hair loss obsession

So I just read a story on The Bald Truth website that sparked a touchy nerve for myself. The guy wrote he had “hair envy.” Oh my, how I can very much relate. I find I’ve lost countless seconds, minutes and hours of my life lusting after other women’s hair. If I ever witness a crime, I won’t be able to offer much other than a complete description of every hair follicle, of each woman who was in the room. Color, length, density, soft, dry… whatever, you name and I’ve taken note of it.

I am frequently absent from conversations of the company I am around because I’m too busy having wandering eyes for women’s hair. In the past it wasn’t uncommon for an entire day to be ruined because I saw what appeared to be a 90 year old woman with crazy, rich, silver, thick hair that could surely land her smack right in the middle of a Pantene commercial. How unfair! I started losing my hair at 21 and she STILL has ALL her hair. But as my mom always used to say “Life isn’t fair.” How true. Nine years of hair loss has shown me how unfair life can be to people, and I am talking about more than hair. Mental note to self… I got a raw deal, no two ways about it, no one should ever lose their hair at 21 or 30 or 40 for that matter. But, be thankful that I have my health, a wonderful partner, a great family and a pretty darn good life aside from this “hair thing.”

I never appreciated my thick hair when I had it, I wish I had. Everything we have can technically be “on loan” so we have to try so hard, even on those days when the shedding has us scraping the floor, to appreciate what we have today. I am reminded of the song “Everybody’s Free” by Baz Luhrmann. In the song he says, “Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.” and then he goes on to say “Do one thing every day that scares you.” and I’m thinking, uh I DO.. I SHOWER and COMB what’s left of my hair. 🙂

Just for kicks, here is the video of the song “Everybody’s Free!”

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Hair Loss Can Quickly Become and Obsession

by Y on September 24, 2007

hair loss can quicly become an obsession - I envy my dog's hairYou know you are in trouble when you start envying your dog’s hair. I frequently have stared at my dog’s thick coat and thought to myself, “I’d gladly take his hair, even if it had to be that color, all black and tan” 🙂 I have become incredibly obsessed with staring at everyone’s hair. It seems as though I can no longer watch a movie, a tv show, a commercial, the grocery clerk, the mail lady and not focus on their hair. After I watch a movie I can explain in detail every character’s hair (man and woman) right down to the diameter of the ponytail, color, thickness.. and on and on. I may not know what the movie was about, but I can surely tell anyone who cares to listen, all the intimate details of the actors hair characteristics. I even notice when a hair shed’s off their head and falls onto their sweater. Ha! It actually can really get quite annoying because I would just like to watch a show without focusing so much on hair. After all that is suppose to be a time to relax, but it isn’t for me. I’m much better off reading a book, I think it’s healthier for the mind anyway.

I guess its normal to focus on the things we lack, once had, and wish we had back.

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Feeling sick and in despair

by Y on September 3, 2007

Today I’ve come down with some sort of bug and have been laying around on the couch while working from my laptop. I’ve had an crazy shedding day. I keep pulling out my ponytail holder to refasten it, only to see tons of hairs around it, then to further torture myself I keep swooping the ponytail only to be able to get out what seems like a gazillion hair each time. Obviously it is not a gazillion, but it is a lot. And then after all that, I pull the back of my shirt towards the front so that I can pick off the rest of the hairs that have fallen while I’ve done this little crazy routine. [click to continue…]

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