A week back I cut my hair, really short and as always I was angered, irritated, amazed and sometimes even traumatised by the reactions I received.
The plethora of reactions ranged from people comparing me to an anglo indian (in a not so flattering way), to saying "who will marry your face now" to "how did your parents let you do this to yourself" to "you look beautiful".
Whilst I kept my mouth shut to every reaction that I received, I couldn't help but reflect....
- When did we become such a shallow society that measures a persons beauty by the length of their hair vs the depth of their soul?
- Why do we promote self expression and yet belittle anyone that steps outside the lines of "comfort"?
- Why are our tongues so sharp and our hearts so cold?
And as I reflected on all of this I chanced upon this little gem
I teared up and when I realised that at the end most people admired the girl's courage to put herself out there, regardless of the consequence - in this situation shaving her hair off. It reminded me to this incredible quote by Brene Brown "Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”
Now, I am not glorifying my tiny act of cutting hair to something that required a lot of courage, but I ask that the next time we see someone that is doing something outside the norm - i.e. pursuing a career in football vs a secure 9 to 5 job, spending their money on travel vs assets, choosing spirituality over the nightclub - don't be quick to judge :)
Pause and admire the courage the person had to pursue what they wanted regardless of society telling them otherwise
The plethora of reactions ranged from people comparing me to an anglo indian (in a not so flattering way), to saying "who will marry your face now" to "how did your parents let you do this to yourself" to "you look beautiful".
Whilst I kept my mouth shut to every reaction that I received, I couldn't help but reflect....
- When did we become such a shallow society that measures a persons beauty by the length of their hair vs the depth of their soul?
- Why do we promote self expression and yet belittle anyone that steps outside the lines of "comfort"?
- Why are our tongues so sharp and our hearts so cold?
And as I reflected on all of this I chanced upon this little gem
I teared up and when I realised that at the end most people admired the girl's courage to put herself out there, regardless of the consequence - in this situation shaving her hair off. It reminded me to this incredible quote by Brene Brown "Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”
Now, I am not glorifying my tiny act of cutting hair to something that required a lot of courage, but I ask that the next time we see someone that is doing something outside the norm - i.e. pursuing a career in football vs a secure 9 to 5 job, spending their money on travel vs assets, choosing spirituality over the nightclub - don't be quick to judge :)
Pause and admire the courage the person had to pursue what they wanted regardless of society telling them otherwise
