Featured Friend: Brittany, “Love yourself! The Reason I Cut My Hair Off.”

I ‘met’ (quotes bc she is one of my younger sister’s good friends and we’re also from the same home town…but I mean that just means even more to me) Brittany at one of the most pivotal times of my life. She’s holds such a sweet and important place in the entirety of my self-discovery. Our friendship compliments us as individuals so beautifully and I love being an older, guiding figure for her at times. I’m so unbelievably honored to have her featured on my blog as she’s a fellow Education major as well as passionate writer. Here’s her story about her fabulous new hair and what it’s helped her realize. I love you to death!

LOVE YOURSELF! 

The Reason I Cut My Hair Off

By Brittany Lindo

I’ve always admired women who were able to chop off all of their hair and rock the pixie/bob/buzzed look.  They always seemed so confident…and we all know that confidence is the key to feeling beautiful.  Halfway through my first year of college I began to think maybe I could pull something like that off too.

In the past I’ve had some trouble with being comfortable and happy with the way I look.  The media is a very scary place, trust me. I always thought I was too fat, or too short, or just too ugly in general.  With the support of my friends and family I was able to overcome that dark time but even though I started to accept who I am there was still something holding me back.  I would always delay the actual act of cutting off my hair because I would feel too attached to it.  Then I began to realize that over the years my hair became some sort of a security blanket.  I would hide behind my big poofy hair in order to distract others from the other flaws I saw in myself.  I didn’t necessarily hate how my hair looked, I just hated that I used it to further prove that I wasn’t entirely happy with who I am.

So on June 28, 2013 I got the courage to go to my hairdresser and about an hour later, my hair was all gone! Talk about liberating. It has been about four months since the big chop and I can honestly say that I regret not one thing from the experience.  I have gotten so much support from my friends and family and that has meant the absolute world to me.

Not only is shorter hair MUCH easier to handle and style, I began to see myself in a whole new, more positive light.  With my new look, I can see that I was always a beautiful person, inside and out, with long or short hair. The funny thing is that it has always been that way, it just took me a little while to see it. But most importantly, I learned to love myself.  It may not be “normal” for girls to have short hair but I’m not here to impress others. Always remember that YOU come first and if you love it then that is all that matters.

A peek into what I’m reading…

As many of you know I had come up with a little summer reading list. And although its nearing the end of summer, I’m still working long and hard on this list. I blame the amount of schoolwork and added stresses of life 😛 oh the joys of growing up.

Anyway, Brene Brown was a major hit for me this summer. She brought me an entire new light into my self-discovery and letting go of things in my past that I wasn’t too fond of. (See my posts on her HERE and HERE and my summer reading list HERE)

As cliche as the basic may be, facing your fears, I’ve realized is one of the most liberating and self-appreciating things you can do for yourself. More than just “facing fears” by facing those difficulties straight in the eye, things as simple (for me) as not going someplace because I don’t want to and not caring about what others would think about it…just being content with what I want was liberating and great for me in practicing my own preferences.

Coming from a lifestyle and/or childhood where the general cultural makeup is one where all decisions are made for you could be one of the most difficult things to get over and understand your own true likes and dislikes…i can 19409395% attest to this. i’m learning, by Brown’s well-put phrase (highlighted then screenshot from my kindle) that owning this story and where i come from will allow me to embrace the details that are difficult to come to terms with.  we all have those shadows…so i’m not imposing any sort of sob story but sometimes it’s hard to realize what those ghosts are in our past until we notice some of the ugly things that may come up about ourselves. by starting to learn about my “story” i’m more than appreciative of what this story is and in understanding how it makes me a good person today.

i hope this little quote helps you think about and embrace your own story.

and for the record, I’m reading all three, The Gifts of Imperfection, The Casual Vacancy, and My Year with Eleanor simultaneously and about quarter way through with all of them. They’re all really good. I highly recommend!

Happy end of the summer!

wellness wednesday (postponed)

hello, friends!

so i’ve wanted to start this new feature, wellness wednesday this past week but we know how many troubles i had all week with internet access.

anyway, i wanted to do this for a few reasons:

1. i typically don’t like guides that push things onto you that will guarantee a better lifestyle. and i rarely ever found certain exercises or things that i swore by to be great for me so these are just mere suggestions of things that i found to help me out lately.

2. many of these things are just fun things that we lose sight of sometimes and when reminding ourselves and then becoming excited, we really want to do them.

3. i will admit, a lot of these things i’ve never thought i would be doing them now which is why i maybe want to introduce them to some women around my age.

this week i would like to remind everyone of the importance of treating yourself once in a while. and you, alone. allow yourself to celebrate you and all of which you’ve accomplished. after my tough week i decided to get myself some sushi..because i can. i don’t need to share everything with someone.. and neither do you. and you can do this with just buying yourself a new shoes, getting your hair blown out just because you can, indulging in some red velvet cupcakes, anything. just do it for you and you’ll feel so satisfied and proud that you put yourself and…you deserve it.