Now that they had seen it, the sisters in the class approved of the change.  Again, this is new territory for me.  As I said, no one has ever “approved” of my hairstyle.  But if Jennifer, Ben, Isaac, and the Relief Society sisters in the ward endorse my new look, how can I fight it?  I guess it’s time to embrace change and figure out how to consistently style my hair in this fashion.  While everyone else seems to have immediately liked the change, it may take a week or two to fully get used to it.  Still, a little change here and there isn’t such a bad thing; is it? J