Smile-breaks
Wha-a-a-t?
I was scrolling through my e-mails on my laptop for a change. Usually I check them on my iPhone where they come up much smaller, so I was stunned when a large photo of a beautiful women with absolutely no hair came up. Make-up was perfect, very attractive, and she had a big smile on her face. But no hair on her perfectly bald head.
Before we go any further, I want to clarify: this has nothing to do with cancer or cancer treatments. I don't want to give the wrong impression here. But it does have a bit to do with age.
Below this beautiful hairless woman was the capitalized caption, GOODBYE HAIR.
Goodbye Hair?! All this time I've been checking my brush and comb for stray, falling-out hairs; and occasionally—like every day—checking the mirror to see if my hair's thinning out and now I'm supposed to say goodbye to each and every departing hair? I love my hair, such as it is. I sure wouldn't want any less of it, much less letting it all go and everyone seeing the true shape of my head without hair. "Goodbye hair" did not sound like a good thing. When I saw that Philips ad, I thought, "Who would want to get rid of their hair?" I understand now. They weren't talking about head hair. You can figure out the rest. . .
Back to it having to do with age—although even young people like to have plenty of nice, preferably thick, hair on their heads. What else would they have to color outrageously, style in the latest whatever fashion, braid in patterns all over their scalps?
But aging, well, there comes a time when having no hair, or less hair, becomes a worry. A trip to the beauty salon or the barber shop is a bit scary. Will they tell me my hair's getting a bit thinner than it was last time? Is that a bald patch—or a cowlick gone nuts? I was told all those cowlicks that are suddenly showing up and causing havoc on our heads were there all along. They were there from the day we were born, just didn't show up 'til now.
It happened to me. I have this terrible cowlick on the back of my head. I thought I was going bald but my hair stylist laughed and told me it was just a cowlick. What a relief! Sort of. . . It's been a pain ever since, trying to redirect those hairs determined to all go the wrong way at the same time, leaving a large slice of scalp peering out at the world.
Since then more cowlicks have come out of hiding. Combing my hair has become an exercise in futility, trying to redirect those hairs or cover up the spot they've turned away from. To think they've been there for, um, all these years, and I never knew it. If I'd known, could I have done something about them? Probably not, but I sure would've if I could've!
Enough about cowlicks. If you're lucky you don't have any, or they haven't shown up yet. And maybe you have a nice head of thick, beautiful hair and it's stickin' with you! I'm happy for you. I'll leave you with this thought, "Hair today, gone tomorrow!" Let's hope not. . .